Dear FOTH Friends:

 

Post 398 from Mr. Tanwir has prompted me to write this letter. Mr. Tanwir is wondering as to why such a ‘contentious issue’ is being discussed? Paradoxically, Mr. Tanwir may not have realized the fact that his letter has put him on exactly the same footings as the rest of us, that is, dealing with ‘contentious issues’ himself now. Many historical events (section A, below) that he has stated have been discussed to the nth degree and the history around the events has been written and re-written several times such that different schools of thought have major disagreements with each other. I have copied below a portion of Mr. Tanwir’s letter which I have divided into two sections, A and B, the reason for doing this will become self evident: 

[Mr. Tanwir’s statement copied below in two sections, A and B]

 

Section A:

When Christians are persecuted for centuries, God is there directing the affair. When Mohammad orders the killing of more than 700 Jews, including women and children, God is at the helm. When Pope Innocent III orders slaughter of hundreds of French Cathars for heresy, God inspires him to do so. When Crusaders are painting holy land with infidels’ blood, I see God helping along. When Catholics and Protestants are killing each other, I see God on both sides. When Palestinians are expelled from their homes, God is the one who had promised the land to Jews. When innocent Jews are blown to pieces by suicide bombers, God helps assemble the bombs. TO this partisan and murderous God I say goodbye and good riddance; go away and never again interfere in human affairs; just leave us be. 

Section B:

There is another God, however.  When you listen to a song so beautiful that you lose sense of time and place, travel to a realm indescribable by our tongue; this God lives there. When you watch the sun rise, slowly spreading its amber rays over sleepy earth and you forget all the mundane thoughts, feeling only infinite peace, this God lives there. When beautiful poem transports you out of you, this God lives there. When a painting takes you where you feel nothing but peace and goodwill towards all creatures, this God lives there. To this God I say welcome; please stay and keep me in this realm, always. 

Mr. Tanwir strongly disapproves certain incidents or acts (section A) above while he has admiration and approvals for other things (section B).

Obviously, Mr. Tanwir’s expectations from God are similar to the expectations one would have from a personal ‘genie’  trapped in a magic lamp. Mr. Tanwir expects a powerful being to be on his side who will run the world and its affairs in accordance with Mr. Tanwir’s likes and dislikes and his personal value system.

This is a classic example of a quasi Atheistic mind. A mind that has neither accepted  the term ‘God’ nor has fully rejected it. A part of mind has learned a few attributes of God and the rest is controlled by its own perception of the world and life in it. Being in two minds, they are obviously not in harmony with each other, hence the disappointments as listed by Mr. Tanwir in section A, above.

There are those, who do not believe in the existence of God (non-believers or atheists). They will assess the events of section A or observations of section B through their knowledge of history, scientific evaluation or other merits as they see fit such as artistic values and so on, without bringing God into consideration. As they do not believe in the existence of the soul therefore, life after (physical) death has no meaning for them. As they do not believe in the existence of God, there is no point in blaming him for any disasters or other painful experiences that they may experience. Why to blame some thing that does not exist? They expect to see the acts of section A and B, and accept them as part of evolution of life and intelligence. They work to keep a balance between good and bad according to certain generally accepted standards which have evolved through time and experience.

There are those who believe in the existence of God (the believers) and the revealed scriptures, they take the earthly life as an opportunity and a challenge for spiritual development to achieve a higher status in the life to come, which, in their minds, is  an eternal life, hence it is important to invest appropriately into the future.

When the believers come across disasters, atrocities or other hard to accept situations, the kind listed in section A, above, they do not blame God for it. They believe that He has designed the universe and the earth and the life on it granting the man intelligence, weaknesses and a free will. Now it is up to the mankind how they play their cards, in accordance with or contrary to the rules which have been prescribed. It is up to each and every individual how they decide to play their part in life. They know they are being judged according to their deeds in each and every situation of the type stated in section A, above, as well as every day life activities that includes the family, the friends, the neighbourhood etc. They have accepted the Kingdom of God both on this earth and eternity to come after this life.

They fully realise that there are going to be upheavals, natural and man made disasters, wars and atrocities along with love, joy, happiness and hope. They take it all as part of natural design of man and its environment. They expect to see the acts of sections A and B, above; and accept them as an essential part of life on this planet. They will work to keep a healthy balance between good and evil and good and bad as a personal duty to serve God and their obligations to humanity.

The third type of people are those who are confused about the existence or non-existence of God. As they are sitting on the fence, they are spiritually lost and emotionally weak. They have a battle of opposing thoughts brewing in their minds at all times. Their standards and levels of acceptance change on daily basis depending upon the prevailing conditions of their environment and their own emotional condition at any given moment. They are easily frustrated when the ‘genie’ fails to perform to their expectations. They have difficulty in adopting to a suitable emotional or spiritual role in this life as they lack in a well defined set of standards by which they can judge themselves and others around them. They often make God the scapegoat for their worldly difficulties and disappointments.

Mr. Tanwir seems to be happy with a God who will create things listed in section B, above. But what about section A? Is Mr. Tanwir suggesting that there are two Gods, one good and the other bad? Can we be cherry pickers, pick what we want and leave the rest? Is he using the word God as a metaphor only, meaning the nature is beautiful that created things listed in section B. If so, then, there is no God who created situations of section A. In that case, to whom exactly is he saying goodbye to? Which of the three categories does Mr. Tanwir belong to or is there a fourth category? Only Mr. Tanwir can answer these questions.

 

Regards,