Saturday, July 26, 2008

A very simple explanation to the most difficult question ever

Does God exist or not? A subject that so many have debated on. The atheist always claims God's non-existence while the other swears by God's powers. There have been extremely complex explanations from both sides of the court. But I have never come across one that is as simple as the one that I read in Muhammad Ali's memoir, The Soul of a Butterfly. An ardent believer in God and his supreme power, Ali says -

One thing that had always amazed me is how many people question the existence of God. They are always searching for proof.
Would you believe a man who told you about a store that ran efficiently without any manager or salesperson to look after it?
Would you believe that the store was protected from robbers without someone to look after it?

Suppose a man told you he had seen a big factory where everything was running smoothly,without any owner or manager. Suppose he insisted the factory had been built all by itself, that even the machines had just appeared out of thin air and were now running like clockwork, producing wonderful products.

Or would you believe that an electric bulb could generate light by itself? Could even the great philosophers convince you that the fabric from which your clothes are made had not been woven by human hand or by machine,but had woven itself? If we find these examples unbelievable,how could we possibly believe that the universe works so precisely without a creator?

Why does disbelief come so naturally to us, while belief takes such effort? Faith comes naturally to us in many areas of life. For instance, when a person becomes ill and is unable to treat himself, he goes to the doctor. When the doctor explains the cause of his illness and the method of treatment, the patient trusts the doctor and takes his advice. In matters of the law, we do the same, we take the advice of our attorney.

In education, we have faith in our professor's knowledge and field of expertise. We accept him and put our trust in him. We do this because we know he is trained in his profession. Belief comes effortlessly.

When we watch a car driving down the street, we know it is not operating on its own. There is someone behind the wheel steering it in the right direction.

Yet many people still question whether or not there is a greater power behind the creation of all life.

It is true that it is more difficult to believe in things that cannot be seen or touched. But this is the very essence of faith - believing in the things the eyes cannot see. Nothing bad will come out of having faith in God, so why not believe? You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

Doesn't that viewpoint seem reasonable enough?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If thats your point, what is HIS job?
If he is an immaculate managers why the hell there are so many things which are amiss in this world...

Deepak.
PS: I am your junior in college!

Akhila said...

Deepak, I don't think there was any mention about god being a perfect creator.

madhu-shankar said...

Hmm....faith over facts.....guess it is required at times....