How religion relies upon the brainwashing of young minds for its survival .

Some supporters of religion say that Religious beliefs are not imposed or forced on society; if it were so, then how come there are non-religious/ atheist people in society ?

The truth is , religion is propagated from generation to generation through the indoctrination of young minds. The religious indoctrination of small children by their religious parents is the worst form of imposition of religious beliefs on society. Children in the age group of 5 to 10 years do not have the mental capabilities to distinguish between the real and the imaginary. They see cartoon programmes on TV and believe in the existence of cartoon characters like Superman, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. Similarly, their parents tell them mythological and religious tales , and they start believing in the existence of mythological characters as well. As they grow up, their parents and the society discourage their belief in Superman but encourage and reward their belief in Hanuman and Shiva. Parents and society convey the message to young minds that belief in flying monkey ( Hanuman ) or virgin mother ( virgin mary ) is virtuous and is held in high regard by society , but belief in superman or Cinderella is looked upon as childish and immature. Parents reward children's religious beliefs through affection and approval, and discourage any questioning of religious beliefs through scolding and expressing disapproval.

By the time the kids reach teenage years, religious ideas are already embedded permanently in their minds. By this time, youngsters have the capablity to distinguish between real and imnaginary; they do not believe any more in the existence of Superman , but their belief in Hanuman is intact . Why ? Simply because the belief in Hanuman was encouraged by society , while belief in Superman was discouraged and mocked as being childish.

If , children were not brainwashed about religious beliefs when they were small, but instead told about religion only when they had attained a degree of mental maturity ( say, teenage years ) , they would refuse to believe in religion.

If only parents stop the religious brainwashing of their small children and instead wait for adolescence to tell them about their religious beliefs, religion would die a natural death. Many hindu adults would find the story of a virgin mother as being absurd and weird , but would regard a story of a flying monkey as being worthy of respect. Thats because of the brainwashing when they were children.

Not only children, adults too are brainwashed with religious garbage. Nearby my house is a large park . People had bought homes facing the park , desiring to enjoy the greenery and open air of the park. Instead, a large hindu temple was built there by illegally grabbing the public land of the park. Not only religious people were audacious enough to grab public land illegally, they also play loud devotional music in the temple , thereby ensuring that all people who live near the temple are brainwashed . The people who had bought homes near the temple had done so to enjoy the green environment , but instead got religious garbage being played at loud volumes almost daily . Isn't this is the worst form of brainwashing ?

What do you call a job which pays you a handsome salary , but which makes you stay at places with long power cuts ( anywhere from 4-12 hours daily ), and the absence of proper basic infrastructure and market ? Money ( currency notes ) by themselves are useless , until they can be exchanged for attractive consumer goods . In a place with 8-hour long power cuts , consumer goods, even if available , are useless. Whats more, the poor living conditions, and general negative atmosphere ( lack of basic development or hope for the future of small towns in UP can be extremely depressing.) The absence of regular power supply would mean I would be cut off from the internet, including news ( would english newspapers be available in Sitapur ? )

Sounds like a perfect recipe for negative thoughts and depression.

The job of a bank officer in a public sector bank in UP can either be seen as a Punishment if the person is pessimistic , or as a Sacrifice if the person is of a optimistic and positive attitude.
Its always better to have a postitive attitude in life, so i guess I should look at the prospective job as a sacrifice. If i were a married man, I would see my job as a sacrifice for my family's well-being. But given the fact that as a non-believer , I would never get to marry, I wonder for whom I would be sacrificing if i join this job ?

Though India is growing at 8 % annually, only places like Delhi ( new roads, buildings, Metro rail, flyovers, malls, Mc Donalds, supermarkets) , Mumbai and Bangalore get to feel the effect of 8 % growth at ground level. The term " emerging economy " sounds relevant only if you live in a place with reliable power supply, new metro trains, flyovers and new shiny buildings with glass facades.

The term "emerging economy" is meaningless for someone wiping the sweat from his forehead amid 8-hour long powercuts. Many such people can be found in Sitapur and Faizabad.

Uttar Pradesh is one of the most hopeless of all indian states , in terms of its future prospects . Why ? Simply because the absence of political interest and will-power to bring about development and attract investors. With the electoral fortunes of political parties being decided by ethnic and caste considerations rather than developmental issues like Bijli, Sadak, Paani, its little wonder that large areas of the state lack even the basic amenities and infrastructure.

Needless to say, other states have had much better record in development .This can be evident from economic data of states- UP lags behind in almost all indicators of socio-economic development. Having seen the remarkable developmental levels in Mysore ( which is basically just a small town ) , I have confirmed the difference visually too.

I return to my original point - is the job of a bank officer in UP worth trying for , given the fact that posting in a small town is almost certain ? What are the alternatives ? Sometimes i feel i would be happier doing the unstable clerical job of medical transcriptionist in Hyderabad or Bangalore than the higly paid permanent job of Bank officer in Sitapur.

( My parents say they would be able to arrange for a decent place of posting for me ,through " sources "- But i wonder if that is purely wishful thinking ,given the fact that my father has worked in small towns/villages for the greater part of his career )