Vote for heaven

“Mumbai cha Raja. Vote for Ganpat from Fort as the best Ganesh. Send in your sms now”.

Doesn’t make sense? Yeah it took me a few blinks too to actually believe that what I was seeing was true and not something cooked up by some drunkard. Once when I was climbing the seven hills of Tirupati and saw all the shops lining the footpath, I was convinced that religion was commercialized enough; until I saw this. How can someone, anyone come up with something like this? Think about it. How are you supposed to vote for the best God? Not even different Gods, the same God from different places in the same city. I am a religious person myself, which is why it irks me to no end when I see people use religion and faith to just make money. Say I do vote for the Ganpat from this temple, what do I get? A passport to heaven from this idol? So what about the other idols in other places? Would they be angry with me for not voting for them?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I have always believed that God does not punish you unless you have erred grievously and harmed someone else in the process. When I see something like this I want to hide my face in embarrassment. No wonder my atheist friends give me a hard time about religion and believing in God. It is people like this (read morons who do not know where to stop) who give people like me (believers) a bad name.

P.S: While I hate to say this I am very sure that a few hundred idiots at least, would have voted for some Ganpat or the other. People, if you want to go to heaven or do God’s work, then donate a few bucks or your old clothes to a nearby orphanage. Whether you go to heaven or not, you would certainly put a smile on a few faces and yours too if you think about it.