How does it matter if you are a theist or atheist? You both are still in the same boat. One rocking one side and another one the other. Both of you trace your existence to the presence or absence of God. Happy arguing to these two. One worships the miracles told by others and the other finds it amusing to debunk the believer’s wonderland while at the same time trying to find refuge in science. One kills in the name of religion and the other kills in the name of science. Welcome to the Mad House! All rationales live in the Mad House!
Theist and Atheist: Both on One Side, Still Lost
Religion itself is a phenomenon, a concept, and an ideology in working. Whatever you say or do, you cannot and must not take a man away from his religion unless you know how to control the savage. Before your civilizations were born, religion was the light that showed the caveman the way to live and shine. God made the Man or the Man invented the God, you can tell me if you can tell the hen first or the chicken? Theist and Atheist are debating from the position of the arrogance of claiming to know the reality.
Approaching a Functional God: Man’s Construct
Man is a higher-order animal and has higher-order mind to ask the questions which no squirrel will ever ask. Who we are? What is the purpose of our life? Where do we go after death? And many more. The man becomes a seeker asking questions and chasing his own tail. We looked at the stars because we got tired from looking at the soil. We were enchanted by the mountains so we decided to dedicate mountains as the home of Gods and to this day many of us take pilgrimages to mountains. Same with other distant places on the planet which were tough to reach and over-whelmed the man, were marked as places where God resides. Suddenly the belief of ‘God is everywhere’, is now the past, and that limitless and boundless energy with a divine spark can be glued to some geographical location. Well done! But to further our argument and see the impact of God/ God(s) on Men let’s move ahead with the question of God is settled. Be Him the real or ideology, it exists. He exists so His effects too.
For the caveman, God gave him rain, deer, made mountains, etc. For the medieval man, God gave him sons, empires, victories, etc. For modern man, God gave him, wait, he replaced with a new God called science and technology. Don’t worry, old and new Gods are competing for a claim. Bonus! Many old Gods with their religions and followers are also fighting for supremacy. In the calls for my true or your false God, the only thing that has always bled is humanity.
Atheist’s Pitfall and Lack of Replacement God
God is claimed to be seen yet is unseen. The claims of God being seen by people at lonely places while they were alone, gives it an aura of mystery or a con? Is the all-powerful, shy? This does not give atheists any brownie point because their camp is based on his absence. Just like darkness is the absence of light. Surely darkness prevails, so do light. It is a matter of time and place and not of capability. Science and technology-filled with exceptions, not perfect, ever-evolving claiming to be Man’s panacea has been ever-evolving, getting outdated, needs new high-priests who know the jargon and complex rituals of programming, etc. Seems even the counter-God is also not fit to survive the test of a man. Man’s eternal quest of divine spark remains eternal.
Nature: A very talented serial killer. Best when works on a large scale.
We are on a revolving and rotating space ship called Earth, our dear Earth. Here the mother nature grows and feeds and is a serial killer who slaughters men, no matter good or bad, without intelligence. Yes, without intelligence. Nature is a system and not a conscious being. It cannot differentiate between good or bad. It kills both. Devices new methods to kill in large numbers. You think only you can kill by your toy nuclear weapons. Well, try nature’s wrath. How many times natural calamities has claimed civilizations, more than 100,000 men at a time, and many more. And the man ran towards God to control nature.
I guess, people didn’t get that much successful or God must be hand-in gloves with nature in doing all these evil deeds. Or more likely, could it be that nature is doing God’s bidding? Interesting. Didn’t you say that God created nature? And you only wanted to smell the roses and don’t mind the prick. Well, then you are a saint.
Men Working for Their Gods: Theist & Atheist Alike
Some men became fanatics and killed those who don’t conform to their beliefs. History is full of them. If they win, they are crowned as heroes and if they lose, their religion gets wiped out sooner or later. It is a matter of time. Is man also a serial killer and religion just a poor excuse to let the man do all the sinister things and religion takes the blame? Hmm. Arguable and possible. Even the priests of science have killed and sacrificed many people on the altar of rationality. Seems, when a man believes in anything be it, theist or atheist, being a killer is his final destination, the con is that all is done in the name of saving people. A comfortable excuse and surely noble one.
As said above, some men became fanatics and evolved as killers while some became passive cowards. They are another rot to humanity. The so-called good lot, which cannot protect the week and timid from the killers in the name of non-violence and good deeds. I thought if the maker wanted to make a tree, you became a walking tree. Disappointment or invention? Eternally pending verdict.
Enough of ranting. Let’s move ahead. Atheists believe in their science, which according to them is the result of ‘questioning’, ‘inquiry’, and ‘evidence’. Last time I heard the Quantum Physics has challenged every principle of Albert Einstein’s physics. Tesla with a focus on the non-physical has made much more contributions and practically invented everything we use today. Almost all the theorems and laws of science come with two things. One is called ‘exceptions’ and the second is called ‘pre-conditions’. You must have read, ‘provided other things remaining constant’. Seems even your God is still unborn, imperfect, unexplored, and shape-shifting. Worse than our religionist’s God. You may not have your last laugh.
The funny part about atheist’s God is that He gets outdated and has limitations. He needs to be upgraded every time. That’s a lot of work upgrading the Gods every 25 years.
Probing Man-made God: Raising More Questions
The next important issue that comes to the center stage is God’s wrath. When a God punishes the mortals for not believing in Him or His followers think that their God will not favor the non-believers, it seems less like a God and more like a kid saying, ‘you didn’t take my side Mom, I hate you’. Or more worse, is that God who becomes angry is some fake. A God that has no mastery over anger and other emotions. Even worse, is He then the actual God, who feels threatened by the acts of mortals? One simple answer could be that man created such a persona to find justifications for his battle for money, social privileges, and political power.
It seems old Gods have become insecure and impatient. They need mortals to fight their wars and influence geographical areas. They need NGOs and people in fancy dresses who commands kings and their armies to threaten other nations or large influencers. I guess with social media, new digital soldiers or missionaries have joined in.
I am not questioning the existence of God, but central idea is, how the man behaves to show or under the influence of the God he perceives to believe. And if believing is serving, then it is slavery and not empowerment. And if you feel being in chains keep you safe, then finding peace is a possibility that never existed. Take a test. If you in your mind cannot question the God you believe, then you are already a charmed slave. For God is the One who empowers. A father likes his children to ask all the questions and rather amuses in their development. He never beats or threatens the poor lovely child for asking questions, unless he himself is ignorant.
Man’s Proclivity in Using, Misusing and Disposing Religion
Man is a complex animal. Well, rather a simple one. He invented religion and God to do the tasks in the name of religion and God which would not have been possible in society without getting bad-named. Man is simple and smart. He is an animal that loves justification and image management. The invention or discovery of God comes in handy.
A man emerged on the planet so late and made many disruptive changes to the planet. We are now looking to colonize Mars. Poor Mars. In our quest to master nature, we worshipped science, since God was not of that much help. Science just seemed so lost and limited or should I say that nature is so vast that we may need new Gods.
Searching New Gods But With Eyes Closed
Well, new Gods is an enticing idea. How about a human? Well, we have already many Godmen roaming the planet and amassing huge wealth and popularity. Ah! Not falling into the same trap. I suppose I am hinting towards a new God in a newer form. Old and new Gods are not just helping. I don’t know if old Gods can answer my email or read this article and new Gods are just new algorithms. Well, you are reading my article and my thoughts. What about you?
Yes, you. You breathe. You were born and you’ll die. Don’t fret over it. Every mortal will. Nah! Don’t be arrogant, you cannot be my God. But you can be yours and I can be mine. What an idea! A revolting one. You work and fulfill your desires, live and die for yourself. How many times have you prayed to yourself? Am I going crazy? Wait. Didn’t the classical religion say that every mortal has the divine spark where he is alive due to His grace? God resides in every human. What do you wish for yourself? Try to fulfill your wish. Let’s see, how your divine spark inside you responds. The same should be true for me, I guess.
The problem you must be facing is where to go and whom to blame when you are frustrated with yourself. For that, you need an external focal point or an external God. If you kill or try to convert someone for yourself it is not socially accepted but an external God is needed so that you can pin the blame if you fail. Convenient but not empowering.
Need for a Customized God
I don’t deny that miracles do happen. Miracles do happen, and I am not debunking any. Science guys may call it the rule of exception. I will prefer to call it your will power made the universe bend the rules. Maybe you never felt that God has granted you the power as his creation to act in an empowering manner. Maybe your religion has made you the sheep while God sent not a lion but a human with a brain and reasoning. How can one religion be ‘fit for all’, solution?
Religion has not done harm to any man. Rather religion is more of an excuse by the powerless but greedy man to amass that power. Religion classifies people as us versus them and you get the political power, the power of numbers to force others. And if you feel that you are gaining peace by doing this, then surely you are one of nature’s serial killers. Good to obey but not consciously intelligent.
I do believe in religion when I need to politically align with some group. But if I want peace then I need to turn inward and talk to myself. The divine spark in me is ignited till my last breath to counsel and console me. It heals and gets me in a touch with my soul. If religion gives peace that almost all the theists and atheists have been to some religious shrine or place at least once in their lifetime. How about sitting quietly for some time by yourself and being conscious of the silence and feeling your divine manifestation in that sweet divine hour? How about you fulfilling your own wishes and living with other Gods on the planet where all the Gods (of course Goddesses too) are creators in their own sense.
How about a non-physical thing called, ‘spirituality’?
