“The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not.” - Eric Hoffer Sayami, I take it as a positive sign that you began to question the traditional notions about Hinduism (or any religion that you may be interested in). While your approach in dealing with such notions may seem offensive to some, I hope you realize the sensitivity of the topic soon and take a moderate path to seek the knowledge. I was faced with similar questions few years ago. Please allow me to share my perspective about God and religion. - religion provides easy answers to many questions (eg. is it good/bad?, is it evil?, is it moral/immoral?) ; science provides complicated answers to many questions (eg. who created the creator?, why haven’t monkeys turned into homo sapiens?) - fear is one form of motivation that works (fear of God still works for many people) - practice of religion was the only way of spreading education in ancient times. (should universities, colleges and schools replace the religious institutes soon) - verses in religious scriptures are stone-marked; theories in science are subject to change To appreciate science one has to be inquisitive, very patient and tolerant of other people’s view. Captain saab, “The rulers of Nepal, who have happened to be hindu, have done a pretty crappy job of living the values of Hinduism. Hinduism for many of them was merely, in my opinion, a political tool to rally the hindu communities to their cause and legitimize the role of the monarchy in increasingly uncertain times.” I concur. I really like the way you surgically dissect the facts and the fallacies. For those who intend to seek knowledge and participate in a healthy discussion, I have posted some videos from Dr. Richard Dawkins in the following thread: target=_blank>http://www.sajha.com/sajha/html/openThread.cfm?forum=2&ThreadID=40238