My fellow Theists !!

Theism in a broader sense is the belief that there exists a divine power which is the creater ,the organizer , and the destroyer of all that is tangible and even more all that is intangible. In  a nutshell, it means that one day God created universe and since then had been providing for all the fellow residents.  Don’t get me wrong but I am not here to write a thesis supporting the almighty nor am I here to justify Darwin’s theory of evolution. To tell you the truth , I fall into the third category of believers or the non believers –I am a skeptic.  Having said that ,I really respect those who have the gift of faith. It is a blessing really to have an assurance that a messiah is backing you in every walk of your life. Now I know it is even more ambiguous when I admit that I revere the non believer too for he believes that there is a logical reason for the string of  events which take place and your actions are reflected in the outcomes. According to these very wise individuals  ,’Karma is a bitch!’ . And that’s fine too , this is a rational belief system too ,based strictly on Newton’s third law of motion.

The focal point of my concern are the superstitions which go along with the religious beliefs and the haughtiness of the non believers. I was watching a new American Suspense Drama the other day and had a major epiphany. The story revolved around a young boy barely in his post teenage years,who claimed to have conversations with God. The protagonist of the series Dr. Daniel Pierce is a neuropsychiatrist  who has a long history of paranoid schizophrenia. During his work on one of the cases,Daniel comes across this young boy. He asks the boy ,whether he sees God ?And ,are these so called conversations often accompanied by severe headaches and uneasiness and if so, he suggests him to immediately get a checkup as he suspects him to be suffering from brain tumor. The boy agrees to have all the symptoms but refuses to get any kind of checkup as he believes if it is the only way God can talk to him, so be it. Later during an accidental checkup doctors tell the boy’s parents about the tumor. His parents regret having not listened to Daniel at first.

While I was watching it , I was suddenly reminded of my childhood days when my mother used to take me to Durga Puja Pandals and a few of the very devout ones  used to make the same claim. Now , I am not saying that they all had brain tumors , but hallucination is a renowned medical condition. Most of the religious practices stem from a lack of education and moreover an unwillingness to come out of the shackles of social establishment.Isn’t it hypocrisy to believe in a God who created us all equal and then looking down upon a human being because his religion calls the same God by another name. When did it become necessary to donate a million dollar crown to a very comfortable God in an exquisite temple whilst walking straight by a hungry child who is shrieking in the lap of his grief stricken malnourished mother.I don’t know when did God start enjoying “Munni Badnam Hui” as a prayer because I still find solace in the old Sanskrit shlokas that my father taught me. In the ancient days they sacrificed virgins by killing them, today they do so by raping them.

Consequently ,the people with beliefs are more or less responsible for the widespread disbelief. The behavioral examples set by the believers encourage the non believers to justify their acts.I am not a promoter of atheism because sometimes the faith that a higher power is watching our actions define our moral boundaries. And these kind of moral boundaries can do nothing but good for a rational mind who believes in the law of equal and opposite reaction.  Moreover,I for one do not negate the possibility that atheists are comparatively more depressed . Statistics show that theists have a greater purpose in life and hence are considerably happy.  The non believer  argues that whatever happens is a consequence of his actions and hence he himself is solely responsible for the events that transpire in his life. But this is not absolutely true , there are some things which are beyond a person’s control . These things are a part of a divine plan which may have been devised by the almighty, the nature or is just plain destiny. But someone lacking faith would keep on orbiting around what has or has not happened .Such kind of cause and effect analysis is sometimes futile as not everything can be explained in binary.

My religion as a result of these extremities is humanism. And the principles are quite simple . The only purpose of each and every day should be to be as happy as possible. The only God I believe in is each and every person who can teach me something or rather anything. The only fast I keep is not to hurt anyone in any way. Life is too short and there is a lot I have to do. Everyone has a to-do list they need to get to once in a while .Mine is rather big and involves a lot of add ins per day. I may not visit a temple but I do thank god everyday for he let me open my eyes in the morning and let me see the light of the day for many live in the darkness even when the lamp in the abode of the God burns in its full glory.