This is one of the older and common-er issues, nevertheless an interesting one. So let me set the ball rolling. I am not here to ask anyone to change their beliefs. I would feel happy if we could all share our thoughts in a calm non-judgemental debate.
I do not believe that god exists. Now why do I say that ? Two points ;
1. First, for the purpose of this discussion, we should precisely define god. For anything/ anyone to qualify as god, there are a few conditions that must be met
a. Must be all knowing and ever present
b. Must be all powerful
c. Must be beneficial to mankind / other forms of life.
I hope most of us are agreed on this definition.
2. So if god exists and satisfies the conditions above, why do we see millions of people killed in natural disasters ? Genocides ? Could it be that he is not all powerful and could not stop the disasters..? Well then he cannot be acclaimed god. Could it be that he COULD stop but chooses not to. Then again he cannot be acclaimed god (point c above). Some believer friends of mine have told me that there is a larger meaning to creation and god that we cannot comprehend. And that the deaths of innocents are a part of this larger scheme (shades of the Bhagvad Geeta). So god chooses to "observe" in silence the deaths of innocents, for he has a design in it that we humans do not understand.
To my rather simple mind, it looks like if god cant prevent anything bad from happening, and if he is not all powerful and beneficial, why do we need him at all? It’s like the story of frogs and King Log/ King Stork.
And finally...in the newspaper some months ago, I read this little news item. A 10 year old mentally retarded girl was raped by three men, somewhere in North india. Now I do hope that my believer friends are not going to tell me that this too is a part of the grand design of god (which we humans don’t understand).
To sum up this little train of thought, I believe that god does not exist chiefly because there is no evidence that he ever does anything that should cause people to believe in him in the first place. I think compared to god, George Bush may be a better choice, instead.
More on this in a future piece,
I do not believe that god exists. Now why do I say that ? Two points ;
1. First, for the purpose of this discussion, we should precisely define god. For anything/ anyone to qualify as god, there are a few conditions that must be met
a. Must be all knowing and ever present
b. Must be all powerful
c. Must be beneficial to mankind / other forms of life.
I hope most of us are agreed on this definition.
2. So if god exists and satisfies the conditions above, why do we see millions of people killed in natural disasters ? Genocides ? Could it be that he is not all powerful and could not stop the disasters..? Well then he cannot be acclaimed god. Could it be that he COULD stop but chooses not to. Then again he cannot be acclaimed god (point c above). Some believer friends of mine have told me that there is a larger meaning to creation and god that we cannot comprehend. And that the deaths of innocents are a part of this larger scheme (shades of the Bhagvad Geeta). So god chooses to "observe" in silence the deaths of innocents, for he has a design in it that we humans do not understand.
To my rather simple mind, it looks like if god cant prevent anything bad from happening, and if he is not all powerful and beneficial, why do we need him at all? It’s like the story of frogs and King Log/ King Stork.
And finally...in the newspaper some months ago, I read this little news item. A 10 year old mentally retarded girl was raped by three men, somewhere in North india. Now I do hope that my believer friends are not going to tell me that this too is a part of the grand design of god (which we humans don’t understand).
To sum up this little train of thought, I believe that god does not exist chiefly because there is no evidence that he ever does anything that should cause people to believe in him in the first place. I think compared to god, George Bush may be a better choice, instead.
More on this in a future piece,
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