Shit, really.
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“The God that our neighbours believe in is essentially an invisible person. He’s a creator deity, who created the universe to have a relationship with one species of primates—lucky us. He’s got galaxy upon galaxy to attend to, but he’s especially concerned with what we do, and he’s especially concerned with what we do while naked. He almost certainly disapproves of homosexuality. And he’s created this cosmos as a vast laboratory in which to test our powers of credulity, and the test is this: can you believe in this god on bad evidence, which is to say, on faith?” —Sam Harris, on a televised debate on the topic “Does God Have a Future?” on ABC Nightline, with Harris and Michael Shermer against quantum woo-guru Deepak Chopra and Jean Houston.
The point here is, for all the grand things that he/she/it has supposedly created, this God is a very petty, petty being. Should someone who’s supposedly so immaculate and omnipotent as the holy God really get offended at frivolous things like sex outside of marriage, or for eating meat, or for eating food on fasting days, or for not dressing up like the religious doctrine says in a book? (Would God tell a woman how to or how not to dress herself up? That’s so crazily trifling!) Because such pettiness is most certainly a human flaw, and ideally, that is not a divine quality which could be attributed to an eternal and wise holy being. It shouldn’t be happening with an almighty heavenly God who has infinite mercy. Think about it—the traditional God of religion contradicts himself.
But these are beside the point of this awesome debate. Watch the entire debate on YouTube. It’s highly interesting and deeply engrossing for those who like stuff like this. You gotta watch Chopra getting his ass cooked and handed to him on a platter by Shermer and especially Harris.
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“I am not going to pretend a faith I don’t feel. I am what I am and people will judge that. For people of faith, I think the greatest compliment I could pay to them is to respect their genuinely held beliefs and not to engage in some pretence about mine. I grew up in the Christian church, a Christian background. I won prizes for catechism, for being able to remember Bible verses. I am steeped in that tradition, but I’ve made decisions in my adult life about my own views. I’m worried about the national interest. About doing the right thing by Australians. And I’ll allow people to form their own views about whatever is going to drive their views. What I can say to Australians broadly of course is I believe you can be a person of strong principle and values from a variety of perspectives.” —Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female Prime Minister, who is an atheist. Those are some strong and honest words.
I wish there was someone like her in the upper political sphere here in India. But they’d probably never make it to the top for not patronizing with some religion or caste.
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“Judgment is already too well known. Within a week it is to be pronounced. What is the consolation with the exception of the idea that I am going to sacrifice my life for a cause? A God-believing Hindu might be expecting to be reborn as a king, a Muslim or a Christian might dream of the luxuries to be enjoyed in paradise and the reward he is to get for his suffering and sacrifices. But, what am I to expect? I know the moment the rope is fitted round my neck and rafters removed from under my feet, that will be the final moment – that will be the last moment. I, or to be more precise, my soul as interpreted in the metaphysical terminology, shall all be finished there. Nothing further. A short life of struggle with no such magnificent end shall in itself be the reward, if I have the courage to take it in that light…. I know in the present circumstances my faith in God would have made my life easier, my burden lighter, and my disbelief in Him has turned all the circumstances too dry, and the situation may assume too harsh a shape. A little bit of mysticism can make it poetical. But I do not want the help of any intoxication to meet my fate. I am a realist. I have been trying to overpower the instinct in me by the help of reason. I have not always been successful in achieving this end. But man’s duty is to try and endeavour, success depends upon chance and environments.” —Bhagat Singh, Indian revolutionary, writing in his article “Why I am an Atheist”, while in jail awaiting execution.
Speaking of unpatronizing atheists, here’s an Indian who clearly knew what he was doing. We all know about Bhagat Singh the revolutionary with his image of a well groomed gentleman with a hat, but few know of Bhagat Singh the rationalist.
Many people are guided to struggle driven by delusion or a sense of righteousness as professed by their religion. But Bhagat Singh seemed to have had a clear motive, that was outright selfless. Few could have had the kind of conviction for a cause as him. He knew the only thing to be gained by his sacrifice was freedom for his country, and that there would be nothing consolatory beyond that for him after he died. Sadly, with the state of things today, this probably was never the India that Bhagat Singh could have ever dreamed of. While he was fighting for freedom, people now find more significance in the freedom to fight.
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A religious guy answers his own question. Twice.
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