Life is a Supermarket.....u pick up what u like?...think again!

In life, we often do everything as we are told to do right from the beginning of our young age. We respect elders, obey our parents, do errands, basically listen & act everything as it has been told to us.

We follow all the rules of society as we are a part of it & tend to behave & implement all of the societal rules imposed & if we don't or failing in doing so, there is widespread resentment & your either punished or counselled into why such an act is considered wrong or immoral in nature & a subsequent number of sessions are held in order to correct our so called immorality.

We are born into a family of maybe Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish belief. We are baptised or christened at the Catholic church as a way of cleansing our sins of Adam & Eve. In Hinduism we have Naamkaran. Muslims or Islam followers have Tahnik, Aqiqah & Khaitan. Jewish people have Brit Milah for males & Brit Brat for females.
Confirmation as we do in Catholicism is applied to almost all the religions mentioned above & ranges between 12 years in Judaism, 14-15 years in Catholicism, 10 years in Islam or Muslims.

At 18 years old, we feel the need to obtain a driving license atleast in India & 16 years maybe in others like the European Union.

The same age of 18 years also applies when we need to choose or vote for a representative for an election.

In India, the legal drinking age is 21 years for beer while 25 years for distilled spirits which as a matter of fact is the highest in the world & the other countries which have a much lower age of 16 years.

The point that I am about to make may not be accepted by many but it does make the most sense considering the way we live each day of our lives.

We follow all of society's rules be it, no drinking & driving, no smoking, no kissing, etcetera. Society, the Government, the Country or our very Nation imposes rules, bye-laws that are expected to be followed at a certain age according to the rulebook.

Now here is the tough part, Why does religion have to be enforced upon us when we are just born & have no clue whatsoever whether the right or wrong decision has been made?
It is like we have been sucked into something without having the very knowledge or a clear understanding as to what exactly is happening. If there are major decisions that the society implements for us to follow, why isn't religion one of those criterion's that need to be addressed first. It is because of this very reason we have people who turn religious extremists, the reason being, the first book or their first lesson of life is learnt from that of a book that was written a thousand years ago which may obviously refer to or was written in order to address the people of that time. Religious texts often use coercion & those who do not follow as said by the holy book are often criticised or for worse executed by their very own so called brethren.

If there is a decision that needs to be taken or made is left upto society to decide, Religion should too be one of them. We find ourselves today in the worst tragic stories of all time, war in every town, all because of religion & this happens because our holy books protest against those who do not believe in the religion that we follow are to perish.

If there is a God above all of us, I am sure he wouldn't like anything of what is going on on his created planet. Man has taken the literal meaning of what God or Human Beings have interpreted from God's words & that cannot be applied in today's society as every religion considers itself superior than the other & non-believers are threatened with dire consequences.

Again, coming back to the main point, we follow all what is done by the others as a whole but we fail to follow what we really want to do all because there is something called as limits or restrictions when broken have repercussions.

I truly feel that we as humans choose what we like, what we can connect to, what benefits us in someway, what satisfies our needs & what provides value to our lives.

If I like a sports car provided I have the money I'd have it all because it appealed to me with its specifications, speed, design & maybe the very term luxury that is going to add a ton to my pride or ego. Now this may apply to almost any of us irrespective of the car, it could be a product, a daily necessity, an entertainment media, it all depends but at the end of the deal, it serves the need that we desire & provided we are in a lawful age to make use of it.

If we apply such basic facts of economics like needs & wants along with the ability to purchase can be fulfilled or satisfied as per the demand, why can't we do the same for religion, we are in it just because we were told we were in it or rather born with it. If our life can be satisfied by the choices we make by just choosing wisely when it comes to consumer products, why not the biggest decision of our lives being religion needs to be born with us? aren't we mature beings who apply facts to everyday life then why not apply it right where the center of our behaviour erupts & character is moulded. Religions are at present causing much trouble than the health hazards & natural calamities as a whole because people are imposed & so bound to what they believe that they often fail to have an open mind & block or shut their minds off the moment they realise there is something against or does not consist of the holy book sayings.

It is because of such unknown choices that we end up hating the persons who follow other faiths all because we have not studied all of them but just studied one & made the ultimate choice of our life till death.

I honestly feel that religion needs to be chosen by an individual at at age above 15 or even 18 years if required after knowing which religion is the best for himself, suits his life & understands the true meaning of not only his religion but faith as a whole.

We do our research when it comes to choosing the right product off the supermarket shelf, looking at factors like price, attractiveness/packaging, nutritional value, quantity & so on. If we are born to be so choosy in almost every day of our lives, we might as well be even more choosier on the one faith that can change the way we live & act for not only our well being but society as a whole.

P.S. - For those who doubt me being an atheist or agnostic, I am NOT!!