Meet God online..!!

Religion is my pet topic to bitch about... not because I am against religion, but mostly because I don't agree to the way it is being preached and practiced. It has in fact grown into such a menace, perhaps a bigger one than AIDS (which just affects your body and not the mind). Anyway my intention here is not to emphasize how this monster has gone out of control.. but to laugh at how we have adapted religion to suit our needs.

I received an SMS the other day titled 'New Service' from my service provider. Thinking this might be one of those regular 'internet over mobile' or 'Reduced ISD charges' intimations, I looked at the message. But what I saw was beyond my wildest imaginations.. Now you can make an offering to God through an SMS and the service is called 'Reach the Gods'. Send an SMS with the 'temple/church-Code' and the amount you want to donate, and the same will be done by your mobile operator and charged to your monthly bill.. Amazing..!! And if mobile telephone companies still follow the marketing funda of studying the potential of a service before offering it, this should mean there are enough takers for the service.. Ridiculous..!!

I think its high time the courier and cargo companies get into the business, acting as transporters of holy-bribes and divine blessings. There are numerous possibilities in there... You can collect money from devotees for various ceremonies at places of worship, deliver it to the temple/church, get the rituals done and bring back some 'prasaadam' or 'holy water'. You can collect things (vehicles/flowers/statues) from people, get them blessed at the temple/church and deliver them back. Not a bad business idea..!!

This is not a totally new trend. There are sites which allow you to offer online prayers. These sites become active during festival seasons with facilities to offer incense, flowers and fruits to the God of your choice.. all by clicking buttons. In short, we can get the rituals done on the computer screen.. quite convenient..!! This service can also be extended to online telecasts of rituals at famous places of worship. Or think about a 3D animation of your favorite place of worship on the web, allowing you to take a virtual walk all around the place and to the sanctum sanctorum to see the God himself... without standing in queue.. without traveling all the way..!! Add a dash of virtual reality into it and you can even get the 'Webxperience' of it..!! What if God becomes easily accessible through e-mail.. like something shown by Jim Carry in 'Bruce Almighty'.. just type in a mail and send it to God@whothehellcares.com.. and you shall be heard. mmm there are some wonderful possibilities out there.

All the God-men who used to make big money by branding God will now have some stiff competition and will find it difficult to attract people to their 'Aashrams'... unless they catch up with this new way of 'weblessings'. Not far are the days when we get an "@" God who lives in the "dotcom" world and another stupid religion made around it.