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RELIGION AND SECULARISM1
The grand truths written in letters of gold on every page of the history of any nation are these : human happiness is never secure without freedom, freedom, without virtue; virtue, without knowledge; and not the freedom, as also not even the virtue, has any hope or vitality except in the principles of religious faith and sanctions. True religion is the very basis on which society rests and also the government, and it is from this that power derives its authority, and laws, their sanctity, and both, their inspiration and sanction. This being the truth and the experience of all of us, religion should not be treated lightly and with contempt. Religion is the basis, equally, of personal good as also of public faith and prosperity. The task and triumph of religion is to make men and nations humble and honest in all their dealings and to bring all the law, character and conduct under control and in conformity with the law of God. Of all the things, if I were to choose one that is blessed and beneficial, I would prefer a strong religious conviction because it only makes the life disciplined and delightful, creates new hopes, throws light on decay and destruction, turns torture into a ladder leading to paradise, and above all worldly hopes and joys, calls up the most delightful glimpses of future, and the security of eternal bliss where the sensualist and the sceptic see only gloom, despair and annihilation.
Secularism is, on the other hapd a deterrent to the cultivation of moral and spiritual values. Morals will die without religion like seed sown on stony ground, and religion without morals is not only a superstition, but a curse. The only salvation for man lies in uniting them both. Morality is religion in practice and religion is morality in principle. Morality without religion has no roots. It becomes a thing of custom, changeable, transient and optional. The highest morality, if not inspired, encouraged and enlivened by religion, is but as the marble statue or the unspeaking corpse to the living and the perfect man. In this connection, I would also like to make it clear that atheistic morality is not wholly improbable, but I am afraid it will never answer our purpose. The morality that binds the masses together must have its roots in an honest, downright personal faith and fear. I have heard people say that also economic science and moral discipline always go ill together. I do not agree with this. Granting that they are guided by their own principles in their own sphere, it is false that the two orders are so distinct and irrelevant that the former in no way depends upon the latter, 1. All-India Colloquium on Ethical and Spiritual Values as the Basis of National Integration,
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, 30 December, 1966 to 2 January, 1967.
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