How religion creates the most irrational of prejudices and customs, yet escapes criticism & rational scrutiny .

It's amazing how religion creates and promotes the most irrational of prejudices and yet considers itself to be immune from any rational scrutiny or criticism. And followers of religion ( brainwashed individuals ) give all sorts of absurd reasoning to justify their sticking tenaciously to their prejudices , in the face of growing evidence that the prejudice is not only irrational and unwarranted, but also harmful.

The classical example of such a irrational prejudice would be vegetarianism among many hindus. Despite the common knowledge that plant foods lack the essential nutrient Vitamin B12, India's scientific and medical community has largely overlooked and ignored the implications and consequences of widespread vegetarianism . Anyone having some knowledge of nutritional science would instantly realise the grave danger in such a situation-- what happens if an individual is lactose intolerant ( meaning s/he cannot digest lactose, the sugar in milk, and hence cannot drink milk )--such a person would depend upon yogurt* as the sole source of an essential nutrient in their diet . And if due to any reason , if this sole source of B12-yogurt is absent for long periods of time-- in my case, the consequences manifested in decline in memory and cognitive abilities, leading to poor academic performance and humiliation, ultimately culminating in full-blown mental illness.

I am sure, this situation is not rare in India-- India's public health authorities and the medical community has completely overlooked the issue and not even bothered to create awareness in the public about the dangers of B12 deficiency ( and the absolute need for including yogurt in diet ) . Indeed , despite the alarming figure that 81 % of urban middle class residents of Pune are atleast slightly deficient , India's scientific and medical establishment continues to overlook the issue. **

But what is even more amazing is the fact that some of the most voracious supporters of hindu-vegetarianism would leave no stone unturned in criticising the practice of muslim women compelled to wear veils ( " burqa " ) . What an amazing hypocrisy, upholding one's own irrational prejudice but criticising another's irrational social custom.





Vegetarianism among hindus and the practice of wearing veils among muslim women are both symptoms of a disease called religion.

**- the fact that India's scientific and medical community has largely ignored this alarming situation can be explained invoking the concept of SELECTIVE EXPOSURE-human beings have the tendency to ignore or discredit information which is highly inconsistent with our strongly-held attitudes and prejudices.

*- yogurt refers to what is known as " curd " in india.