GOD’S SIGNIFICANCE
Pomander Dada said that the only thing that makes life worth living is God. Blasé Pascal’s famous “wager” basically argued that we should believe in God, just in case. The question is why? What is the significance of God, and how does this make any difference in one’s life (if any)? Buddha was once, according Hinayana and Mahayana tradition, asked by his disciples if God existed, to which the Buddha replied something along the lines of “who cares?”
It seems that the religions keep its believers in line via threats of eternal torment (Christian Hell or Islamic Jahannam). Is this the point of your life? To avoid punishment at the hands of a being more powerful than you? Is that not coercion? To threaten someone, and say “do as I say, or I will punish you severely” is cruel, and very unbecoming of an allegedly merciful being.
Is life meant only for appeasing the whims of a cosmic bully? I think many believers would argue that it is not so much an attempt to escape punishment as it is to make it to heaven/paradise. Is life solely meant for gaining some sort of physical reward? It seems pointless to live one’s life solely for the sake of some sort of personal gain.
The third and final reason to serve God, assuming he exists, is simply for the sake of doing it. Believers “serve” God as part of a “relationship” they have with him; out of love and respect for God.
I think these hi-lights a simple fact that human beings form relationships with or interact with other beings for only three reasons:
(1) To gain something.
(2) To avoid pain, suffering, or punishment.
(3) Out of simple love and respect for that being.
This is the case with all beings, from our pets, to other humans, to our respective deity (assuming we have one). Therefore, God is no more different from any other being in the grand scheme of things. You love God, and I love my family, my friends, my boy friend and not to forget my pet dog, Timmy. Also, if Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam threatened to have me killed for disputing the legitimacy of his claim to the presidency, I would not think of him as an honorable or merciful being.
CONCLUSION
God’s alleged attributes are both illogical and incoherent. The reasons for believing that he exists have been shown to be either fallacious or pointless. No proof for his alleged existence has ever been provided. The very idea of his existence is of a fantastic nature, and thus questionable. It is for all these reasons that I submit to you that any God defined as omniscient and/or omnipotent and/or infinite is impossible.
Hello!
Very thought-provoking of course. I agree with most of your arguments, and these points are precisely what would irk me when people I’d question, in order to clarify my puzzlement when it came to religion, would merely assert the concept of “God” to be too deep to be able to be grasped by a mortal individual and one must just “have faith and believe” without question. How convenient, eh! It all seemed too dogmatic to hold any tangible credibility for me. However, it’s important to determine what one MEANS when talking about “God”. I’m not sure I believe in God as a being. Okay, I’m sure I DON’T. But yes, I have come to believing in there being a power out there which could equate to the conventional idea of “God”. Call it what you will: the Mystic Law, the soul of the Universe, whatever. And also that God exists within every individual,within his or her mind,heart and being; in the form of all the energy, potential and power waiting to be tapped into.
So I’m saying, it really depends on what one BELIEVES God to BE. In my opinion, that could be very personal and hence differing from person to person. There really can’t be any fixed alleged attributes. So it depends on one’s interpretation . If Pomander Dada said that the only thing that makes life worth living is God, I respect that if it is to be taken as an opinion worth consideration, not a dictated assertion.
Interesting…
I get where you are coming from…Coz I remember having this discussion with another friend of mine..and for her..her god were here parents..
My God would be my brains I gues…that rather interesting part of the body that thinks and guides you through every step…hehe..kinda funny..
And I guess…all this questioning really comes from religion being stuck down my throat and said you HAVE TO do this, and follow that…etc, etc…I am a rebel..and can’t take “have to’s”..But what started as a rebel…actually led me to read rather interesting stuff when it comes to arguments about the existence of god…