Recently, I happened to watch a documentary film named "The root of all evil?(The god delusion)" by Richard Dawkins which provoked me to do some criticism on his views of God. I consider myself agnostic because of a fact that I couldn't completely agree with idea of evolution. It is hard to believe that everything we see around are created from some random events. I partially agree with Richard Dawkins for the fact that the today's concept of religion is somehow an evil. Richard Dawkins is actually talking a lot about what a religion has done to our society, but I looked into what a religion could have done to our society. I'm still not sure whether he has thought about what could have happened if there were no religions in this world. Let me take an example from your documentary itself. The example of the kid who accept what he is taught without logical reasoning. Even if we say that we are matured and smart enough to make logical decisions, there is an incompleteness in our knowledge and wisdom. You, me and most of our people might be generous enough to accept the truth that we are somehow ignorant and sometimes, we make illogical decisions. Compared to the ultimate knowledge, we are still ignorant like a child. Religion was trying to make some sense over the chaos of the world, by controlling the children(us). As these controls are implemented by humans, it might tend to have some human philosophies and views(issue of homosexuality can be taken as an example).
In this world, people are different. They have different IQ, attitude, behavior and dreams, but every one of us are supposed to be fair to the one another. We are supposed to have some rules to follow, some order to maintain. The ultimate aim of religions must be something like this. Richard Dawkins were trying too hard to find evidence from religious books. I guarantee you that you won't find any, because there is a possibility that there are much higher intentions for religions in this world. Actually, I want to ask a very simple question. Who are you afraid of the most? If I could live a life with my selfishness and ego, I am pretty sure that I wouldn't be caring anyone else in this world for sure. Religion was just a tool to bring a belief that we are not beyond everything. In my life, I wouldn't do a lot of things because of my belief of self-righteousness. I have faced some criticisms from my surroundings, but I believe that I've almost survived them and not everyone in this world can be like me. There is a huge possibility that my belief of 'self-righteousness' is simply a stupid idea. I might be hurting a lot of people which can't be a good thing. Sometimes, it is easier to hide truth than to explain the complex philosophies and teach what is fair and what is not fair. I support Richard Dawkins, but I couldn't unless all the people in this world start to act fair and logical.. That is why we need to trust in faith.
I'm a hindu by birth. I know hinduism better than any other religion. I haven't purposefully learned any books regarding Hinduism, but I had to hear them as my family is strictly religious. I do not oppose them, but I wish if they were extracting the essence rather than the story. I used to think about the origin of the religion. If I was born in a prehistoric period where there is no concept of god, there is a possibility that I could purposefully introduce the concept of god for a good purpose, which is not true though. I can live with that lie and my followers might forget the reality and slip into a made up story. But, my intention was good and genuine, which is not a bad thing so does the religions of our world. In my land, there were untouchability and many other rituals and beliefs. But, even the man who has learned this thing would accept the fact that those beliefs were implemented by the rulers of the countries.People are blind when it comes to god, so it is very simple to implement such rules. The beliefs and ideas have changed lately and at the present condition, I wouldn't say that they are healthy. The interesting thing is that those books in Hinduism would certainly outsmart my ideas of a religion. I mean, if I had to make up a story of my own to make a belief in people, I would never think of a god, who would loose his temper and do some unfair violence. There is a character called 'karna', who has lived a perfect life but had to suffer hard in his life. These are more like some puzzles. I might see people with the qualities of 'karna' and 'krishna' in my life and I believe that those writings were an almost failed attempt to implement a very vast, complex idea. Quite recently, I happened to see a report of a man,who is the best in teaching hinduism, has told that none of the events were happened in real. People are criticizing him and I believe that he is right!
Let me consider my own experience in my life. For the entire time, I tried to convince myself that I'm atheist, but at a moment, I was quite surprised to see an astrologer's note(printed material). I saw 3 facts of my life, which I thought no one other than me could know. I couldn't write it off as a coincidence for any reason. Sometimes, I feel like the logic of 'God' is not known to any human in this world and in some other time, I believe that there could be a scientific base for it. Till that time, I am going to stay agnostic. I am confused for sure. Richard Dawkins said that there were no evidence of god, but our inability to prove the existence of something doesn't mean that it is not there. It is possible that I would change my views about god in my future, but it is less probable that I would completely deny god's existence.
May be Richard Dawkins was right, but I'm still a man who believe that 'No one at his sane mind would think of being an atheist'. I saw the frustration when he is debating to people who accepts god. I admire the way you handled a muslim who consider women different from men(about wearing clothes).But, do you really think that they would change their mind and introduce equality just by your words? What we call 'wrong' is not 'wrong' in everywhere in this world. I admire the idea that everybody have the right to choose his own religion, which I have said to some people in my life. You are never wrong, but sometimes, it is not all about what is wrong or what is right. It is rather a conflict between your 'right' and my 'right'.
Sincerely,
Raghu
