All these while, we have been taught that religion and supreme power breed a better upbringing and instil values such as kindness and empathy. However, a recent study led by Professor Jean Decety, a neuroscientist at University of Chicago, proves it otherwise. The study establishes a link between kindness and non-religious upbringing.
According to it, children who had been raised without religion were not only kinder, but also showed more empathy towards others. The study looked into perceptions and behaviour of over 1,000 children located in six different countries. It examined their likeliness to share, as well as their habits regarding judging others or punishing them for bad behaviour. His team of psychologists assessed altruism with the help of ‘the dictator game’ where each child was given 30 stickers and told to share them with an anonymous child from the same school or group. The task was intended to measure generosity score. The children came from Christian, Muslim and non-religious backgrounds. And, according to the results, secular children shared more stickers than others.
Decety’s findings indicate that religiosity affects children’s punitive tendencies, and children from religious households frequently appear to be more judgmental of others’ actions.
In India, where religion is a sentiment and plays a crucial role in moulding a person’s identity and thoughts, the feasibility of this study is debatable. For majority of Indians, influence of their religion in life is so deep that it reflects in their decisions. It is difficult for the majority to think of a religion-free nation. At this juncture, we ask people from various quarters of life whether non-religious upbringing is feasible in India and what its implications would be.
See the good sides
Hailing from a religious family, I have had a religious upbringing. I don't feel that has affected my kindness and empathy towards others. My parents have taken religious belief as the base of their life and taught me to see the good part of it. Everything, including religion, has a good and bad side. My parents have always told me to ignore the hate part of my religion and see only the good side. I feel this has helped me become a better person as I could distinguish between good and bad in the things that I follow.
Now, coming to the point that whether non-religious upbringing is feasible in India, it's upto each individual to decide what to teach their children. I don't stand neither for a non-religious upbringing nor religious fanatic upbringing. Religion and faith in one's god gives faith and hope during difficult times. For example, when I feel low or am trapped in a difficult situation, I pray to god. Even though it's my actions that would ultimately help me, the faith in god helps me have faith in myself. So, I would definitely want my children also to have such a positive vibe that there is someone up there who is helping us. Another thing is that when you are god-fearing, you will stay away from crimes and stuff like that.
Religion and god definitely help me channelise my thoughts and beliefs and I would definitely want my children to have the same.
Teach them to respect plurality
There is no doubt that religious education or upbringing can instill certain elements of good behaviour. At its best, it can introduce values of community, caring for others, honesty, charity, etc. At worst, it can induce intolerance, narrow and harsh judgement, self-righteousness. Looking at the way Protestant Christianity has bolstered moral support for capitalist wealth-creation, we know that religious values can just as easily made to serve secular needs. And that can be either a good or a bad thing – but always very powerful. The most responsible religious education should come with a respect for plurality, and the knowledge that one’s religion is one among others.
Excessive religiosity leads to fanaticism
Recently, Bethune College in Kolkata introduced ‘humanity’ as an option for students to choose in the column asking for their religion in the online admission form, contrary to other colleges where prominence is given to major religions. I feel that this should be the attitude. Karl Marx called religion as opium; the concept differs for each person. For me, religion as percept and practice is linked to money spinning followed by medicine, education and, then, politics. All these businesses are controlled by religion. Excessive religiosity leads to fanaticism, which we are witnessing now.
Hope for a change
We will not be able to see an India devoid of religion at least in the near future. It is because religion is deeply ingrained in our society, and it is almost impossible to separate them. Also, people are more aware of their religious identity than anything. We might witness times when religion will have low influence on society and vice versa, but not completely without it. However, I sincerely hope that there is a change, because we are using religion for all the wrong reasons.
Do not brainwash
Religion keeps us all bind because it has some sort of guidelines to follow and without it, we would become animals. But I strongly believe that we need to be rational enough to understand what religion is trying to say. We need to be wise, and not extremists who hate others just because they belong to another religion. None of the children should be taught the differences of the religion, but the basic importance of a religion. What a child understands about religion comes from home. No one learns that in schools. None of us did. A child is taught not to share the food because the other child is from a different cast. It is society that teaches the difference and through education one becomes rational to practise what is right and wrong. Religion is important, but brainwashing youngsters about some extremist things is a wrong practice and that applies to all the religions. So, if that is done, then there is no harm in following any religion because ultimately it teaches humanity
