It is interesting to note what Prof. Srinivas says about the importance and need of heresy to cleanse religion:
…Institutional religion has an inherent tendency towards decay and corruption, and each new generation has to clean the religious garbage that piles up. But while saying this, it is necessary to realize that organized religion is necessary not only to provide succor to millions of people, but also to produce the rebels and mystics who cleanse it periodically. The Pharisee and mystic are both bound together in a permanent relationship of opposition and complementarity. This statement will appear outrageous to most students of religious studies but it happens to be true.— GANDHI’S RELIGION. Pp. 355-361, M. N. Srinivas, Collected Essays, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, (2002) Paperbacks 2004. in, p. 361
Every heretic who was abhorred and rejected by his contemporaries later was celebrated either as the pioneer and was ahead of his time and also glorified as mystic by few.
4-10-2019