God is one of the topics
of discussion these days because the Corona disease makes people aware of their
inevitable vulnerability. God is a safety valve for most people. However, a lot
of religious centres which claimed to work miracles in the name of God(s) have
shut down and I expressed my amusement over that in certain places like Facebook.
One of my friends, who is otherwise very sensible and humorous, objected to my amusement
arguing that if there is no God there would be utter chaos in the human world. Some
people would even become cannibals, he said.
Though I have written
much about my views on god and related affairs, I’m going to discuss some
points once again for the sake of my friend.
1. I live a life of morality. I follow
a very personal code of ethics which has a lot in common with socially and
religiously accepted codes of ethics. But I don’t need a god to uphold it. I am
good not because I am afraid of punishments from god. I am good not because I
want the rewards in heaven after my death. I am good because I am intelligent
enough to understand that goodness is what I should cultivate around me for my
welfare as well as the welfare of others. Welfare is good, no one will dispute
that. Knowing what is good, why would I choose evil? That’s simple logic. That
logic is the foundation of my moral codes.
2. Being good out of fear of
punishment and/or for the rewards waiting somewhere is extremely childish.
Freud and many others saw religion as infantile. Shouldn’t we grow up into
adulthood and take charge of our own lives instead of shifting certain
responsibilities to an entity out there which we have empowered with all kinds
of supernatural prowess and magical powers? I choose to look at my life without
leaning against silly crutches invented by feeble minds.
I know that I am just
another little creature born here because of a simple, natural biological
process. I am a mere accident, just like anybody else, that happened at a
moment in the eternal flow of time. If the accident had happened a moment later
or earlier, if one chromosome was different there, I would have been a different
person. I might have been religious too! This accident will end too just like
any other creature in the natural process called death. And that’s the end of
me. Except that I may linger on in the memories of a few people who chose to
love me (in spite of me?). In other words,
I know, or I believe, that there is nothing waiting for me after death. I am
neither afraid of eternal punishments nor concerned about eternal rewards. I choose
to be good, nevertheless. I am mature enough, intelligent enough to make that
choice.
3. My amusement about religious centres
that keep making endless claims about the miracles they perform day in and day
out continues unabashedly even in the time of Corona. Even more in the time of
Corona, I should say. If they were really performing those miracles, why not perform
a few more miracles when the world is facing a serious threat? Work a miracle
and heal the sick. Why not? Don’t give me the oft-repeated argument that we can’t
order God to perform miracles. I have seen priests and pastors and many others
ordering God about as if He was their footman.
4. What is God’s will? Is Corona God’s
will? Is the death of a three-year-old innocent child God’s will? Are the
detention centres in various states of India God’s will? Is the brainlessness
we see in India today in the name of religion and culture God’s will? I have
infinite questions, my dear KK (that’s my friend who triggered this post).
Maybe the next time we sit over another Bacardi party we can discuss this
further, though I’m not inclined to do it because I know that reason and
religion have nothing in common. Nothing, KK. Nothing at all. Faith is the antithesis
of reason.
To conclude, I trust my rational faculty. I
trust my imagination. I trust my intuition too. But when it comes to faith, I
would rather trust the gossamer petals of the roses in my garden, the winks of
the distant stars in my heavens, the protean music of the waves in the Arabian
Ocean…
Let us be good and do good. One needs integrity to make the right choices.
ReplyDeleteAs everyone is not smart enough or logical to make the 'good' choice and not the bad, thus, God has been created to keep such folks disciplined.
Wish we would never have Nirbhaya case or convicts. Wonder if they went to pray...
There is no evidence of correlation between crime and irreligion. On the contrary, criminals are often religious. Look at the crimes committed in North India in the last 5 to 6 years. Most of them were committed in the name of religion by people wearing visible religious symbols.
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