Ever since I had learnt to ask questions, this is one question that I have posed to myself and others the most. Better part of my childhood was spent believing in a God (thiest) that oversees, intervenes, grants and denies. Late teens were spent being an agnostic and devouring literature on arguements that talk for and against. Most of my adulthood- I decided I knew the answer and I thought of myself as an atheist.
Recently, I have come to believe that the question itself is irrelevant. The real question that I find interesting now is- "What belief empowers me?" and I have come to realise that being an agnostic empowers me. Ofcourse this is a personal choice, but I suppose in a way I found for myselt that being either a believer or a disbeliever were closed doors. In both states I assume I have the knowledge and stop questioning with an open mind. But when I decide that I actually don't know either way- I thirst for knowledge and seek different opinions.
Just a random rambling ...
Sunday, June 25, 2006
God?
Posted by Manohar at 12:00 AM
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10 comments:
Some people call it good luck, some the luck fairy and some God's grace. Thats how I look at it. All those coincidences for which you might not have an explanation and that which you call good luck can very well be called God's grace .
I went through similar phases with various experiences in my life. I think more than belief in God,as you said, it is the belief in something, which can be even yourself is what is important. But, again , there are times when you feel utterly helpless..what do you believe in at that moment is what counts, I guess.
Think about it....( and I mean really feel it and not just think about it for thinking sake)if you are put in a situation where you feel helpless and nothing you can do can influence your circumstances, including your agnosticism...what would you do? What would you believe in? And that will tell you if you believe in something else than just being an agnostic.
In my case, I believe in myself and I understand my limitations. The rest , I classify as fate and destiny and if I have good luck, aka God's grace, in my life's journey, I welcome it anyday.:-)
@suresh:
If in a situation where I'm helpess and nothing I can do can influence the circumstance, I would naturally hope for luck. In my case this hope for luck- is not a belief in an intervention from up above. Its more of an acceptance of my current belief of events in a chaotic world, where anything can happen and there is a probability of something happening that might help me.
On a lighter vein, one can hope for a six pack of beer while waiting.....
mano, I can understand that one would natually associate an intellectual comment like what survivor said, to me. But, in this case, its not... It shouldve been addressed to shoba..;)
An excellent topic: I remember having conversations with you on this one!
When you feel things are not going the right way: what do you believe in? You have 2 options: be patient and see how life pans out, or believe in God, and wait for the outcome. (Of course, I am talking about Survivor's scenario where you feel like you have no control) Maybe, either approach will result in the same outcome, but the latter gives us a sense of hope, during the testing period.
Believing in a power helps keep me optimistic and hopeful, and for that, I believe in God.
On a different note, I think it makes people feel good to know that there is a benevolent force at work.
I read this somewhere as a teenager, and it stuck with me, in a way, summarizing my relationship with God:
Ask God's blessings on your work, ask not, for him to do it for you!
Though I am a card carrying atheist, I have had my moments in life where I had to turn to some form of hope and I did figure that my acts of religiousness does linger around.
I think about the masses who earn their day to day life with the only positive thing in their life to be hope. We (atleast in our group) consider all the boon that we experience, as a given. That is certainly not true for others and there is no rational way to give them hope than to objectify their hope requests in the name of god...This is the same reason why psychic market is thriving...
All the above said, I think people are responsible for their own acts and its outcomes. And they "alone" can solve it. I dont think there is a magic wand or a cure-all type of thing as portrayed in the context of god. That is all pure BS (and a whole list of things which cannot be condensed)...
Well being theist, athiest or agnostic or whatever.. we claim we are, are mere Words. We can confirm what we are when we are in a real helpless situation (eg: Waiting for exam results for somebody or waiting for test results from medical lab for you or while taking your really beloved one to hospital, when he/shes not in a stable state).
Even if you beleive in God or not or neither, doesnt help much there either. Except, your mind is occupied with something (hope/positiveness for those who beleive in God) in those restless situations.
@shoba: my bad... in my defense it was late in the night and i was drowsy :)
hmm very interesting...okie take the scenario here...i'm in a phd program completely under the control of a group of faculty members...i have differences of opinion with one (quite strong)...he is hell bent on kicking me out of the program and there is nothing i can do about it...what do we do??? there exists virtually a zero probability that anything will favour me...but then if i do end up getting the PhD, the question remains as to what made the other person change his mind...there are several factors in our life which cannot be explained...to me faith in GOD has helped me tide over difficult circumstances...for example when i had to get a brain MRI 5 yrs back..jeezz man that is one hell of an experience...to think that well the world is slipping under ur feet and u cannot do anything about it...that is the time when one just prays and hopes for the best..it gives me courage and i think it is definitely a personal issue...newayz my 2 cents worth..
@everyone:
Seeing the different answers, its empowering for you to believe in god when your situation is hopeless. Ofcourse as you guys mentioned its a personal thing. For me it is a disempowering thing to have faith in a concept of god....
different strokes for different blokes :)
Mano, I agree with you. I dont believe in the concept of "god" either... But, I am okay with it as long as it can serve as a symbol of hope...nothing more, nothing less...:)
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