Friday, April 12, 2013

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Religion




When I was 14: I used to love the religious diversity because it meant a higher number of holidays in school. Number of religions was directly proportional to the number of holidays.

When I was 17: I took part in an inter-school debate in the favor of the topic, “Religious Diversity plays an important role in keeping India United!”

When I’m 20:  I do realize how naive I was, and that I’ve grown up. The thing that worries me is that the world didn’t grow up with me; that the world is still trapped in its illogical faith.

“Religion is like a PENIS: It’s okay to have it. It’s okay to be proud of it. But it’s not okay to wave it around in public or to shove it down people’s throats!” - Anonymous


What? Are your feelings hurt? Okay, I’ll define it in other words.

“Religion is like Circumcision. If you wait until someone is 21 to tell them about it, they probably wouldn’t be interested.”

Really, religion is the best thing that the man has ‘created’ for the sake of power. Religion is so damn serene and peaceful, that it has to use violence to prove those people wrong, who accuse it of being violent.


Now let me explain what ‘religion’ is, in very simple terms. Everyone has a religion. My religion is LITERATURE. My gods and idols are numerous like Dumbledore, Gandalf, Howard Roark, Professor Morrie, and Sherlock Holmes to name a few. The only ‘Messengers’ I believe in are authors like John Green, Markus Zusak, Ayn Rand, Dan Brown etc.

My religion DOES NOT ask me to follow any certain set of rules (It doesn’t matter whether those rules are beneficial or harmful for me). It doesn’t prohibit me from following other religions like Music or Painting. It doesn’t force me to read fantasy, young adult, erotic thriller, or classics. Dumbledore never said that following Gandalf would mean blasphemy towards him.

Now allow me to take you through a journey of, my dream destination, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I hope to make you all understand the real meaning of religion through the world of Harry Potter.

….Voldemort is dominating the world. He IS the religion- Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Jainism etc. He is in full power, creating havoc, despite the efforts of Dumbledore. Dumbledore is the epitome of love and is fighting hard with his little army.

To ensure his immortality and perpetual reign of power, Voldemort has torn apart his soul into six different parts and created the Horcruxes. His different Horcruxes are:

1. Book: Koran/Bible/Puranas. Textual commands written with ‘Imperio’ spell. It causes the victims (readers/believers) of the curse to follow the commands of the lord.


2. Ring: Astrology and faith.  Uses the ‘Expelliarmus’ spell. It disarms the victim of his rational self. It uses hocus-pocus to serve its purpose.


3. Locket: Works on the ‘Obliviate’ or memory charm. It defiles the memory and thinking of the victim. Used in preparing terrorists, religious fanatics, and delusional followers.


4. Cup: Originally used as a dining utensil, this was defiled by Voldemort. It keeps tabs on what people can eat, and what is ‘haram’. Those who don’t follow these prohibitions are sent directly to hell for eternal burning. It also releases various ‘Fatwas’ to keep people under control.

5. Nagini: Most protected and harmful horcrux- can take forms of Mosque, Temple, Church, Gurudwara etc. This institutionalizing concept is pure business, aimed at feeding the nagini and spreading the vicious circle of Voldemort.


6. Diadem: It manifests the harmful effects of Dark power. The original carving of the diadem has been modified from, “Wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure” to “Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has”. It works on the ‘Crucio’ spell and inflicts unbearable pain on the victim, who demands reason.

7. Harry:  A part of the soul of the Dark Lord is hidden inside every Harry, which is germinated with religious indoctrination. It doesn’t allow us to doubt anything about the lord, prohibits any questions, and forces us to believe in the shit that religion preaches, i.e. ‘A free thinker is satan’s slave’.  All of us have to destroy this horcrux first.

Voldemort hates Dumbledore, and perceives him as the biggest threat to his power, because-

1) Dumbledore is Gay: He doesn’t follow the orders of the Dark Lord, specified in the Horcruxes of Bible and Koran.

2) He is a Muggle-lover: He doesn’t follow the discriminating ‘Caste-system’ of Dark Lord. There are no Brahmins-Dalits, Catholic-Protestants, or Shia-Sunni for him.

3) He respects women:  He neither creates any ‘hijab’ for women nor restricts them from becoming priests/popes in churches. He doesn’t believe in the practice of ‘Sati-pratha’. He doesn’t create derogatory rules and regulations for women.

4) He is not afraid of the Dark Lord: He doesn’t believe in the ‘Judgment day’. He neither desires for the 72 virgins nor fears the wrath of the Lord.

Draco Malfoy: He is the perfect example of victims of (Religious) child abuse. Persons like him are beguiled of reason, right from the childhood. Their parents, elders, and the society abuse them with their religious indoctrination. They are deprived of the most critical aspect of one’s growth- the science of having doubts and raising questions. With time, they become just like their indoctrinators and no one can reason with them. [Sadly, some of my friends do fall in this category]. You need a Dumbledore to protect them.



Death Eaters: The messengers and most faithful supporters of Voldemort. Their sole aim is to spread his reign and kill and torture people for their own profit. Some of the prominent ones are- Zakir ‘khal’Naik, , Nir’mal’ baba, Paul ‘moneybhai’ Dhinakaran, Politicians like Akbaruddin ‘mental’ Owaisi, Praveen ‘bakbak’ Togadiya etc. 

They also form organizations and create havoc. Ex- Darool Uloom Deoband, Bajrang Dal, Khalistanis, Khaaps, Taliban etc. They ultimately use the death spell, ‘Avada Kedavra’ on the victims.

Dementors: Their sole purpose of existence is sucking out all the happy feelings and memories from you, feed on them, and then make yourself guilty for it. Various dementors include- Popes, Priests, Muftis, Mullas etc…

Harry Potter: Every one of us is a Harry Potter. We have parts of souls of all the ‘characters’ in us. I’m Hermione as I’m a bibliophile, and when I’m in doubt, I go to the library. I’m Ron as I have perpetual hunger for delicious food, and that I do feel insecure at times. I’m Fred and George as I only have humor and sarcasm as my faithful companions. And the list goes on. However, the problem is, we should be able to express these ‘souls’, rather than the ‘Inferi’ made out of us by the religion. It is difficult, but not impossible. As Dumbledore says, ‘happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light!’

Now for those people whose sentiments are hurt by this post, who are feeling offended and looking for sympathy- well, you will find sympathy in the dictionary, between shit and syphilis.

And just to clear my stand to some nincompoops: I’m a ‘rational’ theist. I believe in god; it’s just that I don’t believe in people, who talk about god. Confused? Well, I believe in morality, which is doing right regardless of what I’m told, and not in religion, which is doing what I’m told regardless of what is right. I believe that my religion i.e. literature is better than the common (ab)normal religions, because at least my religion accepts that it’s based on fictional stories, and doesn’t force me to buy it, unlike the ‘sky-daddies’ of those religions. What people should really understand is that killing for peace, is just like screwing for chastity!


Well, we all know what happened after the battle of Hogwarts. Harry did win, but after losing many friends and family members. I just hope that we will not have to lose any more friends because of this Voldemort. Hundreds of thousands of people have already suffered and died, in the hands of the religion. We can’t afford to add more to this list.


I rest my case, with this quote of Dumbledore- “It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.’

23 comments:

  1. Excellent post. I will be dealing with a few of these issues as well.
    .

    My blog ... binoa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi there! Do you use Twitter? I'd like to follow you if that would be ok. I'm absolutely enjoying your blog and
    look forward to new updates.

    my blog; 24option review

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, thanks a lot! You can find me on twitter by the name-Manas Barapnde, though I rarely use it.

      Delete
  3. hi,
    So are you trying to tell us ,you are athiest or something or some one who never believes in god.Do you think there is nobody who created you ?who created this universe ? and there is nobody who is looking at you and your course of actions ?You know what religion is not not be blamed here ,Blame the people who misinterprete this religions for their own selfish nature or requirements.And you harry potter is just a fame of imagination made by a author .You are the kind of person who does not belive in real things rather belive in reel.Try doing complete research on any religion or God.and then make such post.And by the way ,God is still watching your actions mr harry potter

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. You just read the post, but didn't understand it.
      2. I'm not an atheist, but a 'rational theist'.
      3. I KNOW, there is no one looking at me and my course of actions.
      4. If you know the religion so well, then prove that my accusations in the post about religion are wrong.
      5. Prove to me that Harry Potter is just a fragment of imagination, or that the religious books and morals(?) are real. I know, you can't.
      By the way, thanks for stopping by and reading this immature post. Your God has been watching your actions, and he is proud of you. :P

      Delete
  4. Hi manas,
    i know i cant change your thoughts and i am not trying to convince you. but i was keen to know why do you think like this ?
    Do you think there is nobody who created you ?who created this universe ?.And what would be your thoughts or religion be of ?if you would have never seen harry potter?would it be batman or super man

    Farah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Farah, first of all thank you for stopping by and reading this..:)

      You want to know why I think like this- It's because of all the things which I see, read about and observe. I'm literally fed up of coming across the harms caused by the religion. Religion has caused too much destruction.
      Also I don't care about who created me and this universe. Not to forget, I'm a science student..!
      And my views about religion has got nothing to do with Harry Potter. It's just an analogy. I just think if I have to believe in a fairy story, then it better be Harry Potter, rather than any religion. Hope you got the point. :)

      Delete
    2. I will always keep wondering, I guess, why so many people think ''someone'' created the universe, when there is no evidence of this whatsoever, except for things that human beings have written about it thousands of years ago. I don't mean to say that I ''am sure'' that it just came to be by a set of circumstances. I just don't know, I accept that and I move on. Why think about who created the universe when you could put your time into creating your own? Most people live over 60-70 years on this planet. Just try to think for a second about what one person could do on one day with that time. And then, for another 20.000 days at least! (This is just one of my many personal reasons for not caring about religion... Of course there are things you can get from it, such as assistance in bad times by praying, etc., but you can also get this from good friends or even a good song... It's about the feelings more than anything.) Oh well, I could go on and on forever, but this is enough;)

      Delete
    3. Hello Anonymous friend...Thanks for stopping by...:)

      And yeah this is what I have been trying to say to people. It is about the feelings, and it should remain at that level only. :)

      Delete
  5. Hmmm... Fine! Perspective changes with person....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe..! :)
      But I know that mine is right and awesome...:P

      Delete
  6. I could not resist commenting. Exceptionally well written!


    My page ... http://Wiki.myquran.org/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lol! :D People screwing up your blog eh? :D
    I loved it! Totally agreed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lolz...I guess so..;)
      I'm really enjoying it. :D
      Thank you..!!

      Delete
  8. I started reading this after you described it as satirical in IBL, I did not have too many hopes as good satire and sarcasm are as common as common sense in this world.

    But..you brought down the house man! Impeccable hold over both the language and expression. Let me add the images are like chocolate chips in a muffin; you have somehow mastered the quintessential brew to class. Zindagi roz class le na le Manas, you have sheer class! I tip my hat to you, one rational theist to another.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks a lot Pranav..!
      It feels really good to know that fellow bloggers appreciate your work.
      Thanks to IBL that I have the chance to interact with awesome people like you. :)

      PS- I'm not actually accustomed to such wonderful comments...;)

      Delete
    2. I really enjoyed reading your blog, excellent analogy with the harry potter story! have to say i agree with most of what i read, but in the end, some people, most people it seems, just need to beleive in something...a few thousound years ago they had their greek gods, and when they realised that was all nonsense, they invented some other stories to feel better about themselves, or whatever...just wish they would stop trying to convert everyone!! Maybe in another couple thousand years they'll bring back paganism, personnaly i find those stories more interesting!

      Delete
    3. That's the correct point. All these religions and gods are simply stories. And if they were only meant to make people feel better about themselves, it would have been fine with me. But no, they don't stop at this. The real problem arises, when these stories start interfering with our lives, and controlling our actions.
      Well, paganism is sure interesting..;)

      Delete
  9. Hey there,

    We are planning a meet of book bloggers & readers based in Indore. I was not able to locate your email ID on this blog. if you would be interested kindly leave a message at: contact@thetalespensieve.com and we will email you the details.

    Best Regards

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great post Manas. Few of your lines are exceent.

    I loved how you have expressed your ideas by comparing relegion with this great work of fantasy.

    Literature is my relegion. My ideals are numerous like howard like.
    This is so true.
    As you have mentioned, relegions have come from the minds that wanted to rule others. And yes, harry potter teaches more about the good and evil than any relegios texts do. What a wonderdul point.
    But still there are many people here commenting that you are an atheist. They still want to stick to their relegion despite of its consequences being known.


    Here is a wonderful quote by Ayn Rand.
    "Faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason. But you must remember that religion is an early form of philosophy, that the first attempts to explain the universe, to give a coherent frame of reference to man's life and a code of moral values, were made by religion, before men graduated or developed enough to have philosophy. And, as philosophies, some religions have very valuable moral points. They may have a good influence or proper principles to inculcate, but in a very contradictory context and, on a very -- how should I say it? -- dangerous or malevolent base: on the ground of faith."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Had a tough time typing the comment in my old cell phone. Ignore the typos :)

      Delete
  11. Hello Manas,

    Hope you are doing good. You have a very powerful blog, especially this blog posts comes out really well. I am writing to you looking for an honest review of my suspense, thriller, sci-fi story-book "Time Crawlers", published on June 14, 2018, via Kindle Direct Publishing. The book is 118 pages long.
    Alien Invasion, Dark Artificial Intelligence, Time-Travel, High-Tech Hindu Mythology, Djinn Folklore, Telekinetics and life-consuming Cosmic Entities are some major themes in my book which has 6 tightly-knit, fast-paced Sci-Fi stories.

    Your precious words would be a very big help to me and help me write better books in the future. Please let me know if you would be willing to share your valuable review. I will share the PDF or MOBI as required by you.

    Amazon US link here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DRPPGK6
    Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40540847-time-crawlers

    Please let me know how to proceed.

    Very Respectfully,
    Varun Sayal

    ReplyDelete