A Heaven to Compare

There was once a guy named Janardhan
Worked hard each day from eight to seven
Sometimes even till eleven!
In the hope that he would end up in heaven

Grew up in scarcity,
In school he calculated mass, velocity, density,
One of the brightest there
Destiny still forced him on a path as only she may dare,

Till yesterday he ploughed hard his field,
Cursing God for unlucky seed,
Dependent on the monsoon for his bread,
A difficult and lonely path he tread

He wished for a better life,
Away from all the strife,
On the other side the grass is always green,
In his dreams he saw a place with great sheen

A place where water was aplenty,
and the girls were dainty,
If only he could go there,
How much better he would fare

Today he was struck by lightening,
Transported to Shangri-La, in a moment delightening.
Where even in his wildest dreams he’d never been,
Here the cows were plump and the fields were green,
And he should have been as happy as ever seen!

Ever so suddenly freed of his bind,
Something yet kept pricking his mind,
He was in heaven! But he didn’t have a clue
In his mind he was ever so blue

Until God thundered, “Why so serious?”
For, no wonder, He was furious,
“What kinda bloke pines in heaven?”
To which replied Janardhan,

“Mi’Lord you see,
Now that you mention this as heaven,
I wonder myself why happy can’t I be...”

“And this may sound sappy,
This place being so free of care,
But I can’t be happy,
Despite my humble home bare,
For I ain’t got another heaven to compare!”

Hope for Atheism

Why is it that we are born as of some particular religion? I mean, does one come into existence knowing all about the Bible, or the Bhagwad Gita or the Guru Granth Sahib? Just because my parents are of one particular religion, makes me a member of it too. Isn't that ridiculous? Shouldn't I have the right to make an informed choice of what religion I do want to follow?
(Maybe religion and informed choice are paradoxical in the same sentence ;) )

Given this, we should all be born of no religion, and be allowed to make a decision later in life. That way atleast, we'll know how many members actually support Christianity, or Hinduism or blah... Lots of those people might want to make a choice of not choosing any one particular religion, or even becoming a practicing atheist. Is that even allowed? Can I be a registered atheist? Is that so illogical?

Apparently, even in the US of A, I cannot hold public office if I am a declared atheist. Is that fair? Shouldn't I be declared worthy or unworthy of any post based on my morals, my past behavior etc. rather than whether I believe in some doctrines first preached centuries ago?

Recently, there was a case where someone sued God. It was dismissed saying that he has no 'registered residence'. Although this lawsuit may sound frivolous, it is highly symbolic. All through our childhood, we are influenced by teachings in the name of 'God', our Nanny says, "He is watching everything from above", or "the final redemption is in His court". As a child, its not in my control to make people stop throwing random ideas at me in His name. Shouldn't someone be answerable?

The bottom-line, I feel is, if people are brought us as believers of reason, I doubt many of them would turn to organized religion in the hope of comfort or happiness. An idea is: we should all be atheists by default.

Till now, atheism has been under the wraps more or less. Never in history has the spread of information been so fast as now. Now, more and more people are being exposed to atheistic ideas through sitcoms (eg. House MD, Boston Legal), through the internet, through books etc. Atheists are portrayed as reasonable people, who bear no evil in heart and have an excellent set of morals, more so even when compared to religious folk.

This makes me think atheism has a lot of hope in the future. With more and more people 'thinking', religious fanaticism (or even subscription) should ebb. Maybe the world would end up being a safer, more peaceful place...

God...

Recently had some thoughts about God (again!), and now I am wondering whether I am an atheist or not… The thought of someone being up there, willing to take the burden of your shoulders, is so comforting. That the weight of the world isn’t on your shoulders. Maybe that someone is luck, chance, probability, but it is still there. And putting your trust in that leaves you free to work carefree. Isn’t that the most important thing?

It isn't a conventional god, its my own, for my happiness!