God Vs Ethics: The Antithesis

It is amusing how similar an aethist like Bhubha and a firm believer like me think, even when it comes to God. No, ethics are not dependent on God. Yes, religion is more of a way of life. Yes, religion needs ammendment just like constitution of a country. And yes, God is Also the Evil.

Because for me, God is everything. Sunshine and blossoms are the Grace of God, a narrow escape is the Mercy of God, and floods and earthquakes are the wrath of God.

But what is God at the first place? Is it something outside of us? Is it a superpower that governs the universe, gets delighted when we pray and gets upset when we dont? Is it an entity that tells us to kill the unbelievers, sacrifice a goat's blood, rape women of other religion? Who is he? Or she? Or whatever it is?

The fact of the matter is that nobody knows. Nobody saw or heard the God. They only read about God, and were told by other who were in turn told by someone else what God likes and what he doesn't like. But did God say that, really? We have no way to find out.

A lot of scriptures claim to be the words of God. A lot of people claim to be the sons and daughters and messengers of God. They lure people into doing things that they want done, and in return assure people that the God will reward you in the end for your conduct. But that is not all. This modus operandus basically aims for the weak spot- the Achille's heel that almost all of us are victims of: feeling of guilt. The intermediary- the person between you and God tells you that God will forgive all your sins, if you return to the right path. They can do this, because they know that we all percieve ourselves as sinners in some deep corner of our minds, and long for forgiveness. And if pleasing god is the undoing of all the crimes, then why would one not please God? It's the people with an aching conscience that are the staunchest followers of God's words.

But the fact of the matter is- as I believe it, of course- is that the God can't forgive you or grant your wishes, if you do not do so at the first place. A person asking for forgiveness from God, is essentially asking for forgiveness from himself, and until he makes up for the wrongs that he has done- he will not feel redeemed. For God is nothing outside a person- but the very essense of their being.

So you see- the concept of God has to do with everything- with ethics and society, actions and emotions, science and religion. There is a reason why the biggest crimes as well as the most glorious deeds are performed under the name of God. There is a reason why holy wars are fought even in this century of knowledge and information explosion. There is a reason why the concept of God exists till date.

Haven't we- at least the modern, educated communities, done away with a lot of old customs that are no longer valid? Then why have we not thrown out of the window the notion of God? Why do we still 'Thank God' when things work out? Why did Einstein believe in God? Why did Mother Teresa?

Once a man asked an aethist, "Do you believe in God?" "No", the aethist replied. "In heaven, or hell?" asked the man. "No", said the aethist firmly. "Oh. Where would you go then, after death?" Is it not the questions like these, the dark night beyond realms of life, the coincidences and occurances beyond the scope of science, inexplicable behaviours of people, animals, plants and planets- things beyond our knowledge or control, that make us believe that it is not us, but something superior that governs this universe, and we call it God?

The fact that we exist, the fact that flowers bloom and birds sing and planets revolve, the fact that animals breed and clouds pour and seas ebb and flow- is proof enough for God's existance. God speaks in our voices, God beats in our hearts. It is the flame of life that burns in our bodies that we call God. And so, as long as we exist, we can't really do away with the concept of God.

Tibet: A lesson learnt!

Tibet, a beautiful country! A land with a rich heritage, and wonderful people. A country with its unique language, script, religion and law. I don't know what the current political status of this land is, but its certainly not a part of any of its neighbours, it pretty much stands by itself! Actually all the above sentences should probably be in past tense. By now, the PRC must have already cleaned up Tibet!

My initial reaction to the Chinese crackdown on Tibet was: Don't the communists have no mercy? How can they kill a culture like that? Burn their history, holy books and scriptures, ram monasteries and change the socio-economic setup. Why do they have to bash these peace loving religious people? Communists are crazy! Someone needs to stop them. What are the countries of the world doing? We will be to be blamed for this cultural genocide. With these thoughts i kept an eye on the news and also started some research on the history of this issue. And now my conclusion is this: Tibetan people are the only people to be blamed here. This had to happen!

Look at Australia, there is no clue where the Aborigines are... almost completely wiped out I must say. America, colonised by Britishers and French, natives fucked up and robbed to create a so called "free" country! South Africa, same story. No matter what rules are made by the leagues of nations and what heights of morality mankind reaches, the rules of nature are simple; Survival of the fittest! This is evolution, this is reality!

Religions like the Buddhist faith of the Tibetans need to be defended externally by force of arms. Such a religion is defenceless in case of a war. The fact that you are a vegetarian does not mean that the tiger is not going to kill you!! Tibetans are surrounded by emerging superpowers. Non-violence cannot be used to protect your city walls. There are limitations of each method. If we Indians believe that our non-violence movement freed us, we are wrong. World war 2 left our colonial kingdoms so weak, they had to go back. Notice the creations of so many small countries in the 40s and 50s. If there is anybody to be thanked for our freedom, its Germany!


A religion may be based on non-violence not a country. Especially when you are sharing your boundary with communist China! No non-violent protests, no Nobel peace prize is going to save the autonomy of Tibet. Chinese crack down on Tibet is just another day in the predator-prey game, it had to happen. The Tibetan people are blind if they couldn't see it coming, and even if they saw it, they are too slow to adapt. And quite obviously, the next prey of the red dragon is us. What happened in Tibet is a tragedy but more than that is a lesson for us to learn...