God for sale

Television channels dedicated to religions around the world make my reasons go numb most of the time. I enjoy melodious bhajans every now and then, for (let’s face it) I am a devotee. But these days, when sleazy character of so-called maharajs bare their Pan Parag corroded teeth, preaching about what a man must not do in the name of Gods, it takes me a jiffy to switch channels. My flat reason: I worship God, they sell Him!

Religion has never been far from controversy no matter how ancient it traces out its history to be. Religion influences socio-cultural identity of men, societal norms and even law system in most countries. Its dysfunction, however, lies on its rigidity. Time changes everything—even belief system, rationale bases and customs, rituals or modalities of lifestyle—and when religion does not change, things start getting obsolete. Redundancy turns to failure. Here lies a mechanism that has proven to be one of the worst forms of money making—”psychological marketing”. A divisive method that plays with people’s psyche, all the while giving leverage to these marketers to make money. A whole lot of money!

Let me explain how this works. Mind you, I am not giving a tuition class on how to do it, rather to be aware of how stuffs matter.

Religion stands at the back of every human’s ideological system, it remains at the core of human psyche. Let’s just say that our society programs itself in such a way that ancestry, lineage, identity, personality and even people’s fear get based of what is divine, and what is forbidden under His law. When people’s habits are bound as such, and concept of to-do or not-to-do are fed into the mind—every action that even a child takes is already checked by her/his inclination. Psychology says that the concept of religious discipline lies on the dorsal right side brain—the part of the brain that controls habitual actions like memorizing the keys of keyboard, guitar strings, coordination of switches in a room and others. This means religion is like constant feed to the mind—”this is your duty and that is forbidden”. This habitual divergence from rationale, from analysis and the path to one-tracked-routine gives the religion marketers the space to spread out their market—literally!

I would like to cite an example from a religious television show. Our Hindu dharma tells that infidelity is wrong. Considering any confined example, infidelity is wrong under any circumstance, whether a religion talks about it or not. But I happened to watch this show one day where a so-called Maharaj was talking about how God punishes infidels. He was talking about how Lord Krishna puts his divine palm on monogamous righteous men and how he punishes those who do not abide by His morals. The maharaj then ended up saying that he can show the path to Lord Krishna, he can rinse people off their sins and show them the True Path. Three things are wrong here: one, that chap seems to have cleverly manipulated ancient tales—references of infidelity are scarce in both Srimad Vagwat and the tales of Mahabharata. If he had said infidelity is wrong in social terms, I would have appreciated it. But he took God’s name as his backing, as his aid. I should be damned for just hearing this fool’s connotation already. Secondly, if we were to consider that Gods constantly look upon every individual as equals, then no one—I mean NO ONE holds the key to anyone’s redemption. We are equally qualified to know the right from wrong, equally competent to show either jive or remorse when needed. And finally, the most important ingredient of this article: the crowd amassed to hear this Maharaj’s deliverance of human revival, the channel that airs the show, the organizers of the event, those who collect the daan, and a fool like me who happened to listen to this fellow while silently laughing at his ensuing speech—pay a good sum to build the wall of his six storey house. He sold religion because he knew that Hindu religion tolerates infidelity less than any other religious crimes. So he cashed on it, we paid for it. A deal executed well!

No one questions religion marketing. An SLC drop out meets up with a travel agent, makes a 30-70 deal with the agent, collects ten people—some off to Manakamana or Kanyakumari, Chardham or Swargadwari, or even for a Hajj to Mecca or any destination with a religious tag hanging to it; and easily makes 300% more money than other travel agents who rely on tourism alone. Then there are others: selling polished stone as Saligram, selling porcelain glossed Ganesh statues, steel plate covering for Bibles: abridged version, full version, version 2.0—every goody fetches a nifty sum. A basket comprising of freshly plucked flowers with a packet of vermillion and a few shredded red and white ribbons might neatly come under NRs. 20, but visit Dakshinkali temple on a happening day, your purse will be missing NRs. 500/- easily. And let us not forget our commissioners! Our purets have so cleverly made our Gods accept bribery. “Pay NRs. 500 here! Do you want to look cheap in front of God?” Then people start to wonder—bequeath it or rather be banished from God’s grace? I guess these commissioners; these purets have taken a well deserved qualification of Bachelors in Business Strategies. They are excellent.

Amidst this chaos lies a subtle hint of hope. A hope that society might change—after all, science has spread its wing as far as recognizing the God particle as well. But don’t be comfortable yet. I have not mentioned Proselytism yet.

Like I mentioned earlier, religion stays well within the habitual sense realm in mind. As such, when reasons and rationale start to take over and when people feel that they have had enough of their religious boundary, a new marketing strategy lies just out the door. Popular in Nepal these days, we understand Proselytism in its minimal sense as ‘converting’. Little do people know that converting seemingly fades out the inconveniences of the previous religion, but all the while it brings heaps and heaps of transactional papers. They all shout, “God for sale!”

If you have not known, Proselytism requires a solid financial backing. I would like to assert the fact again that religious views lie in that part of the brain where habits reside. As such, promotional materials, constant feed of information via mass media and influential people communicating the ‘requirement’ of converting can only break through the solid walls of brain. I would like to mention one more television channel that airs Christian preaching every Sunday morning. That channel airs the show from an American channel, which is essentially a Christian channel, practicing Proselytism stronger than any other religion. A motivational speaker delivers his powerful speech about “Good News” and between the flashes of his velvet tuxedo, his neatly groomed hair and bright make-up, a line of his books, DVDs, Blu Ray discs and even the collection of his hymns make their way. It would cost you around US$ 35 to purchase the entire set. But “can you compare the peace of your mind with money?”, he says. And “why not?”, says a battered Hindu, who has had enough of superstition. His move to Christianity ensures only one thing: he will be buried six feet below rather than being cremated. Money worth spent!