Why do I believe or not believe in God?
I never thought about it so seriously and deeply before as I did in last 2 days. It’s about finding what you believe actually and whether what you believe is right or wrong or you just don’t know. I thought I never believed in god or I may say that I was never ritualistic or idol worshiper or inclined towards visiting temples for every single problem of mine. I haven’t been to temples or performed “poojas” for ages but my belief is that there is someone or something there which is looking after us and some what I believe in Karma. We humans have an innate need to understand the purpose behind things. It’s revolutionary at its heart. When something happens we are hardwired to look for rationale.
We have an intense emotional need to fill in the blanks of the universe that our minds simply cannot answer and our technology seems forever unable to provide. “What does all this mean?” “What happens after death?” “Why do things happen the way they do?” While in the process of looking for answers, there are still many things which need further analysis in order to agree or disagree with something.
While I am very clear about what I don’t want to do (to follow any religion, worship the god or do daily rituals) as this is my conscious choice. But it may be wrong as a parent to instill my religious beliefs in my kid. One of our basic duties as parents is to expose them to all possibilities and let them decide that what they want to follow and what not.
People I see around are a mix of believers, non-believers, believers with certain motives behind that may be social, political etc. For some people, they blindly follow things without looking at the logic behind or they believe there is no logic it’s just faith and it very easy to fool them. That is why some religious leaders, the so-called babas have made a money making business out of it. That is why it becomes very important to evaluate what you believe in and let not others take advantage of it!
The only belief to be instilled in our children according to me is to be open-minded. I remember from my childhood which used to surprise me was whenever there was a match between Pakistan and India, why that match was so important. Why can’t we appreciate good players in that team? Such external factors do influence a child’s belief in addition to internal factors.
I agree, the so called religious heads, babas, gurus are greatest con men around. They take advantage of your weakness and make a quick buck in the process. The moment one succumbs to this weakness that the solution of one’s problems is in someone else’s hands one falls prey to these unscrupulous elements. Religion always was and always will be exploited. Religion in itself is not bad, it is the practitioners of the religion who give it a bad name, especially these gurus and babas!
Ayman,
While this may seem to be the case most of the times( Babas, con men etc),but there are rare cases ( dis conforming evidences) where spiritual people who do these kind of discourses with pure service in mind and no monetary interest. They find contentment in helping others find their way.
Then, would it be correct to conclude that all these babas, gurus etc people fall in the same category? I wonder too!
I completely agree- the 2 days of the workshop was really a changing point- I did questions but I found following the religion to show my family is easy then having an argument and listening that you are suffering in life because of being a non- believer- which freshen up my wounds…
But from within I never believed that my suffering has anything related to religion or god. So thinking critically in necessary but standing with your thought is very difficult!!