4th World Atheist Conference Number – Periyar on God
There is no god!; There is no god at all; He who created god is a fool; He who propagates god is a rogue; He who worships god is a barbarian.
I will explain further why we say so. He who created the soul, heaven, hell, abode for the deceased is a rouge. He who believes all these is the worst rogue. They tell us that we have no wisdom. They tell us that we have no brains. They call us fools and barbarians.
We are not ashamed of their false propaganda and insinuating remarks. Is there anyone who could explain what “next birth” means? Do you think that there is any place where the dead parents are alive? It is the Brahmins who preach all these. Our own fools give rice, dhall etc to Brahmins and prostrate.
The Brahmins say that they take all these to the parents. You ask the Brahmin, as to where he has seen the dead parents in Heaven or hell or in their next birth in this world. You do not get a convincing reply. The Brahmin plays hoax and swindles our people. Yet, no person who believes him and offers him all things for his deceased parents takes the pain to question the Brahmin. He simply says, “I do not know anything about all that. I simply fall at the feet of a Brahmin with my wife and children”. What are we to think of these idiotic acts? What is wrong in our calling them fools?
God
Who said that there is god? No one is able to say that so and so showed god. They simply blink. They say, somebody said so! The spiritual leaders say that god was not created by anybody. He came into being of his own accord. In that case, why should they pick up a quarrel with me? I only accuse the creator of god. They say that he was not at all created. Then I go a step further and ask, as to how the Brahmins came to know of god coming into being, when others knew not anything about his coming into being of his own accord. They say that god is very powerful. How did they come to know of it? How is it others were not able to know of it? Are all others fools? Why is it that the matters related to god are said to be known only to the Brahmins? Why did god not make others know him? Because we have intelligence we probe into these matters.
Origin of God
There was absolutely no such thing as god in the early days. God was familiarized only during the past 3000 years. Before that, there was no talk about god. When man heard the thunder, he conceived out of fear that there was one powerful being. When it rained he presumed that there was one powerful being for rain. When winds blew he assumed that there was one powerful being controlling winds. When darkness came he thought similarly. When lightning flashed he thought similarly.
It is this sort of thinking that led to believe in Devas and gods. Generally the people came to know of various Devas and gods controlling various happenings this way. Later on Indiran was created as the King of Devas. Then more gods were created, one to look after birth, one to protect the born and one to destroy the living. They were Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Nothing was understandable Man began to think that there was one to control. Yet he did not consider him as god. He respected him as we now respect a minster. We have many ministers in the cabinet. Just like that man conceived one powerful controlling power behind everything. The veda says that there is a Deva for looking after a particular thing. The Christian began to believe in god only 2000 years ago. Muslims after began to believe in god only some 1500 years ago. Islam had a change some 1500 years ago. But Brahmins created gods some 3000 years ago. It was only after the Vedas were made. There was no god during the vedic age. It is only after the advent of vedas that Hindu gods were created.
What did the Brahmins say about the gods then? They said that there is god. when asked where, he is the Brahmin who said, he cannot be seen. When you raise the doubt whether a Brahmin at least is able to see god and if so, how he looks like, he replied that he cannot be touched. He said that god has no shape. When you ask how to believe him, he said that god is imperceivable.
If things are so bad, then how to say that the Brahmins are not fools. How are we to call them wise. If no one is able to see or touch or feel god, how is it possible for the Brahmins alone to know about god? How did they come to know the existence of god? Our people blindly believe what the Brahmins preach. Is it not idiocy? Let any one substantiate with fresh proofs at least, to prove the existence of god.
Does the Brahmin stop with that? He says that god is all powerful. He says that everything goes on in the world because of god. He attributes very high qualities to god. He says that the god is pure, kind, honest and unbiased. When you ask him how to believe all these, he simply wants the people to believe everything. If it is true that god has super natural powers, why is he not able to make me believe him? When he is not able to do this, how am I to respect him? Where are his great powers? His powers could not make the people know about him. What is the world going to lose by denying the existence of such a god? The total population of the world is estimated to be 450 crores. Out of this population, 200 Crores of people are atheists. No god is able to convert the non-believer as a believer of god.
Does the Brahmin keep quiet after creating god? He further wants to propagate god. That is why I say he is a scoundrel. He says that god is powerful. Then why should he go on propagating about god.
You see what the Brahmin does. He builds a temple. He gives shape to god. Saying that god has no shape he gives different shapes to god. Where from does he learn the form of god? Whoever talks about god, describes his shape as a human being. All other religions say that there is no shape, for the god. But the Brahmin alone asserts that Hindu gods have shapes. What does he mean by it? The shape remains permanent. Has he got any sense in creating many gods with many shapes? One god has one head only. Another god has two heads. There are other gods which have four heads, five heads and six heads. Does he stop with that? Raavana who opposed god Rama had ten heads. You know, why? His motive is to enhance the greatness of Rama. He did the same regarding hands. Some gods have six hands. Some gods have many hands. All these are done with the motive of deceiving the people. To dupe the people he concocted fantastic stories. How could a sensible man with average intelligence accept all these absurdities? What are we going to lose if we do not believe these grandma stories?
Should not a rational man think about all these? How long are we to go on hearing these cock and bull stories, silently nodding out heads and continue to live as a low born Shudra? If we have any self-respect, should we not destroy all these non-sense? There is not a single god with good traits.
You take the case of Shiva. He had five heads. Another God Brahma also had five heads. It is said that Shiva’s wife Parvathi got confused. She was not able to identify her husband as both had five heads. She complained to her husband about her difficulty. Shiva was perturbed. He decided to take immediate action. You know what he did. He quelled out one of heads of Brahma to enable Parvathi to recognise him without difficulty. What do you think about this story of god? Do you think that Shiva behaved well?
Let me ask them why four or five heads are needed. Is it necessary to have so many heads to eat the food? They say that the four heads face four directions and the fifth head on the top of the head is to look at the sky. Where are authentic proofs for all these? These persons simply go on spinning fictitious stories.
The creator of god said that there is no shape for god. He did not say that gods had so many heads. He said that god is only a philosophy. God is said to be beyond all senses. The Alwars, Nayanmars and Mahans did not say that god had a definite shape. Then how did the present gods get definite shapes? How is it right to keep the idols in the temples calling them gods? Is not the creator of the god a scoundrel? Is he not a fool, who gave a definite shape to god? If it is true that god cannot be seen or touched, is there any meaning in offering food for him and that too six times a day? Because there are fools to spend money on all these, these scoundrels go on swindling. Who sees the god eating? Does god need food six times to exist? Which person places a morsel of food into the mouth of god? Does the god digest the food? Did anyone see the god going to the toilet at least once a day? Who has seen him pass urine? He does not move. Then where does he attend to nature’s calls? Those who do not think and ask are considered as great. They are deemed as theists.
If it is true that god does not want anything, why should these Brahmins make the gods marry? What for a wife, children and so on?
One god has two wives. Some have thousands. Why do gods need thousands of wives? They do not think about and answer. They don’t leave the matter as it is. They celebrate the marriage not once but regularly every year. Our people who devotedly attend the marriages of gods do not ask them as to what happened to the marriage made last year? Did the wife elope with somebody? Or did she die of any disease? Or is there any law that marriages of gods are valid for only one year? Who cares to question all these? What a fool one must be to simply go on attending the marriage of gods every year. You see how we are made fools. If it is true that god is the embodiment of virtues, how could we see the gods having relations with concubines?
Gods Subramania, Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna all have concubines as per the Epics! Does anyone ask why they need concubines apart from so many wives. These fellows who created gods, do not leave with that. They have written many stories about their conduct and character. How horrible it is for their gods to behave as immoral wretches.
Some gods are said to have forced the wives of others to have intercourse. In some cases they were exposed. Some gods have to eat the humble pie. Some received severe punishments also. All these are created in the name of gods. You can still see such things celebrated as a festival in Hindu temples. The god at Srirangam comes to Uraiyur in search of a prostitute. The Brahmins carry the god on their shoulders. They wait for the whole night. Again in the morning they carry the stone idol back to Srirangam. This is celebrated as a festival every year. Just like during festivals you find the gods going to the houses of prostitutes. No god could be considered as having any respect for morality. The character and conduct of Shiva as well as Vishnu is pictured very badly. Do you think the people could raise their standards by these gods? Is there any possibility of having a society with high moral standards? Should there be a wife and a prostitute for gods? How could a sensible man agree to all these morasses in Hinduism.
Is the God Kind?
They say that god is the embodiment of love and kindness. You go and see the gods. Gods have knives, swords, spears, bows and arrows, hammers, sharp weapons and all sorts of fearful instruments in their hands. Are the Hindu gods decoits, robbers, plunderers and murderers? How are we to agree with the statement that the gods are kind? If it is true that Shiva is the embodiment of love, why should he have a spear – in his hand? I am not telling these for mere fun. You must all think of these things very seriously. You must know to what extent we are made fools. We live as men with all these gods. What for these gods? Why these incarnations of gods? Why a god is born to Shiva? What for a Vishnu as god? What have they done?
It is said that they killed many people. It is described that they killed the Asuras, Rakshasas and crores of people; even as a butcher kills innumerable goats. Are the gods butchers and murderers? They call themselves gods, In the epic Ramayana it is stated that Rama killed three crores of people. He is said to have lessened the burden of the earth (Booma Devi). What work is mainly allotted to gods in Hinduism? They are merely to kill, murder and massacre. If you begin to think, you will realise many absurdities about these gods, temples and religion.
It is only the fools who have hesitated to think as though these matters are not concerned to them.
You see how we people were duped all these years. How many have become fools? You should all think over at least now, as to what benefit we derive by these shastras and scriptures dealing about the temple and gods?
These persons could have created a single purana for Hinduism. There are innumerable puranas. Anything is said in the name of puranas. They talk of Ramayana. Suddenly they talk about Kanda purana, Vinayaga purana and so on. What are all these Puranas? You take any purana. It is a collection of obscene, vulgar and unbelievable things.
They talk high of Hindu gods. But no god is found to be free from obscenity, immorality and brutal behaviours. Should there be not some amount of decency and truth, at least in the matter of gods? It does not matter if Brahmin had created deceitful things in the name of god; it does not matter much if they had succeeded in hoodwinking the ignorant people in the past. But I feel very much about the character of all gods as rogues, immoral wretches and murderers. Is there one god that a man could willingly accept?
In our society we have so many courts, police forces and jails. Are all these to the credit of the so many Hindu gods?
So I wish to rightly say that it is because of all these Hindu gods our people have become fools. It is these Hindu gods which are responsible for the increasing immorality and horrible crimes. Our people are today bold enough to do anything, whether just or unjust whether good or bad.
If we all attempt to bring in a new change by making everyone a rationalist, we will definitely have a better society. When once a man becomes a rationalist he will not think of harming others. A rationalist will feel for others. He would think his neighbour as a human being, like himself. What is it we find today? Those who exploited others are still having more and more opportunities to exploit. They go on with their anti-social, activities. So I request you to think over the real cause for the ruination of our lives. What is the reason for our inhuman life? What led to the stagnation of progress and advancement of so many millions of our people?
Is it not the creation of god, religion, shastras, customs, vedas and spiritual heads, that are responsible for our degradation and backwardness? Don’t mistake me for blaming. If you yourself think of all these Independently, you will agree with me. When did the Brahmins create all these things? It would be 2000, 3000 years ago that gods were created. It is only after that, stories were written about gods. I think Ramayana was written some 2000 years ago. The advent of Christianity could be traced correctly as far back as 2000 years only. Islam had its birth only 1500 years ago.
Primitive man
How was the primitive man? Do you know how man was living some 1500 or 2000 years ago? Did he wear any dress? He used leaves to cover his body. He was roaming in forests. He ate green vegetables and raw fruits. He ate the fish without cooking. He ate the raw flesh of the animals. He did things according to his knowledge and experience. He did not have, advanced education as we have. When it is so, the intelligent people make use of our ignorance and create hopelessly unbelievable things. All things beyond human comprehension and belief are found in every religion. Religion is made out of falsehoods and lies. You take Ramayana, Bharatham, Hindu religion, Saivitism, Vaishnavism, Christianity and Islam. There is no religion which fully enumerates truths. Because the period of birth of all those changed, there is some difference in the quality of nature of lies. Supposing any one ventures to create a new religion now, he will do so only. According to the existing present circumstances. He will base the new religion on more facts, reasons and advanced knowledge. The creators of religions in the past based them on ignorance.
In the past a god was a ‘must’ for any religion and that god must have supernatural powers.
Hinduism started like that. From Hinduism other religions copied. That is all. Tomorrow the Brahmins would say that a great spiritual man is able to turn the cowdung into sandal paste. No one would think how it is possible. Why does he say so and dupe us? He would even blabber that one is capable of making the dead man come back to life. Just like that they go on bluffing. They talk of miracles by god men. They attribute abnormal qualities to ‘mahans’. Their point is to stress the greatness of divinity, spiritual leaders and mahans. On the whole all these fellows are liars.
EPICS
You consider what Ramayana of Bharatham is? Without bluffs they cannot exist. They say that Rama was born to Dasaratha. It is said that Dasaratha lived for 60,000 years and that he had 40,000 wives. Where is he now? Won’t we ask? How could a man live for 60,000 years? Why should a man live 60,000 years? Just to bluff, he wrote that he lived for 60,000 years. Why should a man marry 40,000 wives. What is the necessity? Is it ever possible? Supposing he sees a wife a day it will take 300 years more to see her again. What will she do for 300 years? Do you think she will remain a virtuous wife? What sort of stories are these? How to believe such things? How could one man manage with 40,000 wives? Is he a machine? Should there be not limit for uttering cold lies? With all these absurdities how could one take Rama as a god? Should there be no decency in creating gods? Should they not give some respect to gods at least? What has Rama done? He performs the Aswametha Yagam. Did he do that at least as a human being? Is it to part with the wife for nothing and make her bring forth children in the immoral way that ‘Yagas’ are to be performed? I am not telling anything on my own. This is what is said about the ‘Yaga’ in the Ramayana itself. It is clearly stated that married women are entrusted to Brahmins for bodily relationship. The women consume the semen of Brahmins and give birth to children. Even for this, Brahmins were to be offered a lot of money. This is how Dasaratha got children. How to say that Rama was born to him? It is written that he got children not by his bodily relations with his wives.
Rama is said to be the incarnation (Avatar) of god. His birth is stated in detail. The Brahmins made Rama’s mother Kausalya naked. She was asked to lie on the ground. A horse was brought. Its penis was inserted into the vagina of Kausalya. this is how the Aswametha (Horse) Yagam was performed. You need not believe my words. You yourself read the Ramayana. You will find all these. why do I talk of all these in detail. You should know how ignorant people were in those days. The Brahmins created gods intelligently exploiting the ignorance of the people. Are we now still as ignorant as those people? So I like to categorically state, without hesitation, that gods were the creations out of the imagination of the Brahmins.
We can at least accept Ramayana if it is said as an imaginary story. Even granting that Rama’s birth is not so bad, should not the Brahmins make Rama, a decent and virtuous man? What have they done? they say that he killed this fellow, that fellow Ratchasas – Asuras – Vali and many others whom he met. You know why? You should all hear me carefully. Please note – whom he killed and why he did so. Rama himself says, “Do you know I took birth to massacre all the enemies of Brahmins!” Gentlemen, you can read this in the Ramayana.
If it is so, what do we understand? Is it not that Ramayana was written by Brahmins to put us to shame and disgrace? Why should we be called Shudras? Why should Rama kill the Shudras? In that case why should we call, ourselves Hindus? Why should we worship Rama as our god?
You see now what these Brahmins have done to safeguard themselves. He was able to succeed because we were fools.
He wrote Ramayana to ridicule the Shudras! But had he succeeded in making Rama, as a respectful god? What happened to his wife? She eloped with somebody. She lived with him and became pregnant. With that she came back. There is a different version about this. In another it is stated that Rama’s wife was kidnapped. If it is true that Rama is a god, how could he be unaware of this? He ought to have known that someone would come and knock away his wife by force. How could he go away leaving her without proper protection? What precautionary steps had he taken to safeguard his wife? Nothing! Is Rama a real god with great powers? How could he leave his wife, all alone and that too in the forest? As anticipated, things happened. As though Sita had arranged earlier that person met her. He asked her to accompany him. She quietly went with him: She did not come back. She was four months pregnant when she came back. Gentlemen, is this the way to write stories about gods? That is why we don’t accept Ramayana. You see these Brahmins made Sita a deity to be worshipped. Rama’s character you all know! He was, made a god. The Brahmins did not leave with that. They made his wife also a goddess. What will a foreigner think of us? Would he hesitate to say our gods are scoundrels? Our goddesses are Prostitutes?
Should we not have some sense to think over? If we have any respect for ourselves how could we tolerate all these? Why these absurd stories and disgraceful gods?
Look at our other gods as Krishna, Kandan, Murugan, Vinayaka, Siva, Vishnu! Who are they? How were they born?
Birth of Krishna
You should know how Krishna was born? The Brahmins describe fantastically about it. It seems Mahavishnu picked out two of his hairs. One hair became Krishna and the other became his brother. One of the hairs was white and other was black. Think over whether it is right, decent and proper for the god to be born out of hairs. If you don’t believe me you yourself read the puranas. Is this the way to create gods? How absurd it looks!
Vinayaga Puranam
Now I will tell you how another god was created. The Brahmins created Vinayaga as one of the Hindu gods. You will be interested to know how he was born.
It seems Paramasivam and Parvathi went to the forest. There, they saw a male elephant and a female elephant enjoying. On seeing this Parvathi wanted to have intercourse with her husband as an elephant. He consented. Both of them became elephants. They had intercourse and a male child was born to them as an elephant cub. Do you agree with all these? Is this the civilised way to create a god? This horrible god Vinayaka is seen everywhere in Tamil Nadu. This god is more popular here. This god is very recent origin.
It is said that there was a place called Vathapi. It is stated that some imported this god to our place. You know Mr. Meenakshi-sundaram. He is a learned scholar and a Vice – Chancellor. He has conducted research and found out certain truths. Beyond any doubt, he says authentically that Vinayaga was brought as god from the North. This business of importing a new god took place some 1200, 1300 years ago. Today it has become a big god for the Hindu world.
Subramania – God
What about Subramanian? It is a Hindu god created some 2000 years ago. There are two different versions given by Brahmins about the birth of this god. One is found, in the Ramayana itself. I have the book here (The book is handed over to the President of the meeting by Periyar and he reads the concerned passage)
Gentleman! See our people were not only fools then but also were devoid of any self-respect.
It is said the Devas went to Kailas, the abode of Lord Shiva and prayed for a commander (Senathipathi). It seems Siva agreed to fulfill the desires of the Devas. The Devas went away. Siva met his wife Parvathi and said that they should give a commander (Senathipathi). Both of them agreed. They both started to have intercourse.
Is this the way to give a Senathipathi? Why should they join together and enjoy for this sake? I am speaking with facts. Alright what happened next? They prolonged their intercourse not for hours or days or weeks or months. They were in the act of producing a Senathipathi for one thousand years at a stretch. Even then they could not get a child. The poor Devas were puzzled. They got terrified. At last they approached the couple and expressed their reluctance. On seeing the Devas the couple asked for the reason. The Devas feared if a child was born after 1000 years of intercourse it might even destroy them. Paramasivan and Parvathi put a sudden stop of their act of intercourse. This sudden break in the act of intercourse resulted in secreting semen as if a river is in floods. The stream of their semen passed through the rivers and reached the sea. As it floated on the sea it seems the semen clot had six heads.
What is this calculation? Why it should have only six heads? Who is going to explain?
The six headed semen stream reached the gangas. There a woman held it in her hands and embraced the river. it transformed into a peculiar human being with six heads. The woman somehow gave her milk to this god of six heads and named the child as Arumugam. This is the interpretation given by Vaishnavites. It is found in Valmiki Ramayana.
The Saivites give a different interpretation in that the Devas after waiting for 1000 years met Sivan and Parvathi. The Devas prostrated and asked them to stop. Siva refused. He said that if he stops the semen would rush out with great force. He advised the Devas to get up and hold their hands. They did accordingly. He stopped, semen came out. All the Devas received the semen in their hands. They asked what to do Siva asked them to drink. The Devas drank and the instantly became pregnant. Again they became worried and appealed to Siva. He showed a way out to abort. He asked them to go and have a bath in a particular tank; They anxiously went to the tank and had their bath. Abortion took place.
Gentlemen, all these are vivdly described in the puranas.
After all these things a few drops of Siva’s semen trickled down and they became the god Subramania. He is also called Kandan. In Sanskrit Kandan means semen. In Tamil we call ‘Kandan”. In the Sanskrit it is called ‘Skandan’ and it means excretion, that which is ejected.
See, what respect the Brahmins give to the gods. The Brahmins created gods in these repugnant ways.
Brahma
Look at the behaviour of another god Brahma. It is stated that he married his own daughter called Saraswathi. It is stated in the Puranas.
Brahma created a girl. She was beautiful. So he got passionate and forced desire. She refused and took to her heels. Brahma became a stag and his daughter too became stag. They both ran to god Siva. She complained to Siva about the behaviour of her father. Siva scolded Brahma. Brahma expressed that he got the desire on seeing her and that no one could control when love became lust. How could there be no sense to distinguish between mothers, sisters or daughters? Siva repeated the same to Brahma’s daughter. He realised that Siva too loved his own daughter.
Gentlemen! Why should stories be written? What for? Who gains by these stories? It is enough if you understand that such stories were written in those days when people were uneducated. They could not think of anything deeply. Today people have all facilities to gain knowledge. They are able to think and reason out.
I hope it is now clear to you that these puranas are not true. They are to be condemned as obscene, vulgar and detrimental to the progress of man.
Self-Respect (Rationalist) propaganda is not for diverting the attention of the people. The motto of rationalism is to call a spade a spade. There are people as Sankarachari, Madhavachari and others to divert the people from progress sitting in a high place, these “spiritual” heads command respect. People are made to believe them. That is why we form a separate organisation to enlighten the people. Without our propaganda man cannot become intelligent.
In one of my meetings I had to come in contact with Kunrakudi Adigalar. In his presence I spoke about the gods and puranas. I denied the existence of god and expressed that only a fool would believe in god. While he addressed he said that he believed in god. He blamed me for spreading atheism; but finally he threw the blame on those who created gods in those ways. He was not able to meet me by his arguments. He slipped away cleverly. How could anyone denounce the rationalist, when all the puranic stories are written so badly? The matter of dispute now is why such stories were written some 2000 years back. The people in those days were fools. But even now they build temple. They create gods. They spread religion. All these they do, thinking that people are even today fools. Why should they be envious of our rationalist movement? We are doing selfless service.
To this day, we don’t have our government. The kings who ruled in the past gave their full support to the Brahmins. They behaved like slaves. What were our chera, Chola, Pandiya kings doing? They highly respected the Brahmins.
It is only in this century things are changing. Even when I was a child, the ladies believed that the very sight of a brahmin was a blessing. There was a feeling that the presence of brahmins was to make them reach heaven. You may not be aware of all these now. I am telling of the past. When touching the cowdung is considered as sacred, even now, there is no wonder in considering the Brahmins as sacred then.
Atheists
How many changes we see in the world? It is estimated that the population of the world is about 400 to 450 crores. Of them nearly 125 crores of people say that they do not believe in god. About 100 crores of people take pride in calling themselves as rationalists.
In Russia 35 crores of people are atheists. They have demolished churches. They put the Bible into fire. They murdered religious priests. What is the result? You must know this. There is no poor man or rich man. All are equals. All are happy. In China out of 85 crores of people 75 crores of people are Buddhists. In Burma 2 crores of people are Buddhists. In Ceylon two third of the population, are buddhists. In Siam, three fourth of the population are Buddhists. All these people deny the existence of god. They are non-believers in god. They are atheists.
There are a number of Rationalist Associations in Europe. In Germany, Spain, Greece, it has become a sign of civilisation to have Rationalist Associations, Research Centres, Truth seekers associations. Thinkers Associations, Atheists Associations and so on. At every place there are many lakhs of people as members of these organisations. I had been to all these places. At Paris I stayed in the atheists association. They had published a magazine. You find a cross being cut with a sword. It is to represent that the cross is only a fanciful doll. God is being killed. It is only the Islam that has limited itself in uttering things in the name of religion. They care more for social unity.
Festivals
We have plenty of temples. For every mile you have at least 5 or 6 temples. In every village you have temples. There are even 20, 30, 100 gods in every temple. Everyday pooja is performed 3, 5, 6 times to all these gods.
Apart from this every year you have festivals 3 or 4 times. Youths long eagerly to see the girls in the festival times. The girls dress up well and come to temples and festivals to woo the lads. It is their meeting that is called festival. A few years ago to attract crowds the prostitutes were invited to the temples. In a big temple festival, even 100 prostitutes were invited.
Every prostitute used to go to the temple festival in her place. It was the old custom. Nowadays this custom is gradually fading out. We don’t allow our women folk to go out freely. They have the freedom to go to the temples and attend the festivals. What could they do? The males keep quiet when the ladies go to the temples only. They have no other chance to meet youths. So it is natural that temples festivals afford good opportunities for young boys and girls. Moreover all thinks needed to attract large crowds are arranged. Why so much of publicity for god? Why so much pomp and show? Why these festivals at all?
We are against these temples, gods and festivals. We are for making a better change. How is it possible? We believe that propaganda is the only way. We convince the people by arguments. We enlighten them with facts. Without this there is no scope for emancipation. So we awaken the people. Some people feel sorry because we attack gods. They don’t realise that is not possible to bring in the needed change without touching the evils of god, temple and religion. Look at the fastly changing world. many changes are taking place rapidly.
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(The Modern Rationalist – 4th January 1996)
