Religion and My Heroes
I realised my problem: My heroes cannot be religious. Not even in the tangential, esoteric, spiritual kind of way. Any intellectualisation of religion, in however flowery a language is a big no-no to me personally. Believing in superstitious woo, no matter how intellectually couched their reasons, immediately makes me despise them. If they weren't my heroes, it wouldn't matter. I am friends (and very close friends) with many devout Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, and Jews. I love them and respect them. I empathise with their human issues, and would be the first to rush to their side should they need me. I enjoy their company and bask in their love in return. I have no problems. For, just like me, they are flawed, imperfect, human. They may have qualities I look up to, but to me, they are equals. I do not intend to emulate them, nor do I wish them to lead me and this society into the future. I just wish them to lead happy, healthy lives while ideally not killing any other human. That is a low bar. And I am happy to set it low, since my expectations from them, other than an occasional evening of companionship (and perhaps a drink), are slim.
But heroes? That is a different breed. And while I do not expect them to be perfect, I expect them to be curious, questioning, and interested in finding out what they don't know. I like my heroes with doubts and "I don't know"s. I like them to be open to changing their minds, but only with reason. I want them to be better than me in most respects, but at least equal to me in rational thought. That is because I consider it to be the absolute minimum requirement. So low on intellectual rigour as to not require qualifying further. It is such a basic need for my hero not to believe in flying monkeys or winged horses or magic wafers that I would not even list these if I were to ever make a list of the qualities my hero would have.
I am sorry, Shehla. Perhaps, you are a good human. Perhaps, you will be a great leader of your people. Perhaps, you are misunderstood. Perhaps, you never asked to be a hero. But you were mine. As was Shashi Tharoor, and for similar reasons. You were both better than me in many ways, and (I believed) equal to me in rational thought when it came to religious superstition. But you have both failed in the most basic criteria that I believe a leader of 1.3 billion people in the 21st century must have. And for that, I am truly sorry. I wish you weren't my heroes. But you were. And now you aren't.
As they say, it isn't you, darling. It's me.
But heroes? That is a different breed. And while I do not expect them to be perfect, I expect them to be curious, questioning, and interested in finding out what they don't know. I like my heroes with doubts and "I don't know"s. I like them to be open to changing their minds, but only with reason. I want them to be better than me in most respects, but at least equal to me in rational thought. That is because I consider it to be the absolute minimum requirement. So low on intellectual rigour as to not require qualifying further. It is such a basic need for my hero not to believe in flying monkeys or winged horses or magic wafers that I would not even list these if I were to ever make a list of the qualities my hero would have.
I am sorry, Shehla. Perhaps, you are a good human. Perhaps, you will be a great leader of your people. Perhaps, you are misunderstood. Perhaps, you never asked to be a hero. But you were mine. As was Shashi Tharoor, and for similar reasons. You were both better than me in many ways, and (I believed) equal to me in rational thought when it came to religious superstition. But you have both failed in the most basic criteria that I believe a leader of 1.3 billion people in the 21st century must have. And for that, I am truly sorry. I wish you weren't my heroes. But you were. And now you aren't.
As they say, it isn't you, darling. It's me.
Same here. And the same goes for people who bring in religion couched as "spiritual"
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