God and Religion

PS: This post has nothing to do with Apple, iPhone, programming, Windows, Microsoft. Sometimes, I do pen down my personal thoughts on my blog. Read it if you are an atheist. Read it if you aren’t either
This should have been my first blog post. I wrote this on a piece of paper around 7 or 8 years ago, during my college days, when Internet connection was intermittent, I didn’t have a blog let alone a web host.

== God ==

Being in the 21st century, the age of science and technology, computer research, many of us really doesn’t think about God. This Universe, is a very vast area, which “hosts” the Milky Way. Our Solar system is a very small part of that galaxy and the planet we live, Earth (or Mother Earth) is another minuscule part of Solar System. In such a great Universe, only our Earth has the right proportions of Oxygen in Air, has water and the right temperature which makes it the only planet to support life. Isn’t this a miracle? Who could have done this?

For human beings to survive, water and air are indispensable. It’s available for free on this planet. Who gave this to us? Can we all “thank” him for that?

Every engineer knows that a computer’s chip is made from silica, which most commonly found in sand. Can you believe that, that sand is doing miracles on your computer right now when you are reading this? Who designed it? A chorus, “Some Engineer” did it. Nearly every literate person can answer that question.

God is also an Engineer, much like us. The “chip” he designed is called “CELL“. It carries the DNA, which is a “blue print” depicting your Intelligence, your height, your weight, complexion, skin color and the entire “YOU”. It also has the mitochondria that generates the necessary power for the survival of the cell along with a whole lot others. But when we are asked, who made this chip, we blabber this, that and end up saying “evolution”. Evolution, the very word, states that there was something in the beginning and everything evolved from it. Who created that something? (OK, a mild digression, I’m a strong believer of Evolution, which is why I think Veganism is really bad and against evolution.
Analogous to that, we didn’t invent the Core 2 Duo chip out of blue. It “evolved” from it’s predecessor. Tracing back to it’s roots, the very first “CHIP” was created by a Texas Engineer, Jack Kilby. He then invented the calculator and the thermal printer as well.
Similarly, were we able to trace how the first living “CELL” was formed? Do we know what happened before BigBang? Why don’t we just thank Him for what He provided us? Why can’t we worship the nature, He provided us there by thanking him? If everyone believed that God is there and God made the Universe, and God is looking at all of us, there wouldn’t be any unlawful practices, murders, rape or robbery. Don’t think that “Seeing is Believing”. Yes of course, seeing is believing, but it cannot be applied universally. How is your computer working now? What flows through the power cord? Can you see it? Well then don’t believe in Electricity. You can only “feel His presence”

== Religion ==

Now comes the most controversial topic. If I have to believe in God, which religion is the best? Ask me, I’ll never ever say follow religion XXX. Now, who created religion? About 300, 000 years ago, when the Neo Cortex of the brain started growing at a considerably rapid pace (see, I believe in Evolution), we, humans gained “self consciousness”. This self consciousness, lead to the creation of a sophisticated language with which we were able to communicate more information with our peers. Though, animals had the sense of “fear” and morals (some animals like Dolphin, not all), their poorly developed language centers prevented them to form a strict set of rules that constituted a religion. This is again evident from the fact, that animals don’t bother about the carcass of their peers, where as Neanderthals buried their peers after performing some rituals. The “self-awareness”, which humans gained after the growth of “neo cortex”, created the sense of “Afterlife” sometime during the past which seeded the origins of the first religion. However, religion is nothing but a strict set of rules set by the first person(whoever it might be or whatever it might say) who wrote it. Remember the monkey, ladder and the cold water story? Precisely, this is how religion got disseminated. Most of us, who believe in one or the other religion, disseminate their religious thoughts, much like the monkeys in the story, without even “thinking” about it. Read any “holy book”, they always say, the other religion is bad. We live in a secular world and still think these texts are true and we claim we are an intelligent species.

I can hear you murmuring now… So what should you do? Should you believe or not believe? Is there God? Well,

1) God exists. But he didn’t write those holy books which you read. He didn’t build those temples/churches or mosques you visit. You don’t have to go there to worship him. He created this entire Universe for you to live and you think, God lives only in those temples/churches or mosques.

2) God never created religion or never wrote any holy books. It’s we humans who disseminated it. If God really created religion, animals, as well would have built its own temples, much like the way they built their caves or nests.

3) After creating the Universe, the Solar System, the Earth and the laws of Earth, God will never interfere with it/meddle with it.  He created Physics. When you leave (drop) a ball from your hand, it doesn’t stay there. It falls down to Earth, and believe me it’s a miracle. But for most of us, who adhere to “strict religious” principles, miracle is when the same ball moves up rather than being attracted by gravity. God created physics and the Earth and its gravity. He is not going to bend the very laws of physics he created just to make you believe his presence. He has given you the sense of “self-consciousness” with which you should understand what’s right and what’s wrong. He’s not going to perform magics or tricks defying the very laws He created. The physics He created itself is a miracle. Here is an article on what Einstein thought about God and Religion.  Some excerpts from that article.

There is a third stage of religious experience which belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form: I shall call it cosmic religious feeling. It is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it, especially as there is no anthropomorphic conception of God corresponding to it.

The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man’s image; so that there can be no church whose central teachings are based on it. Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who were filled with this highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases regarded by their contemporaries as atheists, sometimes also as saints. Looked at in this light, men like Democritus, Francis of Assisi, and Spinoza are closely akin to one another.

How can cosmic religious feeling be communicated from one person to another, if it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology? In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are receptive to it.

The “religion” which he explains is close to what modern day “Deism” is all about. A quote from Wikipedia on Deism states that,

Deism is a religious and philosophical belief that a supreme being created the universe, and that this (and religious truth in general) can be determined using reason and observation of the natural world alone, without a need for either faith or organized religion. Deists generally reject the notion of divine interventions in human affairs – such as by miracles and revelations, but not necessarily

The cosmic religious feeling which Einstein had is what we, as Engineers or technologists should follow. It’s closest kin, Deism, says, God never meddles with your day-to-day activities. So tomorrow, when you go to your place of worship, Thank Him for what he has given, rather than asking for some kind of favor.
“Oh God make me filthy rich” will never make you rich. Bill Gates, didn’t pray that way, for he is an atheist, if I’m not wrong.
God created you and the Universe along with every other animal or plant out there. Thank him for that next time when you worship, rather than asking him for some favour which He is not going to give. God gave you the sense of “reasoning”. Question your religion or anyone who preaches any religion. If your religion bans something, ask why? Why shouldn’t I eat Beef (I’m a Hindu, legally, not morally). If God really wanted humans not to eat Beef, he wouldn’t have created cows at the first place. If God really wanted you to circumcise, He would have ensured that your fore-skin falls off once it’s duty of protecting your genitals is over. No, I’m not a creationist. What I believe is, God created “something” initially from which everything else evolved.
What differentiates between the God created chip, “CELL” and human created chip, “Microprocessor” is the ability to reproduce. That ability of the first “CELL” gave way to evolution and Darwinism.
Believing in God doesn’t mean you ought to follow a religion. Einstein never followed one, yet he is not an atheist. You can believe in God without following a religion. If you are following a religion, start questioning it. Ask yourself why?. The moment you really believe in God is the moment when you become truly, self-aware. That God, needn’t be anthropomorphic (nor He is). It’s just a feeling. A cosmic religious feeling which Einstein felt. Start feeling it. When everyone “feels” this, there wouldn’t be war in this World.

Hope you enjoyed the post.
Feel free to pen down your comments. Hope I didn’t hurt anyone’s sentimental feelings. If you felt so, do let me know.

Thanks,
Mugunth

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