Old Posts: Faith Redefined

(24-01-07/st) A long time ago, in a distant galaxy, there was a small planet called earth. It was formed just as all the other celestial bodies in the universe had but quite like our planet, it had something special about it. Its uniqueness lied in the fact that it had just the right size, the right kind of elemental particles and the right distance from a star. A miracle was about to happen and that miracle was life itself. Life, a term that does not have a definition but refers to a body capable of, well, bodily functions on its own. Sounds strange and I hope you get what I am trying to tell.

Life on this planet began to evolve due to the well suited conditions and gave rise to a number of species and sub-species. All of this planet earth seemed to be teeming with life and the perfect harmony and balance between all life forms was achieved. Evolution does not stop anywhere; it is the only thing that goes on with time endlessly. It resulted in a creature that could stand up on two legs, had a brain unlike that of any other creature before and had a very powerful physical tool, the thumb. The brain of this creature was remarkable. It had the capability to think beyond instinct. It had almost endless potential. When this creature evolved further, henceforth referred to as "man", it made attempts to simplify the way of its life. It no longer lived in small groups but in large numbers. as it worked toward the earlier mentioned goal, the complexity surrounding these groups and everything associated with it grew. Almost as soon as man started living in groups, new forms of emotions developed in them. emotions such as greed, jealousy, lust and similar ones soon found a strong foothold in both the hearts and minds of men. Men could be made to do terrible things through the use of any of these. Man had started to trouble its own kind and almost every other found by it.

For people who were deeply affected, it was necessary to have someone or something to which they could look upto. It is always comforting to know that one has always a form of hope for the better with him. This feeling paved the way for concepts such as heroism and idolism. As time passed, these few heroes and icons were not forgotten but were passed on to the next generation in the form of legends and stories. Since there was no way to record events at that time, the only way to do that was by word of mouth. Almost all of these heroes and likes were of a local origin. This locality of origin led men of different descents and locales to try to ascertain theirs as the finest of heroes. Till man developed forms to record events that occurred, these heroes had grown from being just great men or inanimate objects, to being entities that possessed skills that could only be imagined of. Other such heroes continued to attain origin as time further ascended. All of this and a few wise men, who were certainly good willed, thought of using this to make mankind more peaceful and happy. They took all that could be taken and made one body of guidelines that was to be followed by all. Here too, man proved to be his enemy and instead of one, several such bodies emerged due to hunger for power and greed. All these bodies contained in them, mention of heroes and their likes as examples to be followed by the masses. This process went on endlessly, evolving itself and adapting to man's progress with time. The one thing that could be observed was that the number of such examples decreased as man advanced in technology and rationality. All examples that were believed to possess and to have possessed skills that could share no explanation, were from the period when there was either no or a very primitive form of record keeping.
No generation could see an entity regarded as powerful as the earlier ones originating near their timeline. This was strange and commanded some thought into but the earlier laid foundations of belief were so strong that people turned ignorant and others dared not to distance themselves from convention. The extent to which this framed body satisfied the masses was miraculous. Progress of science made man ask more and more questions and to this, adaptation of the body which later came to be called religion, was great. The most powerful and old entities came to be called gods. The term god meant an entity capable of everything thought possible and much more. A god would always stand for the truth and what was righteous. Such was the following of idolism that man turned oblivious to the fact that it was more than mere coincidence that all that a god is, is mere symbolism. Symbolism for the guidelines man should follow to lead a
harmonious life. As it was known, man could not control himself well. People started giving more importance to gods, deities and other such entities. Soon enough, it was these gods who defined religion and life practices rather than the main principles for which these gods were created in the first place. It became popular culture and somewhere in between, all that stood for the greater good got lost forever. It was so cleverly disguised and transformed by some men that many who came later followed blindly. This was once again an example of how man would harm his own kind for personal satisfaction. This practice went on for a long time and it became taboo to think otherwise.

People would get offended on hearing anything that stated something different than their religion. It was amazing how so many people got mislead by themselves. They were satisfied and happy with the world of beliefs they themselves had created. Man had created his creator. It was the ultimate example of how much potential the human brain had and yet at the same time showed how little of it was used by so many. When confronted with the question of providing proof, man would always point at something that had not been defined theoretically by science then. Mankind happily followed this practice and continued to endanger their own
existence. Wondrous oblivion.

It is so much that we already have in us that does not let us acknowledge that very fact, such is the irony. Is not it real to think that whom we see now as gods may, then, have been great people who gave the rest something to hold on to when all else failed? Is it not possible that gods are only the product of a great transformation of the portrayal of these few great people who brought hope, courage and above all, truth? Why is it then that we don’t hear of a god who came into origin only a few centuries ago? If religion says god wants us to help ourselves now, I surely  think there is an ominous feel to the answer, don’t you think so? I believe the real question is, will you dare to? If you think I am mistaken in my beliefs, a discussion is most welcome. The truth is that I hope there is a god but I don’t think so. Think about what I just said.