Friday, 19 October 2012

Thanking God


Not only Christians, but many religious nuts give the credit to their imaginary deity when something favorable happens in their lives. But there is no logic in that. Let’s see how.

Suppose a poor man’s son has fallen sick. And, the man is next to helpless. So, he somehow managed to collect money from his friends and take his son to a good hospital. At the hospital, the doctors worked hard to save his son’s life and succeeded. Now, if the man is religious, he will forget how much money his friends sacrificed for him, and how hard the doctors worked. In fact, he will even forget the actions done by himself for his son. Instead of thanking the people who really saved his son’s life, he will give the thanks to the deity he believes in. If he is a Muslim, he will thank Allah, if he is a Christian, he will thank Jesus, if he is a Hindu, he will thank any of the Hindu gods and so on. But, if the deity he believes in really had something to do with his son’s recovery, why did the man take his son to a hospital in the first place? He could have simply prayed to his deity and his son should have recovered immediately.

Whenever you are in a tough situation, and you somehow manage to get out of it, few points should be remembered. If it was your god who helped you, why did he put you in that bad situation in the first place? You may say, “To test my faith”. But, that’s rubbish. If it was really done to test your faith, then why would your god help you? When you are at school, your teachers may take exams to test your intelligence, but they won’t help you on the test, will they? Similarly, if it is a test, what is the logic in thanking god? The second point is that if it was really god who helped you, why did you work so hard to get out of the situation? You may say, “Because my god wants me to do my work myself.” And, that’s exactly the point. If your god wants you to do everything yourself, why bother with him? Why pray to him to help you, and why waste time thanking him when he didn’t?

The problem with many people is that they don’t have enough self-confidence and have no courage to face the reality. That’s why they need a god. In ancient times, whenever it rained, people thought some deity was doing it. Today, we know that it is simply the water cycle. Many people also thought that thunderstorms were caused when the gods were angry. Even today, people haven’t changed much. 

The point here is not whether God exists or doesn’t exist. The point is that we should learn to live without a god. Children can’t and shouldn’t stick with their parents all their life. One day, they have to become independent and stand on their own. The case with God is just the same. It is really childish and pathetic to behave well because you are afraid of being punished by God. People should learn to be good without expecting any rewards for it. People should learn to be responsible for their own actions, instead of thanking or blaming God for everything. A parent would always wish that their children grow up quickly and become independent. If God exists, why do people think that God is any different? If we are God’s children, obviously he wants us to be independent. If a believer falls sick, he will pray to God and ask God to heal him. But, if an atheist falls sick, he will do everything himself that he needs in order to be healthy again. So, obviously, God would be happier with the atheist because he took care of his own problems without bothering God. 

If there actually is a real God, it is obvious that it is not the Christian God. It is also obvious that he doesn’t want us to do what the religious fools do day and night. 

Blessed are the merciful.