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Does God exist? Are the atheists right? Does it really make any difference?
With billions of people more or less actively believing in one or more gods the question seems highly relevant.
Considering the many people who are killed every year because of differing religious beliefs the question seems imperative.
Despite billions of believers and countless religions of different kinds, each of which claim to have the final answer to questions relating to God’s will, the question of whether God really exists will probably never be finally resolved by objective and conclusive proof.
It’s even more unlikely that there will ever be any objective and conclusive proof, that any one religion is the one and only “right” religion, with monopoly on the interpretation of God’s will.
But why do we have religion in the first place?
Religion cannot be for God’s sake.
A divine creator of humanity, world and universe cannot seriously be affected by what any given person or even by what the totality of people on this little, insignificant planet in the wast universe does or believes. People in earlier times, believing that Earth was the centre of the universe, should of course be forgiven for believing that man’s actions were important to God. Modern man, knowing the true extend of the universe and the relative insignificance of Earth, cannot. Since our actions and beliefs here on Earth cannot have any significance but for ourselves, religion can only be for the sake of man.
A question that remains is whether religions exist/are created for the ordinary people or exclusively for the sake of the people in power?
It seems to me, that religions serve or can serve a purpose both for the ordinary people and for the people in power.
Most of us are from an early age looking for answers and explanations to everything around us. In primitive societies religion serves as the fail proof provider of answers to all the questions which people have not yet found “real” answers to. Even to this day when science provides us with more and more answers, religion continues for many to provide the answers to some of the fundamental questions about life and death, for which there might never be found conclusive, nonreligious, scientific answers. Religion therefore serves or can serve a purpose for ordinary people.
The authority of religious answers has probably at all times, and certainly in historical times, been used by some people in power to control the behaviour of the ordinary people. Many religions might even in reality have their origin as a tool for powerful members of societies to control weaker members.
However, even though religion can be, and in some cases are or have been, used by people in power to control the behaviour of the general population of a given society, I think we might safely assume that many people, both ordinary and in power, are genuinely religious believers. Furthermore, it can probably also safely be assumed that most religious leaders are genuinely religious believers and not primarily interested in the power afforded by their religious positions.
The fact that religion can be, and has been, used to control the behaviour of populations should therefore not in itself hold anyone from genuine religious belief.
Strong religious belief can have a big positive impact on a person’s life.
This can obviously lead to a desire to share one’s religious belief with others, who might find consolation and relief in the same religious belief.
However, it must be kept in mind that each religion by its very nature of being a religion, must lay claim to the one and only truth about God. Furthermore, there’s probably not much hope that these differences will ever be settled by objective and conclusive proof. With the number of different religions there will therefore probably always be a risk that any one religion is entirely man-made and has no real divine connection.
Even if we assume that a given religion is a truly divine religion, then there will still remain the risk that God is greater than any one religion and that more than one religion is a truly divine religion.
For these reasons no matter how strong a believer a person is, and no matter how valid it might be to encourage others to share the same belief, there will always be a risk involved in forcing a specific religion on others.
If God really exists, then it cannot be ruled out that God has communicated with more than one person, giving rise to more than one “true” religion. It can also not be ruled out that God looks unfavourably on anyone causing bodily harm to believers of other “true” religions, or for that matter other people in general, whether they happen to be a believer in a “true” religion or not.
If God doesn’t exist at all, then the danger in forcing a religion on others is merely putting one’s own life and the life of others at risk for a cause that is less than divine. In this case there probably won’t be anyone else in the world, other than perhaps a few fellow believers, who would be sympathetic to the use of force. Which would in any case be completely void of any divine justification.
Caution, therefore, must be advised before even contemplating forcing any one religious belief on others, no matter how strong one’s personal belief might be.
Ironically God might not even be part of the equation, the important thing being faith itself.
As it has been seen time and again, both historically and in modern times, a person suffering the worst of traumas and even death might happily endure these atrocities if the person has a strong belief in this being for the glory of God. Religious faith can be a great help in filling daily life with meaning as well as in dealing with some of life’s most difficult moments.
This means that what matters ultimately might be the faith itself, not the religion. In this sense, any religion might be a “right” religion.
This also means that atheists might be right about the fact that God doesn’t exist. But even if they are, they will still be losing out for not believing.
If it’s the faith itself, as opposed to a specific religion, that is important, then clearly any religious belief and any religious tradition should be respected to the extent that people do not use religious belief or religious tradition as a pretext for coercion or for causing physical or psychological harm.
Also, if it’s the faith itself, as opposed to a specific religion, that is important, then society can and should be organized without taking specific religious beliefs and traditions into account as long as all religious beliefs and traditions are in general respected within the legal limits of society.
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