God.....

There is no God how is your life affected? What changes in your behavior and ideas alter?

As a firm believer in the existence of God, for me the idea or concept of that being’s non-existence gives rise to innumerable questions. The idea of a being watching over me all my life, who was responsible to nurture me, suddenly ceases to exist would give rise to panic. This being provided me with the support and help I craved whenever I was in trouble. The whole idea of sharing or blaming all your troubles onto someone you were always so sure will take care of them turning out to be useless is not only disappointing, but scary as well. It entails that whatever I used to do, I am doing and will do in future, my triumphs and my failures, were not because that being had something better for me in store but because I did not have the capability to put them through. Possibly the early stages of being a non-believer give rise to doubt, perhaps agnosticism; may be it could be early stage of atheism or is the last stage of theism. But it is very disappointing to discover that whatever you believed in all your life was only a figment of imagination; that God was only a delusion as Richard Dawkins puts it. One wants to believe but is unable to do so since his logic defies all the supportive documentation, (read religious sacred text); one wants to disbelieve but then again is unable to do so for the years and years of training otherwise. All in all it is difficult to break away from the circumstances, and on the other hand following everything as it was makes one feel like a hypocrite.

Further questions that come to my mind are related to existentialism, individual existence, freedom, and choice. If there is no God, how did I come into being, who created me? Am I really just an accidental creation? Do I have no purpose in this life? If that is so, then nothing in this universe has a purpose, then what are we striving for? Why do we exist? How are we sustained? Rhetorically speaking one should then only conform to Descartes philosophy and say, I think therefore I am.

If one takes into account the German philosopher Nietzsche indeed it should be considered freedom to explore the countless possibilities that arise when god ceases to exist, or as he puts it is dead. And perhaps the best way for describing the lack of existence of a being watching over you all the time should be celebrated joyously. The non-existence of god, broadens up the horizon for humans to be better, much better than what they are. It offers new possibilities for better understanding, self-reliance, as well as a chance to make one’s own life the way they please. At first the realization may leave one speechless, later after a certain time period when it is accepted it is an exhilarating experience and a powerful knowledge. To know that one is responsible for his own destiny is in itself freedom. Though pursuing that path is possible or not in the present circumstances or not is another question all together.

Nevertheless for some disbelief can give rise to nihilism, and questions like morality or what is good and what is bad come up. If there is no God, what affect does morality suffer from it? Without that concept of someone is watching over, how will a person continue to lead a moral life? Though the following question should be what is morality? If morality is only dictated by God’s religion, then with the thought of his Non-existence, the concept of morality should stop to exist as well. What is religion? Just a believe in God?? Or it is something more than that?? Is it ancient man's endeavor to understand his existence?? Or to know why his loved ones died? And it is as well to know and discover their whereabouts?? Anyway one has to appreciate the amount of effort that man spent on these quests. Evolving during this process; religions, society, and cultures. Spending time on painting and writing books recording certain relevant facts for us to study and analyze, evaluate “Our Existence”, though they became distorted with time and now proclaim supernatural attributes. Our job is to try and extract whatever good we can get out of it, and build from there. We are now in a different era. We need to collect all our intellect and strength and put it to the task of prolonging our existence on this planet and beyond.

The conclusion is that existence of God or non-existence can be proven with logic, therefore there is no point in arguing about it. Religion-Rituals-Cults are all one and the same thing, you follow them just as a way to meet people and learn their behavior, problems etc. (A means of interaction/socializing) It is a part of our upbringing and if we are comfortable in doing certain activities it can do no harm because it has nothing to do with the existence or non-existence of God. Live and let live; that is to say if someone wants to believe that God exists, and he's all powerful, ever present, merciful, wrathful etc. they have a right to believe so, but they can't dictate it to others and cannot make others believe the same. We should be free of any sexual, religious, cultural, national or ethnic bounds. We should be humanitarians, just helping others on the base of being alive. Therefore embracing a broader spectrum of life instead of worrying our heads over life after death, this technically is a waste of time looking at the amount of work that needs to be done ‘HERE AND NOW’.

Perhaps I can quote Robert Ingersoll here, when he says, “When I became convinced that the universe is natural, that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell. The dungeon was flooded with light and all the bolts and bars and manacles became dust. I was no longer a servant, a serf, or a slave. There was for me no master in all the wide world, not even in infinite space. I was free--free to think, to express my thoughts--free to live my own ideal, free to live for myself and those I loved, free to use all my faculties, all my senses, free to spread imagination's wings, free to investigate, to guess and dream and hope, free to judge and determine for myself . . . I was free! I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously faced all worlds."