A quick disclaimer before we get into the nitty-gritty of this week’s newsletter. This isn’t an evangelical piece of writing. It is just an upclose observation about many people’s lukewarm if not resentful attitude towards religion and God, over the past few years, and especially during this Ramadan.
I delve deep into it this time around coming off an interesting conversation I had with a colleague this Ramadan a couple of days ago.
He told me he found it absolutely absurd why grown adults with well-functioning brains would attempt starving themselves just to please a divine being. What is the end goal to this suffering? He further argued how pointless the whole ordeal was and that religion in its entirety was archaic and pointless.
He himself, born to a traditional Muslim family from the Anatolian region had seen his faith waned dramatically since his high school years.
He kept on moaning why he despised religion justifying his stance with very “plausible” reasons. Indeed!
What is God’s role in people’s lives? Does the modern man need to pay heed to outdated rules audaciously packed as religion? And why is He still relevant in many people’s lives thousands of years now? And why do we still need to conform to archaic rules and practices? And why are God, religion, some divine book gradually turning into taboo words?
There’s no doubt that some topics are borderline controversial. Politics, religion, race, gender, or even trying to explain to a 6-year-old how babies are made. It goes without confronting really awkward and edgy moments.
No matter how uneasy these conversations could be, I still think they are worth having. God? Religion? Our purpose on earth? Oh gosh!
Who wants to have such a boring and tasteless discussion?
For a belief and discussion that has sparked numerous debates albeit playing a central role in billions of people’s lives, it is worth understanding the underlying motive and the central role it plays in people’s lives.
No one (at least most people) can deny the impact of religion in this world, good or bad.
To start with, religion outlines the values and principles to live by. It governs our Being. I believe what religion does well is that it tells us to live our lives for others, rather than being self-centered and narcissistic. In other words, it provides the baseline moral fiber. It continuously reminds us of our morals and deeply instills in us compassion, mercy, hope, and above all an altruistic compass we dearly need in the world today.
‘‘You don’t need religion to tell you the difference between right and wrong.’’
Seems fair. But flawed.
There’s this idea that people have a conscience. That conscience is the feeling or voice you have in your head just before you do something you know is wrong or stupid. Well, your conscience will probably tell you you shouldn’t do that stupid thing but not everytime. You need a crystal clear definition of right and wrong which has already been predisposed.
Because you have a role and responsibility to something greater than you, you live your life as if there was an eternal judge continuously casting their eyes and scrutinizing you all the way. That sense of responsibility and accountability is what makes the belief in religion dense.
Accountability. Accountability. Accountability.
This is exactly where I believe most people falter in their religious beliefs.
No one wants to be held accountable for what they did (at least). Especially if every single one of their deeds will be held under a microscope. Neither leaving any magin for error nor giving any benefit of a doubts. Who wants that?
‘‘Religion is so restrictive’’
No one can argue with the fact that responsibility is what gives life its meaning. If you strip human life of that, then it’s just a downward spiral of doom.
PLAUSIBLE REASON FOR DENIAL?
No one can deny the fact that human beings actually have a soul. We are animals with overgrown brains. We have the ability to think, tinker and program ourselves very efficiently; way better than our chimpanzee cousins. But what about the energy in all of this?
Where does the energy required to power all this come from?
The modern man is too focused on logic and reasoning that he has completely abandoned what actually gives life its magic. Our emotions, our dreams, our experiences, how dynamic and wide the human mind is really fascinating.
Society and civilization shifted from eternal salvation in pursuit of logic and reasoning. Flawed!
Why are we made to believe that all person who believes in religion is some kind of backward retrogressive thinker from the dark ages?
The greatest irony is that a lot of people think if we could get rid of God, religion, superstition, and all that, everyone’s going to be super enlightened, super-rational, grounded, and very logical beings.
Hold my beer (it’s Ramadan tho) because I’ve got sad news for you my friend.
Even if we could hypothetically cast out religion and God out of the window with a magic spell, we won’t just wake up and become super grounded and conscious beings. Not now or ever. This idea is just foolhardy, ridiculous, and stupid.
SCIENCE AND RELIGION
It is really surprising how many great scientists were intensely spiritual too. Makes me wonder if reason and religion are fundamentally connected, even though we see them as contradictory sides.
Newton is the ultimate example.
‘‘Maybe thinking that you can discover stuff about the universe that was previously hidden from the sum of human experience and knowledge requires a kind of faith, even if it’s not what some would call religious faith’’
Werner Heisenberg perfectly puts it:
‘’The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass, God is waiting for you’’
I believe that we humans are evolutionarily hardwired to believe in and worship a divine being. Human beings are inherently religious. We are designed to have the desire for meaning, community, purpose, a sense of morality as well as a sense of belief in something metaphysical.
We are inherently programmed to have faith in either a divine being or something.
Therefore, an atheist is not one who doesn’t believe in religion is one who has replaced that void with either logic, science, deep-rooted ideology, transgenderism or any other weird rituals they hold dear to themselves. The void that was initially meant to be occupied by belief in a divine being has been taken over by his logic. The utility brain.
That is particularly the reason why I find it insanely ironic when I see modern atheists become obsessed with psychedelics. It’s just a laughable paradox that you simply want to gouge your eyes with a teaspoon when you see it.
In all the Abrahamic religions, God sent a prophet at a point in human history because humans started worshipping false idols. There has always been an innate desire in us to believe in something metaphysical.
Prophet Abraham (AS) was notoriously known as the Idol breaker sent to his people to warn them from worshipping false idols.
Nuh (AS) spent 950 years only preaching and calling his people to shun worshipping false idols.
Musa (AS) went for the Scrolls for a short period only to return utterly disappointed in his people when he found out they had carved for themselves idols worshipping them.
Jesus (AS) spent his time preaching and warning his followers and disciples to shun worshipping false idols.
Prophet Mohammed (SAW) came during the dark ages in the Arabian peninsula when his people had similarly carved out beings to worship and were completely drenched in immoral practices.
We have always had to need to coarse correct. It’s been almost 1500 years since we last had a prophet come to us with a clear-cut new message from God. I think because we haven’t had any coarse correction for a long time, science, logic, and reasoning have come to fill in the void meant to be filled by religion.
CONCLUSION
We can change genders, and clone human beings; we are just as good as God or even better.
Reason and logic have been our most tragic illusions. It is something we rely so heavily on now because we only want to believe what the eyes can see. The reason why the modern man disproves God is simply that he can’t see Him. He would rather believe in science because it is tangible; can be seen and touched.
The modern man tries so hard to compartmentalize every aspect of themselves. In reality, they are all integrated.
Since time immemorial, philosophers have always tried to verbalize the deepest aspects of our sense of Being. What if we can’t? What if there are some things that are simply impossible to put into words?
If we just believe in God. If we just believed in the values and principles that come with believing in God, our life would be more meaningful and better. But our ego and pride make us rebel. It makes us rebel against the idea that there could be someone who could be more powerful, and wiser than us.
If you tell people your life has no purpose and that you’re going to live for 60-70 years and just die.
All the hardship, struggle, and heartbreak counts for nothing. That is indeed the greatest source of despair. What is the source of your happiness or pain?
I feel like human existence for the past couple of decades is just trying so hard to disprove the existence of God.
Many times when we have religious conversations, people are quick to dismiss it citing:
‘‘If religion’s underlying goal is to spread love, unity, and togetherness, then why are people killing each other because of it?’’
Very good question.
What was the role of religion in the 20th Century Wars?
What was the role of religion in the Cold War?
What was the role of religion in eugenics, gas chambers or even creating an atomic bomb?
What is the role of religion in the massive income inequality around the world?
What was the role of religion in people severing ties with their families because of a vaccine?
NONE.
Does that mean that dogmatic belief in ideology or science can be equally or even more potent and radical than belief in religion?
Just like science can be used in a vicious and utterly perilous manner, so can religion be; if practiced wrongly. Don’t hate the game. Hate the player.
God is and will forever be in the realm and overseer of everything. We can pretend we govern and control a large chunk of the earth and all that is in it however there is a divine being who oversees everything and Has got everything under His own control.
Like a rider on top of an elephant. You can pretend you are driving the elephant but for the most part, you are at its mercy. All you can do is just have a good relationship and just laugh about it.
Life is a constant battleground between fear and hope. The modern man has got the framework but not the salvation.
IN OTHER NEWS
In other news, I turned 25 two weeks ago. I’ve never felt more indifferent about my birthday like this one.
I’ve been battling earthquake anxiety and terrible peptic ulcer for the past couple of weeks. I’m getting better now. Alhamdulillah.
Moreover, I realized I have never had any birthday celebrations since my 19th when my friends surprised me with a really cute one. :)
As such, I am looking forward to my next birthday fingers crossed with keen interest :). Will try to devote a decent amount of time to planning and celebrating with family, friends, and the people I love. My dear reader, you are therefore cordially invited in advance.
Cheers to a new year and don’t forget to say a word of prayer for me.
Ramadan Kareem and Eid Mubarak in advance!
If you enjoyed this piece, please SUBSCRIBE to my newsletter, and do not forget to share it with your friends and loved ones. Gracias!
Insightful. We can’t do away with Religion and the existence of God. For God made is possible for us to see science and within the scope of Science shall they see His signs of existence. ❤️