What is a Jain?
So, the religion I was brought up with as a child was Jainism: J-a-i-n, Jainism.
And it's a religion based in India
and there's a lot of people in America who are Jains as well.
And philosophically, it's a wonderful set of thinking, because
the highest creed in Jainism is non-violence.
And if you think hardcore Jain,
extremist Jain, you're seriously thinking of someone who covers their mouth as they talk so they don't harm any
bacteria that are floating out there. They sweep the ground they walk on, so they don't step on any insects.
I mean, that's kind of pushing it. And I never did that growing up, but
that's what we're talking about. You know, non-violence more than anything else.
And I don't know how true this is but I've heard rumors that
Jainism even affected Mahatma Gandhi when he was growing up.
So, philosophically speaking, it sounds great. There actually is no God
in Jainism.
And this boggled my mind when I first learned about it way later in life because
every Jain I knew growing up believed in God,
but there actually is no God in Jainism: no one created the universe; it's always been there.
So, the first time I ever heard any
atheist really talk about Jainism was probably when I read Sam Harris' The End of Faith,
because he makes this huge case that
if you're an extremist pers-- If you're a religious person who is an extremist, that's usually a bad thing.
And even being a moderate religious person is bad, because you're kind of providing cover to the extremists.
But then he goes on to say, "But, you know what?
If there were extremist Jains out there,
that wouldn't be such a bad thing, because extreme non-violence
sounds pretty awesome."
And I laughed because he's totally right, like
there are no violent Jains, and if there were, that would be a complete contradiction.
So, that's Jains, and philosophically speaking, it sounds awesome. And Jains are vegetarian
to varying degrees. And I was vegetarian growing up, too.
And so, I had no problem with Jainism growing up.
The reason I no longer call myself a Jain
is when it comes to their other beliefs, because Jains believe
in heaven and hell.
They believe in this idea of karma
and sin. And that if you do bad things in this life, it's gonna hurt you in your next life,
which means Jains also believe in reincarnation.
And there's no evidence for any of this stuff,
but Jains just kind of believe it with blind faith.
And I remember growing up,
I was told, you know, there are 24 people, 24 tirthankaras,
who have reincarnated so many times
and shed all of their bad karma, that they attained nirvana.
And there's a list of 24 of them, and we would memorize their names as kids.
And those were the deities that we would pray to, among others.
And, you know, when I was like 14 and I actually, for the first time, started asking myself,
"Wait a minute, how come no one else knows about these tirthankaras?"
You know, is it just because they haven't heard "the gospel"? Is it because they haven't been informed?
It's like, "Oh, it's because we're just another silly religion to pretty much everybody else."
And when you start looking at it that way, and you start asking, "How do we know all these stories about these people who lived
thousands and thousands of years ago?"
It's not like there are, you know,
documents about any of this stuff. These are stories that had been passed down generation after generation.
And then, even politically speaking, if you think everything is a living being and you're so worried about bacteria,
that has implications when it comes to things like abortion rights.
Which, again, I never even thought about these things when I was like 14,
but these are issues that come up now.
So, you know, I don't call myself a Jain
because I don't buy into all those religious supernatural
ideas about it.
But philosophically speaking, Jainism isn't all that bad.
It's funny, because I wrote a post about Jains
years ago on my website. It's probably the last time I really talked about it on my blog.
And it's one of the few posts,
that is that old, that still gets comments to this day. And it's always from
people who are Jains now,
who are just trying to argue.
And again, they don't actually rebut any of the points I make. They just kind of spout their own sort of philosophy,
which is kind of like drive-by Christians on a lot of these sites. It's like, "Well, if I say the right bible verse, you'll
come to it." And it doesn't work like that.
So, that's Jainism for you in a nutshell.
My name is Hemant Mehta. I write at FriendlyAtheist.com
And I hope to see your questions
in the comments.