To rally people in the Name of God

A favorite grouse of atheists and rationalists, when talking about religion or God, is that belief in religion and God has caused a lot of violence throughout history. The real answer may be more complex. In this post I would focus exclusively on monotheistic God and faiths. Non-monotheistic faith is not an area of my study or devotion.

During any war, short or extended, their is a great need for courage and also unquestionable obedience of the troops involved, be it a regimented army or a vigilante group or civilian mobs. And over the years people have found that rallying people in the Name of God is more effective than rallying for other causes or reasons. And it also costs less money, in fact people might act for free.

Mere mention of Will of God, or Name of God, has an affect on human mind. It triggers an urgent need to obey unquestionably and a lack of concern to the resulting consequence. It has for me at least, and maybe on other human minds also. Power lobbies everywhere have found this fact useful to rally people for their particular purpose. They have used words like 'For God' or 'In the Name of God' or some similar associated phrase as part of their campaigns, and added their particular concerns around these phrases, giving an impression that there is a Divine Sanction to their particular agenda, but which is seldom the case. In reality they may lack any concern for God's Will or His people, and only want to use God's Name as a catalyst. And who among us can claim to know the Will of God? Only a saint, or a delusional, or a liar, or whomever God chooses to reveal His words. This principle of influence would apply to any desired action, and not just war.

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For the truly faithful,
God alone is enough,
God's Will is reason enough.

For the truly devious,
Or for the genuinely lost,
God alone is never enough,
God's Will is just a means,
To achieve a secondary goal,
To rally support for their concerns,
And concerns of people are many,
Concerns of kings, or queens, or nations,
Of lands and its people, of pride, or tribe,
And support for so many other things.

Human concerns are their own,

And remembering God can help,

Help them carry on in their quest,

But be aware, that God's concern is for all.

Many people of faith,
Have been led to violent wars,
And met with violent ends,
In the Name of God,
When not many knew,
What they were really fighting for.

Faithful lose way for lack of knowledge,
Knowledge of the Will of God.
If a person feels the need to serve,
Serve something more than God's purpose,
Know that the person may be lacking in faith.

It is important to realize that God does not need help,
Humans are in need of God's help,
If God needs a human to do His works,
Then probably it is not God.

And surely God does not need any help to fight His wars,
Nor to manifest His Will on Earth,
He may use humans, or anyone else for that matter,
But be aware that He is not in need.

We are helpless without God,
And not the other way round,
God does not need anybody to fight His wars,
We need God to fight our wars.

Anyone who uses God's Name,
To rally people to war or strife,
For an unjust or a wicked cause,
Know that blood is on their hands,
A cause is just or unjust as per Will of God,
And not by human choice or sanction,
And like most things in life,
Conscience and reason are our true guide.

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Coming back to the original statement of this post. Are God and religion really responsible for death and destruction in society? For me the correct answer is 'No'! The correct answer may be that human beings are restless, and can go to any length to meet their objectives. Human beings have an insatiable desire for power, riches, glory and a lot of other things, and humans are crafty, very crafty indeed. They can use any possible reason to convince themselves and others of the justness of their particular cause, which may or may not involve violence. Some of the primary catalysts to move human beings to action are pride, honor, family, nationalism, divine will, race, caste, religion, greed, love, fear of loss, lust for power, hate, service of society, empathy, and many others. Of all these catalysts, God or Divine Will is the most potent, and power lobbies have found ways to mix their personal agendas with God's Will cleverly, so that it has become difficult for the faithful to discern the real motives behind different calls to action. Divine Will is a catalyst and not a reason for violence, and in absence of it, the power lobbies would have used some other catalyst to goad people to violence.

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If all religions preach peace,
But still there is war and strife,
In the Name of God and religion,
Then truly something is amiss,
More is hidden, lesser is known.

To seek knowledge is good,
But also seek discernment,
To see things as they truly are,
And not as you think they should be.

 -x-

The one true religion!

What is the one true religion? Most will name their own. But most likely this question cannot be answered convincingly by most people. Once I have selected a religion to follow, then that becomes the only true religion for me to pursue. Others may choose other religions to pursue, which will become the only true religion for them. A person cannot travel on two boats, at least that is what I believe. Each person chooses on which boat to travel, and it will most likely be only one. Trying to travel on multiple boats may seem like a challenge, or socially polite, but I am not sure, for the waters can be deep.

I do not know the one true religion,

But I do know this,

Sun is not the only star,

Rose is not the only flower,

Lion is not the only animal,

Eagle not the only bird,

There are many cities,

There are many highways,

World is rich in choice,

But each choice has its own color,

Each choice has a consequence,

Free to choose, but own your choice,

For each choice will have a consequence,

Each choice leads to a destination,

Choose wherever you are willing to go,

There may be as many true paths, 

As many the Creator wishes to create,

To insist otherwise would be to doubt the might of the Creator,

How many I do not know for certain, for I am just a human,

I am not privy to the Creator's mind,

Nor know all the nature's secrets.

Each religion has a theology and a philosophy, which may or may not overlap with other religions. But what each religion promises is a definite or an indefinite outcome for a practitioner who wishes to follow its path. Following are some of the different things promised by different religions to their followers:

1. A peaceful or blissful present life
2. A peaceful or blissful afterlife
3. Liberation from transmigration
4. Liberation from sin
5. Eternal companionship with God
6. Everlasting bliss
7. Personal deification
8. Fame in present life or afterlife
9. Wealth in present life or afterlife
10. Other material pleasures in present life or afterlife
11. More esoteric things like higher consciousness which are difficult to understand
12. Continuation of tradition, customs, and culture
13. Appeasement of ancestors, society, spirits, authority, gods, or other real or imaginary things
14. And maybe many other things...

A religion would generally promise a follower some of the above goals. So a follower needs to realize that focusing on some goals alone, may make the other things out of reach. Read the promises well, what is claimed and what remains hidden.

Now whether these claims are true or false I don't know. The belief in these claims started originally with the teachings of respective founders and prophets, and it is for each person to decide what to believe in and what not to believe in, what goal to pursue and what goal to leave, what path to follow and what path to leave behind.

The important thing here is to realize that apparently there could be everlasting consequences of the personal choice made by an individual. People might claim that all religions are same, and any could be followed. But studying about the different religions will give a person a more comprehensive perspective, and a better understanding about the goals of each religion. Saying all paths are same, may generally mean the person making this claim does not have much knowledge of any of the paths involved. I do know that different religious paths may promise different destinations to their followers, and have different deities and rituals, and it is up to each person what he or she wants to pursue in life. Where does a person want to invest or spend his or her life, and what return does a person expect from this investment in a lifelong faith? Is faith for an eternal goal, or for service of others, or for being one with the crowd? Where does your faith promise to take you?

There is a secondary and equally important question, after a personal destination (religion) has been decided by the person. The secondary question is, whether the path chosen will actually lead the person to the promised destination. This is a question which can only be answered in the seeker's mind, either by simply believing the teaching of the founders of religions, or by actually traveling the path, but few are known to reach the destination.

As with most things in life, 

it is almost impossible to make a definite bet. 

This is the ultimate gamble of life. 

Where will you invest your life, on which belief? 

Believe, or some would say bet, on what,

In ephemeral pleasure, or in pleasing society, 

or maybe on mortal or eternal goals. 

Welcome to the earthy casino of life,

Wheel is spinning, and the clock is ticking,

Destiny, the croupier with a wry smile invites you,

Invites you to place your bets,

Your eternal destiny is at stake,

For the price of this one life,

For the price of a decision and a belief,

Place your bet, for time is running out,

Time will run out, bet on an eternal consequence,

A consequence which each will meet alone,

Without the company of a friend or foe,

A consequence of suffering or bliss,

Indecision will not slow down the clock,

For some this gamble can be overwhelming,

And they may look the other way,

As they try to find meaning and reason,

Believing there is no substance in eternal fate,

But time will not stop, neither for me nor for you,

The game of life is already afoot,

Try not to let your mind fool you,

But who can claim to never have been fooled.

So like everything in this world, there is endless diversity. Each religion offers a path to follow and a destination. Paths may meet at some places, and may lead to similar or different destinations. Choose the path based on where you want to go. Each path may take you where it promises to go, and hope your map is accurate.

Know where you want to go before starting a journey,

If you do not know where your faith will lead you,

You might reach a place where you do not want to be,

 If a mentor refuses to explain in simple terms,

In simple words that do not confuse nor sting,

Then perhaps you are being taken for a ride.

-x-

One of the reasons why I believe in God

There are many reasons why I believe in a monotheistic God. In this post I will just share one of the reasons. As per my understanding, if different religions or a set of people claim to worship a monotheistic God, who is the creator of the world and who has no equal, then I believe they must be referring to the same God, irrespective of the fact that such groups of people will have some differences. If it were not the same God, then having 'no equal' statement would not hold, as individual claims would give 'multiple all powerful Gods', which is an oxymoron (because if there are two all powerful Gods, they will not remain 'all powerful' in front of the other, but would be an equal).

It is like different groups of scientists set out to study properties of the largest known galaxy, IC 1101, and they might call the galaxy by different names, may find different properties of the galaxy, focus on different aspects, but still the galaxy IC 1101 does not become two or more galaxies. If some groups of people start worshiping the largest galaxy, in different ways, giving it different names, still it would remain a single galaxy. Many people do worship some planets and stars in their own respective ways, but the planets and stars remain a single entity irrespective of how many different ways different groups worship a star or a planet.

Of the religious groups which I have studied as a theology hobbyist, the mains one include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, monotheistic aspects in Hinduism and my own religion, Sikhism. I do not claim to have any authoritative knowledge on any of them, but I have tried to understand whatever I could.

During my studies I found an interesting aspect, although it is already well known in theological circles, but I found it fascinating, and feel not much emphasis has been laid on this aspect, especially in popular culture. Judaism believes in prophets of the Old Testament. Christianity believes in all the Jewish prophets from the Old Testament, and also believes in prophets of the New Testament, including Jesus Christ. Islam believes in all the prophets of Old and New Testament, while also believing in Prophet Mohammad, who is mentioned in The Koran (Koran mentions Jesus Christ often, as also prophets Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others). These three religions, of middle eastern origin, worship the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. It is like three tributaries of the river of monotheism arising in the middle east.

The monotheistic theology originating from Indian sub-continent includes Sikhism and some aspects of Hinduism. Sikhs believe in Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji as their religious guide and mentor. Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji contains verses describing a monotheistic theology, and the verses were contributed by some Sikh Gurus themselves, and others were collected by the Sikh Gurus but were originally written by few Hindu and Muslim saints from the Indian sub-subcontinent. We could say there are three tributaries of the river of monotheism in Indian sub-continent, two new and third continuing from middle east.

Above is a very simplistic description of my understanding. It might be important to note that one of Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, Saint Thomas, actually arrived in South India around 50 AD (as per Wikipedia). I believe influence of Saint Thomas's arrival in India is a topic which has not been studied much, and it is possible that some aspects of his teachings merged with or influenced the monotheistic theology of the Indian subcontinent, of which very little details are known.

Another important aspect is that the verses in the scriptures of any of the above monotheistic religions are attributed to some saints and prophets, but many of the saints and prophets claimed that the origin of the words is from God alone, as the words and the wisdom they convey were revealed to them. I have no way of proving this statement but I just mentioned it for sake of completeness, and also to highlight the common aspect of the different scriptures.

Coming to the next part of this post I would like to mention the number of primary prophets and saints that are mentioned in each of the above monotheistic religions or their scriptures. All data is taken from Wikipedia, and in no way I claim that the data is complete. I will come to the reason later, of why I share the list here.

• Prophets in Judaism: 55 = 48 + 7 (Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophets_in_Judaism)
• Prophets in Christianity: 70+ approximately (Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophets_of_Christianity, many would be shared from the earlier list related to Judaism)
• Prophets in Islam: List overlaps with the above lists with addition of Prophet Mohammad (Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophets_and_messengers_in_Islam)
• Prophets in Sikhism: 40 = 36 contributors to Shri Guru Granth Sahib  Ji (which includes Sikh Gurus, as well as some Hindu and Muslim saints of the Indian sub-continent) + 4 Sikh Gurus whose verses are not part of the Scripture (Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writers_of_Guru_Granth_Sahib)

It is important to note that above numbers include actual historical figures, and historical records are available for most of them. Each of above people believed in a monotheistic God. Most of them were not college professors who are paid for writing new fancy theories, books and articles, nor were they arm-chair philosophers whose interest in theology was limited to a spirited conversation during free time, and neither were they conquerors interested in gaining territory and taxes. For most part they had normal lives, not unlike a passionate entrepreneur or scientist today, and they insisted to have a belief because they thought it is true. Also, some of the people in the above list actually had very difficult lives, and faced immense resistance during life for their beliefs, sometimes brutal resistance, but they still held on to their belief. What was the reason for their beliefs? Why did they continue to believe in what they believed, in spite of all the resistance that they faced?

There are three possibilities regarding a person's belief, the person believes in truth, the person believes in a delusion, or the person is lying. Each individual, including you and me, have to make a decision in our life regarding the beliefs of the people in the above list, whether it is true or not. I have made mine. I believe that the people in the above list believed in a truth when they said that there is one God, all powerful and creator of all there is. I have no reason to believe that they were either lying or were delusional.

There may be many aspects of their life which cannot be explained logically, or maybe some of the stories are fabricated or have turned into exaggerated myths, but is it not true with all history. It's always hard to tell in history what is true or what is not true. As for me, I am only interested in one aspect of the stories and myth, and that is that they all believed in one God, who is all powerful. I don't have enough time and resources in this life to validate all the other myths and stories that I hear and read about the different people in the above list, but it does not matter. Because I take the only unquestionable piece of information at face value, that is common in the belief of all the legendary people of the above list, and that is 'There is one God'.

So one of reasons why I believe in a monotheistic God is that everyone listed in the above list believed in a monotheistic God. It might seem a very weak reason in a society obsessed with individuality, but facts are true or false, and individuality is a misplaced concept when discussing accuracy of a potential fact (i.e. something or someone exists or does not exist irrespective how you or anyone else thinks about it). I have no reason to suspect that the belief of people in the above list was mistaken, and actually many aspects of their individual life and the effect that they had on society during their lifetime is awe inspiring (even if we do not consider the miracles associated with them, that cannot be logically explained). Many cults and kingdoms have come and gone, but affect of people in the above list has sustained through the test of time. That alone could be a good enough reason for most people to consider their teachings seriously.

-x-