This commentary is in response to a recent misquotation of my work on evolution by Jehovah's Witnesses in an article on the origin of life in their magazine, Awake.

The goal of religion is to seek truth, to remove ignorance and fear, not to perpetuate myths and lies. As a man of religion, a creationist may have the need for God and as a man of science, I may not. But we both should be on the same side when it comes to the pursuit of truth. Believers need truth as much as non-believers do.

Religion and science need each other. As Einstein remarked, religion is lame without science, science is blind without religion. Religion and science are both driven by reason, but they operate in different domains. Religion seeks absolute truth, science proceeds through incremental steps.

The Catholic Church and its leaders, most recently Pope Francis, have slowly but progressively accepted evolution and do not see conflict between religion and evolution. God is not a magician and it's insulting to human intelligence to keep putting everything at God's door. Religious organizations should feel liberated in supporting evolution and dig deeper into the meaning and the mystery of life.

Accepting evolution does not bar one from believing in God and vice versa. This is exactly what many Hindus, Buddhists and Jains do. All these religions came from the same trunk and yet Buddhism and Jainism were atheistic in their origins, but they still gave the world what it needed the most: the concept of nonviolence. The Hindu theory of reincarnation making God progressively appear in different eons in the form of fish, turtle, boar, lion, a small man, a full man, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and the future Kalki, represent an evolutionary ladder. According to Hindu texts, there are 8.4 million life forms (yoni/species) and all life (jiv) comes from the same source, implying a common origin.

The literal theory of rebirth meaning life going through all 8.4 million life forms is obviously an evolutionary progression up the ladder of life. Hindus have no problem with believing in evolution and God at the same time.

Furthermore, not believing in religion and God does not mean that one has no interest in the origin and evolution of the universe and in the bigger questions of life. Atheists are as much interested in the bigger questions life and death as believers are. Atheists too can be loving and kind. Let me tell you an interesting story:

When Gandhi was developing his non-violent struggle movement for the freedom of India, he was also mounting a campaign against the social ills of the Indian society such as untouchability, child marriage, dowry, women's disempowerment, religious disharmony, etc. A social activist, by the nickname Gora, a Brahman, was doing similar social work with like-minded activists in his home area. The interesting thing is that while they were both doing social activists, Gandhi was a man of faith, Mr. Gora an atheist.

Gora loved Gandhi's philosophy and wanted to meet with him. Gandhi wondered how a man such as Gora can show so much love and affection and do so much good work and still be an atheist. They met at Gandhi's ashram. Finally, one day Gandhi sat down and asked Gora why he was an atheist. Gora broke into a long monologue summarizing the damage done to the country by the long-held social and cultural practices of the religious organizations. Gandhi listened to all Gora had to say and then asked him: "How can you do all this good work and still be an atheist?" to which Gora replied: "Father, I am an atheist, I am not godless."

Religion cannot survive without reason. A literal belief in the sacred texts puts religion against reason. The sacred books may contain words of God, but these words were heard and put together by mere humans who are prone to err. It's contrary to common sense to assume that what's assembled in the sacred books by our great ancestors and religious leaders must necessarily be truth and nothing but truth. We must be free to inquire and as St. Augustine said, reason must prevail over religion.

The sacred books are guides to seeking truth. Blind faith in God can be a source of personal strength to some, but it can never be a substitute for dialogues, discussions and engagements with fellow beings. Belief in God need not bar us from true and open reflection on life.

The world has changed and so should religion. A religion that does not change and adapt with time is doomed to become irrelevant. One might say rescuing religion from irrelevance is a major problem of our time. The great enterprise of science and religion is too important and too interdependent to be driven by a religious manual.

Evolution and religion are bound by reason. Gaining a general appreciation of evolution is easy; understanding how evolution works, slowly but incessantly, is not. To understand other subjects you need to study them; to understand evolution you need to study and meditate on it.