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Imagine there's No Heaven by Salman Rushdie Essays

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“Imagine there’s No Heaven” is a letter written by Salman Rushdie who is a British Indian novelist and essayist. He is an atheist and is known for his unflinching criticism of religion. Rushdie contributed this letter to a UN-sponsored anthology, addressed to the six-billionth human child who was expected to be born that year. He attempts to discuss and answer two fundamental questions of life. “How did we get here? And, now that we are here, how shall we live?” However he diverts from his central thesis and most of his text malign and smear all religions while the two questions go almost completely unanswered. His tone is demeaning, scornful and he presents religious beliefs as being ridiculous. He makes absolute statements without any …show more content…

What he fails to mention is the purpose of the so called rituals of worship. Every religion entails some methods of worship but their purpose is to express reverence, praise and adoration for the creator and to get solace and comfort in it. People choose religion not to get ‘imprisoned’ by its teachings but to be ‘guided’ by its teachings and to live a meaningful life by following something they believe in. Mr. Rushdie claims that, “In the opinion of religious people, the private comfort that religion brings more than compensates for the evil done in its name.” First he fails to clarify the evil that is being done in the name of religion. However it needs to be understood that when people use religion as an excuse to justify evil than it’s not the fault of religion. Christian, Muslim, Jewish Buddhist, and Hindu teachings all emphasize peace and goodwill toward others. When people commit horrible crimes and then try to hide behind religion than this just means that they haven’t understood and are not practicing the true religion. It in no way implies that religion preaches and is responsible for evil. Consider the case of suicide bombings that are being primarily blamed on Islam. Rushdie share this view and says, “For years now, the air has been full of the battle-cries of the faithful as they turn their bodies into God’s bombs, and the screams of their victims too.” The global Muslim population is

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