Why the concept of God is so
strong, how it persisted through the test of time. It must have some great
utility otherwise it would not be an integral part of our society. Two causes,
love and fear may cause one to believe in God. We find solace in God from all
the unknown dangers and uncertainties. But in our daily life, how the God
helps. Even if one doesn’t believe in God the way religions propagate it, there
is such a great utility in an impersonal concept of God that one can hardly
ignore. It takes pressure out of you. If you are a creative person, you can
attribute cause of your creativity to the God, and will it cost anything? No. But it will save
you from the pressure to perform. If you do well, it’s God’s grace, if not, God
didn’t want it to happen. There are so many uncontrollable and uncertain things
in this world that limit us and no matter how much effort we make, we cannot do
everything. And when we fail, we need to
attribute those failures caused by the external variables to some other entity.
Otherwise we will have to bear the burden of failure unless we attribute that
to God. And if we win, the vanity may attack us so we attribute that too to God’s
grace. That’s what probably learned people would have tried to suggest when
they said to submit oneself to the lord or God. But unfortunately many a times
it is misinterpreted by leaving everything on God. When the concept of God,
being a mean of our psychological well being, becomes the end in itself and the
purpose of our existence, we are in trouble. We are not here for God; we have
created or assumed a God to be there so that we live happily. But when we start
living to achieve or reach God, we are missing the point. We are making our means,
our end.
However, this means-end-displacement is a very common phenomenon. Another example is money, which is a necessary
tool for a comfortable life but we end up losing all our comforts just to earn
money. So as far as God is to keep us humble and sober, save us from vanity and
depression, we are good. But when we get obsessed with this human created
concept, going to the extreme of its interpretation as if God is everything and
we are nothing, we demean the very existence of ours. And of course when a
belief or faith comes into picture, we can’t talk about rationality. Can anyone
argue why so many bad things happen in this world if there is a God? No. Some say
that it’s the result of their bad karmas. But then why God let them do those
bad karma’s in the first place. Some says it’s not God’s job to take care of
everything, well, then why is he therefore? These arguments are of no use as
soon the logic goes miles away and people get sentimental. On the other hand so
called atheist ignore the utility of the concept of God. If a person is so
mature and psychologically sound that he can bear responsibility for everything
and bear the pressure of success and failure equally and easily, he or she may
not need a God. But not all have that power and capacity, so it’s easier to
leave it on God.
It’s difficult to take a balanced view here. That’s why people are so confused, that’s why there are so many religions, so many types of God. Sometimes they exploit people by frightening them in the name of God. God and religion can be tools of power politics also. No one knows about God but all claims their version to be right despite the fact that it is imaginary. But by misinterpreting this concept, we can do a lot of harm to self and others. Anything based on fear and force cannot be right. Religion has its cultural value and it should remain so. It is not transcendent to the human existence itself. We should not blindly believe anything. It should be backed by reason and should not be detrimental to humanity itself. It is difficult to agree with a view that demeans being human and sees human life a sin and only objective of it being with the God again. If there is a God, why would he make this world and us only if we are supposed to leave this world and get assimilated in Him? If He is arbitrary, then he is hardly a God. If He is omnipresent, then why we need to go elsewhere to meet him. If he is omnipotent, then why so much chaos in the world. There are numerous inconsistencies in religious dictums and their concept of God, but we can’t argue as people have forgotten that we have created those concepts and they didn’t come from the heaven. It is almost impossible to argue against a belief system. Whatever serves the purpose of those in power, they will defend it with all means. Very few religions allow dissent. If something is static and doesn’t change with time, how can it be called alive. And how can we follow a dead thing!
It’s difficult to take a balanced view here. That’s why people are so confused, that’s why there are so many religions, so many types of God. Sometimes they exploit people by frightening them in the name of God. God and religion can be tools of power politics also. No one knows about God but all claims their version to be right despite the fact that it is imaginary. But by misinterpreting this concept, we can do a lot of harm to self and others. Anything based on fear and force cannot be right. Religion has its cultural value and it should remain so. It is not transcendent to the human existence itself. We should not blindly believe anything. It should be backed by reason and should not be detrimental to humanity itself. It is difficult to agree with a view that demeans being human and sees human life a sin and only objective of it being with the God again. If there is a God, why would he make this world and us only if we are supposed to leave this world and get assimilated in Him? If He is arbitrary, then he is hardly a God. If He is omnipresent, then why we need to go elsewhere to meet him. If he is omnipotent, then why so much chaos in the world. There are numerous inconsistencies in religious dictums and their concept of God, but we can’t argue as people have forgotten that we have created those concepts and they didn’t come from the heaven. It is almost impossible to argue against a belief system. Whatever serves the purpose of those in power, they will defend it with all means. Very few religions allow dissent. If something is static and doesn’t change with time, how can it be called alive. And how can we follow a dead thing!
