Continue discussion of religions' unGodly ways
God vs Religions
Part 2
Religions exhibit an inherent distaste and antagonism for science. On the other hand, some of the scientists profess atheism. For example there is a controversy about the theory of evolution as opposed to ‘creation’. The proponents of both theories neglect to answer the most important question, “Who created science and its laws?” God was the one who created science, its laws, initial quantities of matter (mass) and energy and then set them up in an automatic system to develop the universe. Ge did ‘create’ the universe but by first creating science and then using it to make the universe develop automatically but not the way assumed in the story of ‘Genesis’. You may want to see UnGodly Genesis.
When we mention scientific laws, such as Newton’s Laws, all we mean is the laws first discovered and stated formally in a scientific language by the particular scientist such as Newton. They are all Gis laws and existed long before their discovery. The scientists did not start or own them. Once we realize this, the antagonism between science and religions becomes baseless. It also becomes needless to rely on miracles for believing in God.
Consider walking on water. Our inability to do so stems from Gis laws of gravity, floatation and balance of action and reaction. A true devotee of God would not want to violate them. Instead, hse would employ the same laws to make a boat and travel on water. Therefore, Jesus' walking on water was, in fact, an ungodly act. Similarly, we cannot fly due to the laws of God. Gis true devotees would not try to fly like a bird using yoga or other ‘spiritual’ means but would use Gis laws of aerodynamics to make an airplane fly in the air with human passengers without claiming it to be a miracle.
Miracles do happen every moment. God makes all of them. For example, take water. All other substances get heavier and sink when they freeze. Water when frozen becomes ice, which is lighter and floats on the warmer water. This anomalous expansion of water is a wonderful miracle that God keeps performing every moment so that the aquatic life would not get trapped in the ice of frozen lakes, oceans etc. This itself is adequate proof of Gis existence.
The angle by which the earth’s axis is tilted is also a miracle. Had it been 0o, there would have been no seasons. Had it been 45o, the warm and cold climates would have been dangerously next to each other and there would have been no temperate zone. This would have left very little land, if any, for mankind to develop and flourish.
Our circulation system is another miracle. A pump to circulate blood through our arteries and veins would be much larger than our bodies. Yet our hearts the size of a fist perform the feat due to the miraculous properties of blood. Similarly, the fact that flowers of many beautiful colors, patterns and fragrance grow out of dirt is also a miracle of God. The more science we study the more we wonder about Gis miracles.
And yet we of small faith keep looking for people who claim to perform miracles so that we can believe in them in the name of believing in God! What a pity!
Faith is the concept most misused. (Uses and Abuses of Faith) The faithful need no proof, the faithless accept none. However, it is important to make a distinction based on the object of faith. Faith in Ram, Krishna, Jesus, Mohammed, Budhdha or any other person is not faith at all. These people and their likes were great only in their audacity to make the most preposterous claims of being the God incarnate or the only son of God or Gis only spokesperson and so on. Faith generated by miracles performed by these people is ffaith (fake faith). True faith can only be in God and Gis principles.
(Please see my separate write-up on ‘Logic, Faith and God’ for more about faith.)
What is prayer if not the intense personal emotion one feels for God? Being so, it cannot be regulated. And yet, all religions regulate the prayers of their followers by specifying the words, timings, places and postures for praying. This is one of the reasons why I consider all religions to be blasphemous. Prayer, to be true, must be done individually, spontaneously and privately. Religions cannot and must not be allowed to put words in individuals’ prayers. Joint prayers in temples, churches, mosques etc. are nothing but confirmations of conformation. People do need to conform to or belong to one group or another for social and psychological support, but using prayer for that purpose violates the sanctity of prayer itself.
I have occasionally been present at some prayer meetings. I have been praised for saying the prayers aloud when I was actually thinking of some thing else. I have also been criticized for not saying the prayers aloud when I was really paying undivided attention to the prayers. The people around me were certainly not paying attention to their own prayers because they were busy watching me.
Ravishankar Maharaj, the selfless social worker of Gujarat, India, likened devotion (bhakti) to steam. Water vapor is present almost everywhere. But, it accomplishes heavy-duty tasks only when confined in a boiler and brought to high pressure. Similarly, devoted prayer can achieve great results only if its pressure is not allowed to dissipate through the holes of singing, dancing and exhibition as what happens in the places of worship.
Prayer should not be just a once-a-week, once-a-day or even five-times-a-day event. What we do between such scheduled prayers is also important. Prayer should rather be a continuous process, a second nature like background music playing incessantly in our subconscious mind. Whatever we do in our lives should be a prayer. All our actions should be performed with deep faith in God constantly keeping in mind that no secrets can be kept from Gim.
People make children pray. But it is the adults and not the children who need to pray.
God vs Religions 3, Logic, Faith and God, Uses and Abuses of Faith