Dr I John Mohan Razu
Professor of Social Ethics
Indians by and large have the tendency to bring-in God for everything. Ample examples can be given. I have come across when asked or without asking as well they say that ‘my wife is conceived by the grace of god”, then the list goes on by bringing ‘grace of god in everything vis-a-vis right from buying a house or car or securing a seat or job or going abroad. They sound bizarre and irrational. Invoking god to everything tantamount to god not playing dice and we should be mindful while using for those that concerns biological compulsions or emotional drives or others as well.
Sumit Paul deepens our dive into the notion of god-factor by raising fundamental questions: “Why should we believe in god? Should a thinking mind believe in god? He then substantiates that “This a fallacy of the majority in the worldwide believe in god. Our belief in god stems from the majoritarian belief, which is as old as human civilisation. Anthropologically, god came into being as primitive humans’ survival necessity.” Therefore, god then becomes a human invention, who has been construction for humans’ need and necessity.
If god is a human invention for primitive societies that found the need of god-factor for some of the things they experienced such as lightening, thunder, and many others that the primitive societies could not find logical and rational answers and so put their burden on god that they thought must have been behind all these. As humans progressed with the applications of science, technology and rationality, we tend to carry on the assumptions that god is real and is at work in our lives. On this Sumit Paul adds that “The human mind has a productivity to be drawn to abstractions. God is a cleaver abstraction for which believers don’t have to offer ‘concrete’ and irrefutable evidence. It’s because of this abstract attribute that god has so many forms.”
In addition, the notion that states god is abstract—meaning cannot be seen or felt, but we believe and affirm in god for which we use a word ‘faith’, that shuts further queries. Under this notion we bring-in mental health and physical well-being. Adding more to it ‘god is everything we do’. At the same time, we hardly have any data or evidence that we have been repeating which seemed to have evoked serious queries and concerns for those who say that it is sheer non-sense, but those who believe in god say that ‘belief in god’ or faith in god is personal’.
And so, as Sumit Paul while substantiating, “There is no palpable concreteness in the origin and existence of god. Calling god beyond the cycle of birth and death is a weak explanation for its supposed perennial presence. As rational, beings, we should be content with soothing lullable but rather strive for a deeper understanding of the world in order to navigate with intellect and curiosity.” Curious and critical mind would always go deeper in search of truth and in the process sheds all that offering legitimation.
Increasingly pseudo-spirituality has captured the belief-systems of everyone and thus makes them to run Helter-shelter. Only one word that takes people to the higher pitch is god. For everything there is a tendency to approach god. The rich tend to approach god by luring with bars of gold, silver, jewelleries, lakhs and crores of rupees to satiate god by luring with all kinds of things to fool god. In recent Ayodhya temple the loot that the insiders of the Temple Trust run to lakhs and crores of rupees. Those faithful followers have been badly hit by their loot who have contributed to the temple.
The looters have betrayed their betrayed by looting their hard-earned moneys offered to god. If the custodians of faith enter into such acts who then to believe? This is the irony of the believers who have totally committed their belief on their gods shall never tolerate such things. Likewise, there are mushrooming of evangelists and faith-healers who have been misusing the miracles for their own selfish ends. Miracles do happen but all that happens cannot be termed as miracles. Most of such miracles have been set-up them. It is organised in such ways that makes the believers to think that they are real.
Across religions, the faith of the believers is taken for granted. Faith is at stake and put to test because those who believe in their gods think that to reach Moksha they should go through the mediators who control the organised religions. Across religions those who control religions in such organised manner keep fooling the innocent faith-seekers and moksha-believers to a toss. The theatrics and psychedelics these custodians of religions play to hoodwink the believers are getting exposed in all faiths. Faith of the believers cannot be taken for granted for long.
Brining god to everything to justify the human actions lead to human absurdity. Let us not bring god for each and everything that tends to nullify human actions. Miracles do happen for which there are no scientific and biological explanations. Nonetheless, we cannot say that all are miracles. Then one can keep praying or wait for the faith healing to take place. If prayers bring healing wholesale, then, why there are hospitals and doctors! If Christians and other faiths believe only in prayers why should there be hospitals functioning in their names!
If religions are open to scientific scrutiny and critical appraisals then one can say that it is open to discuss questions that concern rationality with all objectivity. In that sense, a few are open to debates and scientific analyses, not all. As long as fundamentalism of religions continue the faithful believers would be living in blindfolds. And so, those profiteers of organised religions should be removed, failing which gods are kept in captivity within the glasshouses. Let us try to liberate from the shackles of organised religions.
To conclude as Sumit Paul rightly says that “There’s no past life, nor is there a future life. You’ve this life, which you must use and utilise sans god. Moreover, we’ve been fighting in the name of god since time immemorial. If god does exist, why doesn’t it intervene and stop bloodshed? Faithlessness and godlessness are mankind’s evolutionary developments and ascensions. Let us accept them gleefully.”
