Prologue:-
Long and controversial post ahead. Read when you have time to spare. Do leave a comment after reading. Would love to know your reaction to these ideas.
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Does God exist? Why was the concept of God created? What practical purpose does God serve in our lives? Probably the most commonly asked questions by mankind. Whether one believes in God or not, there is a high probability that at some point in one’s life, each one of us have asked this question, either to ourselves or someone else.
Let us try to look at these questions from a logical point of view.
Why was the concept of God being created?
The concept of God was probably created many thousands of years back, when early man had just differentiated himself from other animals by virtue of his intelligence. At that stage, though man was intelligent enough to cultivate food, use primitive mechanics etc., he was not intelligent enough yet to be able to understand the real reasons behind natural phenomena like floods, droughts, fire, earthquakes, disease etc. Due to this lack of understanding, he ended up attributing these phenomena to an omnipotent Supreme Being he could not see, touch or hear. Someone up there must be pulling the strings that made these things happen, he must have thought. The concept of God must have been created right then.
It was again due to this lack of understanding of natural events, that man must have begun worshiping God. Man did so in order to please Him so that man does not incur His wrath. Man feared God. Man did not want natural calamities to befall on him; instead wanted “divine” help in carrying out his worldly activities in the easier and better way.
As the process of human evolution moved forward, man became ever more intelligent, and hence more powerful. With this, man became more arrogant as well. Groups of men started fighting with each other over land, wealth and women. The weak began being suppressed by the strong. Primitive dictatorships were established.
It was probably then that a few enlightened souls began to reflect on the degeneration of humanity. They began to realize what was happening was not correct, and needed corrective action. What is the use of man’s superior intelligence, if he continues to behave like a wild animal? Someone needed to reign in mankind; else man would lead to his own downfall.
But how could they make ordinary men follow the right path, and make sure that they do not get carried away by their primitive instincts? If they had tried to instill the righteous way of life to others by themselves, they would have been rejected outright. The enlightened souls might have then realized that, in order to show man the right path, they must feed on man’s most primitive emotion: fear.
They must then have merged the notions of the omnipotent and omnipresent Supreme Being that people had at that time, with teachings about morality and duty. They used concept of God to guide less awakened men and women through their lives. They preached moral principles as the word of the Supreme Being that controls the world; the word of God. If you fear God, you got to obey his word. The word of God was to live in peace and harmony, to take care of the weak and underprivileged, and to work together for a greater good of humanity. If you do not obey Him, you will incur God’s wrath. Perhaps this was how world’s earliest religions were invented.
Every religion in the world teaches the same things, as the word of God. The vehicle is different, but the destination is always the same.
Does God exist?
Whether God has said these things or not, we cannot prove or disprove scientifically. But we do know that what has been preached as the word of God is the correct way of life for all of humanity.
What practical purpose does God serve in our lives?
One, the word of God, as conveyed by each and every religion in the world, shows us the right way of leading our lives. Do not oppress the weak, but help them. Do not resort to anger and violence. Do not cheat. Man’s natural tendency is to go against all these things. But the fear that God always keeps account of your moral credit history, is what keeps most of us from going astray.
Two, God is supposed to help us in our troubled times. We pray to God when we are in distress, and God supposedly provides divine intervention to help us.
Have you ever scientifically thought how praying helps? Is the world any different before and after you have prayed? Has the obstacle you were about to face become less severe? Have the problems you were trying to solve become easier? No, right? Then what has changed after praying? It is your self belief. After prayer, you begin to believe that God is on your side. You believe that He will guide you through rough waters. You are now ready to take the challenges that life throws at you head on. That is the power of belief in God.
Do we need God?
Why does a shepherd tie the cows with a rope, or surround them in a fence? Because he does not want them to wander away aimlessly towards danger. God is the “imaginary” shepherd. And the word of God is the rope or fence that ties us ordinary mortals to our morals. Else we would have wandered away to our downfalls centuries ago.
If a cow is wise enough to realize that she is not supposed to wander away and stay at the location the shepherd has assigned for her, she does not need to be tied to any rope or fence. Similarly, the really enlightened ones among us do not need the concept of God to guide them through their lives. They know the right path without any fear.
BUT the other 99.99999999999 percent of the world DOES need God.