Since its inception through Karl Marx in 1843 in the Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of the Right, the debate over whether religion is the opium of the masses has been raging across the globe for a very long time, and the fume shows no signs of waning till date. Marx was of the view that religion was not only used by those in power to oppress the workers, but it also made them feel better about being oppressed when they couldn’t afford real opium. The most uncompromising critic of religion in modern times firmly believed that religion provided a Page 5 illusory escape from the troubles of the real world.

The newly launched book, Is Religion Opium of the Masses? (A Brief History of the Evolution of Religion) by Sankar Prasad Mitra is a scholarly and encyclopaedic addition to this unending debate. At the launch of the book at Oxford Bookstore, all the speakers, while not subscribing fully to the Marxian view, did highlight how religion has been used by some people for centuries and in most countries to divide and oppress others, blissfully forgetting the unifying role of religion propagated since antiquity by countless sages, monks, religious preachers, philosophers, intellectuals, and social reformers. Mitra does not boast of being a specialist in this field, as his field of study has been civil engineering and his profession is in a related field, but the cosmopolitan ambience in which his childhood was nurtured has gone a long way in inculcating in him a love and passion for the beneficial side of religion and respect for all faiths and beliefs in communities all over the world. Significantly, the book has been dedicated to millions of people who have suffered from the days of the “Hunter-Gatherer” and are still suffering simply because some people have been of the view that their Almighty is superior to the gods of others. The author rues the fact that religion has been the most commonly used tool for persecution and exploitation down the ages, and religious sentiment among people has been often misused for the purpose of creating social and communal strife with battle cries like ‘Jihad’, ‘Dharma Yuddhya’ and ‘Crusade.’

As direct inspiration behind the writing of the present book, the author cites a few factors: his passion for history since childhood; his long stay in Mumbai, which helped him get familiar with the culture, customs, and religious practices of many communities; his extensive travels in many countries; and his visits to a great number of museums, libraries, and bookshops around the world. In addition to these, he also attended many seminars and conferences relating to religion and history and got to interact with many people, which helped suffuse him with an extensive worldview and the historiography of many religions and cultures. Starting from how and why the religions of the different communities evolved through the ages, the writer goes on to show in the subsequent chapters the close link between the evolution of mankind and the progress of civilisation with that of religions in the different parts of the world. In the process, he dwells on a host of issues like the origin of ancient deities, Mother Goddess, the cult of the phallus, Father God, and countless other deities and rituals; the commencement of great civilisations and organised religions; the arrival of priests and demi-gods; the contributions of religions to the progress of civilisation and in bringing peace and stability to society; conflicts among believers of different religions; and, finally, Marx’s view on religion. Browsing through the pages, one gets to know encyclopaedic knowledge about the different courses of history across the world and across ages while embarking on a quest for the origin and development of religion from its embryonic stage.

Mitra strongly pushes for the point that ancient deities were conceived from the need for safety, security, and survival, along with gratitude, reverence, or awe. But, he argues, religions were born from other needs. When a number of people started living together in a group, for the sake of maintaining peace and harmony in the group, some common codes were introduced, whose violation would result in the disintegration of that group. Over a period of time, such codes turned into religion. It is true that all major religions of today have gifted humanity with lofty philosophies and subtle thought processes preached and practised by saints, prophets, and religious gurus of all communities and enshrined in books like the Torah, Zenda Avesta, the Vedas, the Upanishads, Tripitaka, the Bible, the Quran, etc. But, the author feels, the vast masses in ancient times did not bother with or understand spirituality in religion; it was there to be pondered over or imbibed by the educated or enlightened few. In the past and even at present, people in general worship gods and goddesses for making their lives safe and secure and to avoid the fury of unnatural or unknown forces. However, the existential need for finding and worshipping deities, common codes, and spirituality all got mixed up over time, and today’s religions are a combination of all these phenomena that have evolved down the ages since the arrival of man on earth. It is not merely by presenting dry facts and unrelenting analysis and logic that the author tries to buttress his point, but a great number of interesting and amazing facts and anecdotes are introduced to make the narrative readable. While discussing, for example, animal worship, the writer mentions that the gods of Egypt had human bodies with animal heads; the mother goddesses of Mesopotamia had animal companions; the symbols of zodiac signs are animals; and Hindus worship Hanuman and Naga with full reverence. As per Greek historians, during Alexander’s invasion of India, many tribes in Punjab used to carry serpent totems on battlefields.

Although the main force behind the emergence of religions in the early stages was safety and survival issues, the concept of spirituality has become an integral part of all religions in today’s world. Moreover, with the passage of time, necessary reforms have been introduced in many religions to cope with the changing scenario and challenges of society. The disintegration of religions would have taken place had they not been protected by their inherent strength to face reforms or change. Religion has survived because it has not merely been opium or a tool of oppression, as Marx argued. On the contrary, all major religions in the world have greatly contributed through their uplifting ethical and spiritual contents, cherished and propagated in religious tomes and by religious preachers and reformers. Since ancient times, religion has been an inspiration for all great cultures, works of art, and branches of human knowledge and understanding like literature, painting, music, sculpture, mathematics, philosophy, engineering, and what not. Devotion to God has led to the emergence of great architectural works like the amazing temples of Madurai and Angkor Wat, mosques at Mecca, churches at the Vatican or Seville, and many Buddhist monasteries in the most inaccessible locations. But the spread of education, new socio-economic structures, rationalism, economic freedom, and the fundamental rights of individuals in today’s world have contributed greatly to the decline in the influence of religions in the affairs and activities of man and society in a positive way. The writer points out that religious fundamentalism is on the rise in many parts of the world, largely because of the lack of education and poor job opportunities in those areas. Such unfortunate trends do not augur well for any society, and they are undoing the benevolent legacy of religion around the world. Not fully willing to buy Marx’s logic, the author in the concluding pages does not, however, feel hesitant to state that with rapid technological developments, the collapse of old social order, speed of travel, the cosmopolitan nature of educational institutions and workplaces, and the growing assertion of individual choice and voice, religion will gradually lose its relevance, especially among educated classes.

Religious passion is bound to lose its steam in today’s world, at least in its external form, where a Peruvian Christian husband and his Korean Buddhist wife see their child tying the knot with one whose parents are an Arab Muslim and a Canadian Jew. But the author does not forget to juxtapose the fact that out of 7.79 billion people in today’s world, the total number of followers of the four major religions is around 5.9 billion. Many of these people may be mildly religious or even atheist, but the number of staunch supporters is overwhelming, and a society without religion is unimaginable and unforgivable. The writer believes that rapid changes in all fields will surely affect the way religion has influenced human life and activities, but his statistics hint at a different story. In the vortex of such confusion, the answer to Marx’s opinion remains as elusive as ever.