When the renowned French mathematician and philosopher announced to the world "cogito ergo sum" or "I think, therefore I am" he was identifying and acknowledging the existence of a consciousness residing both within us and around us, permeating the sentient world and guiding its course  through much of its temporal existence. This consciousness enables us to be aware of the "self" as a distinct entity in the space time continuum.  Thus each living thing is imbued with varying degrees of this self-same awareness or perception, not only of its uniqueness, but also of its connectedness to the unfolding universe. And it is this connectedness that we feel with other conscious beings, which is of particular interest to me, as it provides me with a premise to believe in a Higher Collective Consciousness, or an Intelligent Force, whether one understands it as a Being, a Master Planner, a Deity, God or Tao. 

I also believe that religion and faith are  endemic to man, so much so that the homosapiens has also been referred to as homo religiosus.  Many theories have been advanced to explain the prevalence of the phenomenon of religion in human societies. Human beings believe in a Higher Power for several reasons. Some posit the Cosmological view, premised on the origins of the universe fifteen billion years ago out of void. Others expound the First Cause rationale, previously postulated by ancient masters of Greek thought  such as Aristotle, who refined the notion and gave the First Cause the name :"Unmoved Mover" as an Intelligent and Powerful Being who created the universe and life on it. The Teleological argument, often propounded by men of faith, relies heavily on the evidence of design observable in nature and its functioning. The Moral argument further necessitates the existence of a Powerful Being, for it is through Him, that human beings derive their moral sense of right and wrong. I, as a Believer, also take comfort in the preponderance of religion in human societies as an argument for the existence of God, giving credence to the view that God, is an objective reality outside of the human intellect, rather than just being a conceptual reality as some may suggest. Why would so many individuals in different parts of the world arrive at the same conclusion, were it not an objective reality?  

While the above arguments tackle the question of our origins  at the philosophical level, organized religion also strives to validate its particular understanding of transcendental mysteries, citing miraculous occurrences, prophecy and unexplained natural phenomena as proof of the existence of a Higher Power or Being. Christians affirm the veracity of the Bible as a book of prophecy, since it purports to contain  foreknowledge of future events . Only a Higher Being could have such foreknowledge, they argue.  The interpretation of Biblical prophecy hence, is a skill valued among Christian scholars as it enables them to establish the validity of the scripture as being one of divine origin. Similarly the Vedas of Hinduism, and the Avesta of the Zoroastrians, also contain knowledge of future events. Religious people claim that many of the prophecies contained in scriptures have come true, and who could have had foreknowledge of these other than God? The Quran too, as is often asserted by Muslim scholars contains a different type of a foreknowledge in that it boasts of scientific data not known to humanity at the time of its revelation. Proponents of this viewpoint also point out numerical concordances in the Quran, as an indication of the work of a Higher Being or Consciousness. The almost continual flow of scientific discovery conforming to Quranic statements, they assert,  validates the claim of the Quran as a book of Divine origin and many believe in it and God, as a result. 

While many find such arguments and such facts as evidence of the workings of a higher Being or  Deity, others point to absurdities and illogicalities inherent in them.

The First Cause argument for example, is in itself reduced to an absurdity when one ponders the absence of a cause responsible for the First Cause.  If everything has a cause,  then the First Cause too must have an origin and a Cause. " Who created God" is a valid question for which there appears to be no rational  answer. If the universe and everything it contains has a beginning, and scientific evidence supports the contention that the universe did have a beginning in time,  then God or the First Cause too must have had a temporal beginning. Clearly there are problems in the First Cause argument. 

There are many who also point out the fundamental fallacy contained in the Intelligent Design argument. It is flawed they assert, because there is much chaos and irregularity in the functioning of nature as well. Why do cancer cells grow and metastasize causing death and disease for example? Why do meteorites collide with each other? Why is the earth under constant threat of environmental disasters? Why is nature so ruthless, killing hundreds of thousands in earth quakes, tsunamis and tornadoes? 

Thus, if there are arguments for belief, there are an equal number of arguments for disbelief. Many therefore contend that perhaps on the balance, the agnostic's position is the most sensible and reasonable one. The agnostic suggests that the existence of a God can neither be affirmed with certitude nor denied categorically. Religion, he/she feels is possibly born out of fear and addresses human insecurities but it also carries a promise to rectify injustices and imbalances in  a hereafter. It also purports to prolong our much too fragile human existence, again in a hereafter. Since religion addresses some human fears in this fashion, agnostics concede that religion may have some purpose  in life after all,  but again feels that there is no way of knowing this and remains ambivalent towards it.

When we take into account the uncertainty of the agnostic, the categorical disbelief of the atheist, or the philosophical dilemmas faced by the believer, there would be a greater reason to say goodbye to God than to nurture a belief, any belief in Him. This viewpoint has gained momentum because in recent times, the theory of Evolution has also provided an alternative to religion as it strives to answer the puzzlement surrounding our origins , so aptly described as a"mystery wrapped in an enigma".  But I often ask, does evolution have an answer to why we are thinking, conscious, moral beings? Does evolution answer why we consider certain behaviors reprehensible, why we feel the ecstasy of love, why we feel the pangs of separation, why we register emotions, or register anything at all.  Does Evolution and its thrust on explaining our origins in strictly biological terms, explain why we feel so inspired when we listen to a Beethoven sonata? Why a Da vinci painting lifts our spirits to higher planes of existence?  Why a work of poetry elevates us to an even higher level of consciousness? In my view, evolution thus far only provides a rather disjointed and as yet unauthenticated alternative explanation about how we came about as biological beings. How these biological beings became aware of their own existence is until now a mystery, which at present seems beyond the purview of evolutionary theory. What is intriguing therefore to me is the conscious, thinking feeling and emotive nature of living things, functioning individually and collectively. Indeed this multifaceted consciousness is something far more mysterious than a mere biological occurrence, and cannot  be fully explained through biological processes, grey matter, nerve cell activity or the like.

In my view the answer lies in the following. This mysterious consciousness which makes us aware of ourselves and our surroundings, draws upon intuitive and acquired knowledge that in my opinion is pre-existent. This knowledge from where the consciousness of living things emanates is not being created by living things or human beings but is only being explored and discovered.  I believe that there is a preexistent repository or reservoir of  knowledge and information,  which is only being tapped, discovered and applied by human beings and other living organism for their benefit. If human beings have "created" knowledge and information, it has only been in the form of imitating nature and its functioning. I find it intriguing for example, that a baby knows instinctively to turn towards its mother's breast. Canada Geese head south each year with the coming of winter, without being guided by any maps or radars to navigate their paths.The honey bee knows exactly how to construct a honey comb as a geometrically perfect design leaving enough space for it to crawl in and out of the combs. The ant works tirelessly to collect food for the entire winter, making provisions for its survival, in an unfriendly world.  The spider can build the sturdiest of structures with the flimsiest of material and no one has taught the spider how to do so. The behaviors displayed by insects and animals, are not learned behaviors but appear to be embedded in the minds of the conscious living organism that roam the earth. Although higher mammals such as human beings display a much more sophisticated level of consciousness than the ant or the honeybee, even they rely heavily on instinct to guide them through life. These living conscious beings, aware of their own place in their surroundings, display both a sense of uniqueness and a sense of belonging to a wider consciousness that pervades the universe.

I believe that knowledge is preexistent and not being created also for the following reasons.  The laws governing aerodynamics are only recently being applied by human beings for their benefit in the form of civil aviation and military aircraft. It is the same principles that birds have used for centuries, to move about through the air. I suppose my view is somewhat akin to Newton's theory regarding the universe being bound together by certain immutable laws and principles. Human beings have only now begun to imitate these laws for their own use. Means to conquer space and Newton's "laws of nature" that have been discovered, adapted and applied by human beings to enable space travel, have always existed but they have only recently been exploited for the advancement of the human civilization. Even the Quran alluded to space travel fourteen centuries ago when it said: " 

"O society of Jinns and men, cross the bounds of the heavens and the earth if you have the ability, then pass beyond them...... Verse 33.chapter 55. 

Thus if my contention about knowledge being primordial, rather than being periodically created by us humans is true, and I surmise that it is, then this primordial knowledge must have a Source. That source for me is a Cosmic Intelligence, that has generated conscious life on earth, and perhaps elsewhere in the Cosmos. 

Before I wrap up, I would like to briefly address some of the objections about religion and belief and why these have not affected my faith. I feel I am well within my rights to do so, This is a debate between believers and non believers and since I do not have the final say in the matter, I would like to launch a preemptive strike against my upcoming opponent. 

I do not pretend to know the answers to questions such as who made God or why there is so much suffering in the world.  Perhaps the question about God's origins will be answered in another realm. But simply because this answer is not available to us at present, does not mean no answer exists. Perhaps God just is, and our preoccupation with His temporal beginnings is irrelevant and does not apply to God,  because time as we know it too may only be a creation of God as a linear occurrence with a beginning, a middle and an end. If God created the universe, then he created time as a concomitant occurrence in the functioning of the universe.  As to the latter of the two questions, I know for a fact that there is a religious ideal common to all faiths, that strives to build  just and equitable societies on earth, but that religious ideal has never been fully realized. It is up to its adherents to make these ideals a reality and to see to it that equity and justice are implemented to the fullest.  Every religion exhorts its followers towards righteous action, to give in charity, to help the needy, to uphold fairness and justice, It is up to us to create that utopia here. But it will require the commitment of all human beings to rise above their petty needs, selfishness, avarice and malice to achieve that just society. I also believe in an underlying unity of all faiths, with a common essence, ethics and morality. We need to discover and promote those universal truths shared by all faiths, and build a just and compassionate world around them. As one actively involved in the interfaith community, I am aware of a common goal for peace tolerance and understanding among the liberal segments of the various religious communities, as a reaction to all the bigotry and bloodshed. We need to provide impetus to these movements towards building that just and peaceful world. 

Some question the morality behind the notion of God's Absolute Power over man's total submission as being unjust in itself, but since I am arguing from the position of belief, I feel that even  my faculty to question this type of religious morality is also from God, and therefore I have more faith in God's ultimate justice.  

I have also not been able to escape belief in God due to my understanding of the observable world.  When one explores the realm of human endeavor, one discovers that material things, commodities and contraptions, cannot  possibly arise  out of nowhere. In the area of human endeavor, they come into effect as a result of human intervention, ingenuity, craftsmanship and sagacity.  In other words they come into existence as a result of intelligent intervention derived from a consciousness to recognize and internalize our surroundings. It would for example be preposterous to think that a fully functioning aircraft came into effect all by itself. I therefore find it equally preposterous to conclude that the human body and brain with all its complexities, intricacies and as some would go so far a to say perfection, came into effect by chance or through evolution based on random mutations and uncontrolled processes. If human creations require intelligent intervention, than the functioning of nature which appears to be far more complex and intricate upon analysis, requires the intervention of a superior force or Intelligence that could be both immanent or transcendent.  Belief in God , after observing the complexity in nature therefore for me, become s self-evident truth.

It has also become fashionable nowadays, to reject and dismiss the Teleological argument, popularly known as the "Intelligent Design" argument as a valid premise to prove the existence of God. As mentioned earlier, many believe the argument to be flawed, because there is chaos and destruction in the world and things go awry.  Admittedly there is chaos and destruction as well, but presence of design can still not be ignored due to the sheer volume and prevalence of organisms, that according to even modern science  function intelligently. It is not plausible that such preponderance of design could be a result of chance. An investigation into the functioning of the human brain can perhaps shed a little more light on my premise. As the organ that controls the function of the entire body, the brain receives and registers messages from its surroundings, from signals from within the body and therefore  acts as the most sophisticated of computers, telegraph services, all in one, If the computer did not appear on its own, the human brain, in all likelihood did not appear on its own either. The grey matter and white matter in the brain cells contain a thousand million nerve cells, that carry messages to the body at seventy mph. and we take all this for granted thinking this may have been a propitious accident of nature.  But, I ask you, is this reasonable? Similarly the ear, the human eye, the digestive system, the circulatory system all function as a whole and although there are at times failures in the system, perhaps the failures and shortcomings are all there by design as well,  because death, birth and rebirth are also part and parcel of the nature and design of things. 

There are many aspects of religion that even I as a believer find distasteful. Undoubtedly  Human history has witnessed the effects of the divisiveness, the bigotry, the militancy and the  tyranny that is often associated with  the major world faiths, particularly the Abrahamic faiths. Within Islam, Sunnis have fought Shias, excommunicated Ahmedis to preserve what they deem the doctrinal purity of the faith. Catholics have persecuted Protestants and the divisions within Christendom have been responsible for the bloodiest of civil wars in Ireland. Hitler targeted Europe's Jews creating the worst of genocides in human history. But the exclusivity of the Abrahamic faiths can be tempered by incorporating elements of more pacifist and benign interpretations based on the forbearance, the message of love and tolerance which even the Abrahamic faiths entreat their believers to uphold. The injustice in the world also gives me another reason to believe in a future utopia, where there will be retribution and where all wrongs will be rectified. I want to believe there is retribution and justice out there somewhere, otherwise I am just left with the  painful awareness of the world's tragedy to live with. 

It is also asserted that religious dogma confines human though as it puts limits on it by reducing it to a narrow set of rules, beliefs and rituals. But isn't that true of most philosophies whether religious or secular? Even humanism and atheism have their defined set of rules, beliefs principles and parameters which distinguish them from other philosophies.  That is how any philosophy whether it is religious or secular becomes identifiable. No one therefore, can be a free thinker in the absolute sense. We are each prisoners of our environment our experiences, as well as our prejudices.  In matters of faith and religion though, we must be careful not to impose our personal views on others. I believe that religion can be interpreted and molded to conform to more humanistic standards where diversity of viewpoints is prized,  not shunned. Most religions need not be incompatible with humanism. After all, all of them enjoin righteousness and fair conduct towards fellow human beings and therefore contain elements of humanism in them. If the divisive elements of religion can be expunged from religious philosophies, there may be no need to say goodbye to God. 

I don't know who or what God is. Whether God is male or female or whether God is a Being or just an Intelligent Force, whether God intervenes in human affairs or whether  She is unconcerned. But when I think of the consciousness within me and around me, the consciousness that enables me to recognize my place in the universe, the consciousness that makes me question the scheme of things, the consciousness that stays with me through out my waking hours, the consciousness of other beings who are aware of my consciousness, I get the sense that there is a connectedness somewhere with a higher collective conciseness. In the the living, loving, moralizing, breathing and thinking universe, I see many signs of that ubiquitous consciousness even though we have never seen it or touched it. I believe in it the same way I believe in the existence of gravity, through its effects on physical objects even though none of us have seen it. We all know about electrons, though none of us have ever observed them even through a microscope. Yet, science acknowledges the electron as a reality through the effects that they generate. And it is here that I disagree with the agnostic. I believe the existence of this All Pervasive Intelligence or Cosmic Consciousness can be known through its effects. The conscious world for me is a tangible manifestation of a preexistent Intelligence, Knowledge or Repository, call it what you will. Coming back to Descartes and his declaration, "I think, therefore I am" and extending the idea to the cosmic level, the universe is conscious and alive, therefore God must be.