Dr. Abrar saheb you said: I am devoutly religious, that’s true. Well, you see, religion for me is something where reason fails to guide me.

It reminds me of Ghalib who said:

Dayer-O-haram Aa-enay takrare Tamana

Wamandegeay Shaouq Trashay hay PanahaiN

Which roughly translates as “All religions duplicate the desire to search the truth but when they get tired (Wamandegeay Shaouq ) they carve shelters (Dayer-O-Haram)”. Ghalib, as it appears from this verse believed in unending search for the truth. He considered religion a place for those who have given up the effort.

I agree with you that there are un-answerable questions where reason fails to guide but I don’t think it is wise to take shelter of religion and abandon the search to find out what, why and who we are? So far almost all conventional religions have tried to answer but have given very unsatisfactory explanations.

The search should continue with all options open. I  think you too believe in it when you said "You should spare my life because I am only working out the implications of my God".

The Para which helped me a lot to understand your point of view was "Are we the kind that imposes our view of God on others, with violence or, oh, ever so subtly, with a gun or an economic avalanche? The Secularist God has been just as rapacious, just as violent, just as intolerant as any in history.  The God of Capitalism is no less". 

Personally I don't consider Capitalism, Communism or Socialism as religions. These isms were always there even before religions. Some thinkers just refined them and countries adopted them to run their financial, social and administrative affairs .Their assemblies keep modifying them to suit day to day changes in circumstances which no real religion will accept. If at all there is Secularist God or God of Capitalism it is really very weak and inconsequence ional. These isms lack that blind faith which you used in defining the religion I quote “I define religion as a framework or a worldview, which people accept on faith, and which offers a set of values translated into norms of behaviour that the believers use as a guide for action in a range of real life situations. I see no difference between your faith and Ghalib’s shelter. Having said that your definition of religion is well thought of and it is really how religion is practised by most of us; on blind faith.   

Syed H. Haider