Editorial:
The need to cultivate Scientific Outlook
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We are living in a world changing very fast - new things are discovered, new facts come to our view and new inventions are made at a terrific speed. Naturally they have a tremendous impact on individual and collective life, affecting the human perspective of the material world and the outlook of the humans on social and psychological or cultural issues and relationships.
A simple truth that Periyar often stressed was that one who refused to adapt to the changing circumstances and norms would disqualify himself / herself to run the race. He was worried that people of our country were steeped in blind faith and imaginary religious beliefs. Beliefs not backed by facts and experience are opposed to reason. When people believe in the doctrine of Karma, they think that their present life in this world is determined by what they did in the previous life. This obscurantist outlook stifles self-confidence; this discourages people to plan ahead and strive for progress.
Obscurantism is a hangover of primitiveness that was characterised by ignorance, superstition and fear. Primitive people had faith in god or gods, in good and evil spirits. But they had no faith in fellow human beings. Groups of people - tribes and clans - lived in fear and suspicion of each other. They have hated and fought against each other. In course of time plethora of ideas about god and spirit, soul and body, hell and heaven began to occupy the best part of human attention. Under these circumstances, the priestly class and the religious heads were able to assume a dominant position in public life, particularly in socio-economic sphere. Such a position have enabled them to amass wealth, acquire enormous power and influence. And with these things they do a lot of propaganda in various forms to propagate god and religion to retain the devoted flock in their own fold.
This has led to a bizarre situation: Godmen, godwomen, saints, soothsayers, astrologers, palmists, numerologists etc have come to multiply. These people strengthen the belief in some supernatural being and in supernatural phenomena. Once the common people are made to believe in gods and goblins, they undertake periodical pilgrimages to holy places, and do rites and rituals either to get the favour of some deity or toward some evil influence.
So instead of making people think rationally and face the issues of the real world, religionists make them to live in a world of myth and mirage. And worse : Such people are easy prey to the teachings of religious fundamentalism that has been playing havoc in public life of Indian subcontinent for the past several decades. It is high time we put a stop in the perilous course.
The world observes the completion of 200th birth anniversary of the greatest naturalist Charles Darwin on 12th February 2009. It was his Theory of Evolution that conclusively demolished the faith that humans and other beings of the world were created in the form they now exist by some super-natural being. We wish that the revolutionary change in the general outlook of humans produced by scientific ideas influence the minds of our people atleast now, 150 years after the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859.
While the Rationalists, Atheists, Humanists and such others do the constitutional duty of urging the people “to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”, the politicians and the mass media serve the interests of the religionists and obscurantists only. As this does not help India to develop as a secular modern democracy, we earnestly appeal to them to join with the rationalists to propagate scientific temper.
