A Few Words On God

 

The belief that everyone should be judged in the same fashion. This is embodied in the foundations of the judicial system. The belief that every person should have the power to determine the future of society. This is embodied in the idea of democracy.

The point I am trying to get at here is that every belief held by people manifests itself in some form or the other. This includes religion. While many hold the belief that the being we call God physically exists, I have a different perspective. I would say that "God" is just an abstract concept we created to embody our beliefs. This idea could resolve the age-old "Science vs God" debate. For some, this may be a hard to pill to swallow, so I will attempt to help by providing an example.

There are three fundamental process that sustain our universe: Creation, Preservation and Destruction. Every entity is created, then preserved until it is time for it to be destroyed. The Hindus took this idea and manifested it into three Gods: Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva who are the gods of creation, preservation and destruction. According to the scriptures, they are represented as almighty beings who are revered by other smaller Gods. To some skeptics, the fact that they have the power to alter the fate of the universe is ridiculous. I find some truth in that.

Imagine this, there comes a day when the forces of destruction in the universe overwhelm the forces of creation and preservation (imagine a bunch of black holes swallowing everything). At some point, the universe would cease to exist because things are being destroyed faster than new things are being created. This idea is embodied by the legend of Shiva's tandava, Shiva's dance of rage that is said to destroy everything. So some of these stories may not be so ridiculous if you look beyond the excessive metaphors. Through this example, I hope I was able to shed some light on the fact that religion is more than the physical existence of an entity but rather a way to embody the beliefs and principles held by people. This brings me to the next part of this discussion, why is religion needed?

One idea that comes to mind is that it offers an easy way to explain complicated ideas. Say you were to explain to a child that lying is bad. There are two ways of doing it. One would be to give them a discourse on the importance of honesty and the moral implications of lying. Or you could tell them a story about God cursing a liar to a lifetime of misery. What would you choose?

Sure, you could sermon the kid but he would tune you out halfway through and go about his merry life ignoring everything you spent the last hour teaching them. or you could tell them the story and conclude by saying "Do you also want to get cursed?". Now the child is put in a situation where he would rather be punished by saying the truth rather than cursed by a scary, omnipotent being called God. 

One could argue that both the methods above convey the same message. But using religion as a way of instilling values is a lot more effective for someone who is too young to understand the realities of life the straight way.

So, does this mean I don't believe in God? Yes. However, that doesn't mean I turn a deaf ear to everything my religion tells me. I prefer following the belief embodied by the God rather than the God itself. The fact that many people are unable to discern this line worries me. This could be the reason why people fight others over religion. In their quest to prove their God to be superior, they forget that maybe all Gods are attempting to convey the same belief.

- Thoughtful Penny