Sunday, 3 July 2016

A THOUGHT FOR NOW - THEN UNTENABILITY OF AN OMNIPOTENT GOD







As millions of people remember and pay homage to the millions of people who perished in World War 1, it is an apt time for us to reconsider our theories about gods and omnipotent beings who have the power to safe us from destroying millions of lives and, in the process, probably our own specie.

In order to do the occasion 'justice', the recreated atmosphere in thousands of churches, and other places of worship, and town halls over the globe, will be one of contrived sadness and humility, as people endeavour to put themselves into the mindset which would have befitted the world during 1914-1918, as Europe lost her head, and drenched the continent in blood. As an aside, it might also reminds us of the irony of the British Government taking Britain out of the European Union.

It is ironic, as I have argued previously, that, we humans, should find it necessary to regularly torture the living by annually revisiting the time and spaces in the past, where humans have perpetrated savagery on other humans. Yet, we are humans and we do have a tendency to do things which, objectively speaking, do appear to lack rationality.

Which takes me onto the concept and tenability of omnipotent gods.  This morning I was listening to a news programme on Radio 4, a British Broadcasting station, when the broadcaster posed the 'tricky question' to a minister of religion he was interviewing. 

The question was: 'Where was god during the slaughtering of great numbers of people during the Somme, in France?' The minister, to her credit, acknowledged that the question is a difficult one for Christians - and for all other theistic religiouns, I would add - before going on to give what one could consider to be a lame and unsatisfactory answer.  

She explained to the broadcaster that God was there with the  frightened, tortured, dying soldiers.  What was god doing there with them, you might ask, and was he also there with they German soldiers as well? 

The minister of religion is, indeed, telling us that god was there in the thick of battle, as it were, offering reassurance and comfort to these forlorn souls, as they endure hell and resigned themselves to oblivion, by way of death; a terrible death.

Now, what does not stand up to scrutiny, is why god failed to, in the first place, prevent the carnage  which was World War 1, and, secondly, having failed to prevent it, why he did not stopped it from consuming so many millions?

The obvious and most probably answer it that god did not have the power to intervene and prevent or stop the war.  The various, questionable, religious answers, could include arguing that god was using humans to destroy each other in order to punish one or the other side, or that he wanted humans to exercise their 'free will' to do good and/or evil.'

If god existed, the relationship between the god and humans should be of mutual benefit to both. You do not benefit from a partner who does not look out for your interests as you do for him/her. Why, then, you should ask yourself, should you continue with this relationship, unless you are compelled or forced to maintain it?

A caring parent or leader who has the power to intervene and save his/her child or people, from harm, will intervene and do so. If he/she does not have the power, then they might resign themselves to suffering the same fate as their child or people. This, however, is not what a people would normally expect of their 'god'; they expect their gods to save and protect them, and not to 'die with or offer them false comfort as they face their doom.

And, so it seems to me, that there is really no god out there or up there. Instead, the only god is the god in each of us; the human god of our ergo sumness. It probably does not matter if some of us think this to be insufficient, since, like life and death, it is what it is and we can either resign ourselves to it, or continue to allow organised religions to deceive us.

Endeavour to live your life peacefully and enjoyably, and strive not to be deceived by other peoples' gods, or deceive yourself about yours.






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