In the past two years, India has seen the conviction of two godmen charged with raping a minor, murder and inducing riots. Millions used to watch them on television and thousands gathered in their pandals. Their followers had such piety towards them, towards these men of flesh and bone. That it became so easy for these self-proclaimed godmen to manipulate and extort money and raise their empire of gold with a combined net worth which surpasses ten thousand crores. Looking at several other examples as such, religion has been turned into a successful business model. India, a land of several gods is nothing short of a gold mine for these gold diggers.

But how do these con men rise to such heights and flourish there? One reason is, they are never questioned upon their authority to state such claims. Less than one percent of Indians fall under atheistic view in life, less than that are seekers of truth. Though I don’t support the atheistic view I do support seekers, because they are the breed who question and they question everything. At the same time, a true seeker is open to change, depending upon what it finds in his search of God. If these con men are questioned and reasoned with upon their statements, it will discourage them.

Religion is the by-product of fear. For much of human history it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn’t killing people in the name of god a pretty good definition of insanity? Arthur C. Clarke.

In a shocking statement released after the conviction of asharam, he states, “Raping girls no sin for ‘Brahmgyani’ like me”. Definately for a puny Brahmgyani. This leads us to the second reason. Fear is a synonym of religion. You cannot separate one from another until you grow righteous rather than religious. How many of us actually study our own religion other than what we are told. If we don’t equip ourselves with the knowledge of our own religion we lay bare in front of these con men to make a fool out of us. Which eventually makes us fearful and prone to exploitation.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character. Give him power. Abraham Lincoln.

These con men are insanely powerful. Ministers turn to them, Prime ministers revere them. But the aura that surrounds them is sinister. Their works defile the nature of compassion. For instance, after ram rahim was convicted his hired men staged riots which killed forty innocent lives. They stand for nothing more than corruption and people still follow them. A person’s character is known by the fruit he or she bears but after knowing their fruits why is it hard for people to disown them? They are fearful. Not of God, but of godmen. Irony. I am not against priests or gurus. But yes, I am against godmen culture in India. These con men are not giving you knowledge of God but herding you as goats, later to be butchered. If only, we start questioning. We can save ourselves from their dharma drama.