CAN ANY RELIGION BE REFORMED WITHIN AND MADE RATIONAL ONE ?
Some time back,it was suggested to me that i should-"post solutions instead of sensationalizing ills of religion".Interesting but inexplicable as well as in-explicit suggestion indeed that too from a "rationalist" personality !Some sort of 'reform and rational ' within Hinduism ???Frankly speaking,i happen to be ordinary 'mortal' and hardly capable and intelligent enough to follow foot steps of Swami Vivekananda,proponent of Vedanta,who in his times took the initiative to reform Hinduism and at least eradicate some of the 'ills within Hinduism',though not with much success in practice and perception.Any way,he was candid enough to emphatically declare-"...it does not believe in a book-that is the difficulty to start with.It denies the authority of any book over any other book.It denies emphatically any one book can contain all the truths about god,soul,the ultimate reality.Those of you who have read the Upnishads,remember that they say again and again,'not by the reading of the books,can we realize the self."[The complete works of Swami Vivekananda,vol.8,page 124].
Bold and realistic confession indeed !Here million dollar question arises,has any religion meaningful relevance without its prescribed scriptures and associated religiosity ?Personally speaking,i too have spent significant amount of time to understand Hindu scriptures that too in its original content and context.As rationalist and freethinker,who follows and believes scientific temper and humanism,it is beyond any logic and comprehension to develop a new hypothesis under which 'ills' of particular religion needs to be eradicated,in order to 'establish progressive acceptable version of religion'.Where lies the need for establishing 'genuine' authority of any religion ?A lie is a lie even if every one believes it.The truth is a truth,even if no body believes it.
Few analytic words about religion !
One of the worst mistakes you can make in life is to attach your identity to any particular religion or philosophy, such as by saying, " i am a Hindu", “I am a Christian” or “I am a Muslim.” This forces your mind into a fixed perspective, robbing you of spiritual depth perception and savagely curtailing your ability to perceive reality accurately. If that sounds like a good idea to you, you’ll probably want to gouge out one of your eyeballs too. Surely you’ll be better off with a single, fixed perspective instead of having to consider two separate image streams… unless of course you've become attached to stereo vision.

Religious “truths” are inherently rooted in a fixed perspective, but real truth is perspective-independent. When you substitute religious teachings for truth, you mistake shadows for light sources. Consequently, you doom yourself to stumble around in the dark, utterly confused. Clarity remains forever elusive, and the best answer you get is that life is one giant mystery. Religious mysteries, however, arise not from what is truly unknowable; they arise from the limitations of trying to understand reality from a fixed frame of reference.

A more intelligent approach is to consider reality through a variety of different perspectives without trying to force your perceptions into an artificial religious framework.

Religions are authoritarian hierarchies designed to dominate your free will. They’re power structures that aim to convince you to give away your power for the benefit of those who enjoy dominating people. When you subscribe to a religion, you enroll in a mindless minion training program. Religions don’t market themselves as such, but this is essentially how they operate.

Religions are very effective at turning human beings into sheep. They’re among the most powerful instruments of social conditioning. They operate by eroding your trust in your own intellect, gradually convincing you to put your trust into some external entity, such as a deity, prominent figure, or great book. Of course these instruments are usually controlled by those who administrate the minion training program, but they don’t have to be. Simply by convincing you to give your power away to something outside yourself, religion will condition you to be weaker, more docile, and easier to control. Religions actively promote this weakening process as if it were beneficial, commonly branding it with the word faith. What they’re actually promoting is submission.

Religions strive to fill your head with so much nonsense that your only recourse is to bow your head in submission, often quite literally. Get used to spending a lot of time on your knees because acts of submission such as bowing and kneeling are frequently incorporated into religious practice. Canine obedience training uses similar tactics. Now say, “Yes, Master.”

Have you ever wondered why religious teachings are invariably mysterious, confusing, and internally in-congruent? This is no accident by the way — it’s quite intentional.

By putting forth confusing and internally conflicting information, your logical mind (i.e. your neocortex) is overwhelmed. You try in vain to integrate such contradictory beliefs, but it can’t be done. The net effect is that your logical mind disengages because it can’t find a pattern of core truth beneath all the nonsense, so without the help of your neocortex, you devolve to a more primitive (i.e. limbic) mode of thinking. You’re taught that this faith-based approach is a more spiritual and conscious way to live, but in reality it’s precisely the opposite. Getting you to distrust your own cerebral cortex actually makes you dumber and easier to manipulate and control. Karl Marx was right when he said, “Religion is the opiate of the people.”