Icecream_and_Religion

#Icecream_and_Religion. It was a usual Saturday night family ice cream session, when that question came from the kids…
“Baba, can anyone change their Religion ??” … A mighty tough one to answer …. However, I took on the question, and here’s what my answer to the 13 and 11 year old ones, looks like …
“Yes, anyone can change their religion. Religion is something you are Born into, and that gives you a background culture or a family value-system that you grow up with. However, as you grow older, study more, want to learn, feel and experience more about spirituality in general, you may at time feel that your own religion is unable to answer all your querries and questions. In such a case, to satisfy your inward search, you can change your religion if you feel and want to. Any practised Religion, however, since time immemorial has never been a true instrument of spiritual search, it’s more or less always a propaganda used for creating a world / Social order. And one more thing … Any ceremony of conversion is just useless, they are just ceremonies; reading, studying, understanding, interacting and thereby just a change-over from the heart is adequate. Thereafter, if you feel that change of Name etc is required, then do it to give the conversion a Social standing, if need be.. And finally, Religion is not that important a thing, it’s far more important to grow up to be a healthy, hearty good Human being who is useful to the Society and leads a happy life.”

It’s a tough question, the answer can’t be easy. I hope I made some sense to them. Also .. in such questions, there cannot be a right or a wrong answer. Education is important; education will make you naturally liberal, I think.