25th June 2025
Do Rituals need to be followed unquestionably or do we need to examine the logic behind them?
I increasingly believe in the ‘Fallacy of rituals’ as most rituals, I feel, were formed for convenience & given a religious connotation so that they were followed strictly.
This is more so on the occassion of marriage & death.
We need to critically examine traditions & rituals, rather than simply accepting them as inherently valid or effective.
This fallacy is a type of informal logical fallacy. It occurs when someone argues that a practice or belief is correct or valid simply because it has been done or believed for a long time.
Just to illustrate some examples:
“Swamiji had a pet cat, which licked food off all the plates and bowls at dinner-time. So the Swami told one of his disciples to tie the cat to a tree nearby till dinner was over, so that the cat would not mess with them.
A few years later the swami died. After some more years the cat died.
One of the disciples remembered the old Swami, and said it was auspicious to tie a cat to a tree nearby during dinner-time. So they bought a new cat and tied it to the tree!
Earlier it was necessary to tie the cat to the tree.
Now it became a ritual.
From necessity comes a solution, then becomes a ritual and continues even when necessity is not there.
In olden days people would circle their thaali with a handful of water before starting the meal. This was to wet the earth to prevent ants from wandering into the thaali. Now-a-days many people circle their thaali with a handful of water on a sunmica dining table at home!
Margaret Thatcher upon becoming PM visited a southern port of England.
She climbed a tower & met a soldier there. She asked him what was his duty & he answered, “I am here to watch for Napoleon’s navy & shout when I see them approaching.”
Waterloo was in 1815, this was 1978! Napoleon died, the post continued!
During the World War canons were used. These were bulky affairs; they were pulled by two horses and had five soldiers in attendance. One to feed the canon, one to fire, one to clean it, and two to hold the horses!
When Sam Maneckshaw became Field Marshal he saw the army still employed five soldiers per canon, even when there were no horses, but a motorized vehicle.
Sometimes, we fail to apply our minds to the reason behind the rule. That is when it becomes a mere ritual.
Iam sure you have heard of the Elephant and the rope trick.
We are limited by our beliefs & largely waste resources following them.
In this age and time, let’s question our wrong beliefs & stereotypes, let’s not limit ourself, let’s change for the better and stay blessed forever.