“Why do we have to appease God?” asked one of my colleagues at the lunch table.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean if there is a God, is he so self obsessed that he needs to be appeased first!” he chuckled.

It wasn’t at all surprising to hear that argument coming from an atheist. But being agnostic myself, one who claim neither faith nor disbelief in God, I put forwarded my opinion.

“That’s where religion get’s interesting, buddy” I replied back.

“What do you mean?”

The person who had theorized the concept of religion was a really smart. Religion was introduced as a tool to unite people. Almost every ancient religion proposes that the creation of the universe and of living things is best explained by an intelligent cause or an intelligent omnipresent being. In this way an illusion of larger than life intelligent powerful image of an invisible super-power is created and passed onto newer generations. This was done to keep people in check. While most would listen to the church/temple/which is turn will preach the sermon from the king/ruler (let’s say). For those who still commit crimes, disrupt the harmony of the state etc, religion provided another powerful alternative: paap dhona (to wash away ones sins). While in Christianity, one can confess her sins to a padre; the Hindus prefer to take a dip in the Ganges or likewise.

The concept was bound to be a hit. It provided the ruler of the state to have control over his/her masses by imbibing the fear of God in them. And it was the best tool to foster unity.

But the problem arose out of worshiping the so called God. People started worshiping him and started thinking of ways to appease him. People started to consider God as a watchdog who flinches at the slightest of unethical or immoral act. Or worse still, the keeper of luck and destiny.

So appeasement of God is but a natural phenomenon, I explained.

“That’s alright. So, Tonmoy, you mean to say that there’s no God and the whole concept is actually a philosophy?” he asked looking at me.

I chewed on the salad hastily to clear out his doubt, “No, that’s not correct”

If there’s no God or Intelligent design, then what explains the concept called life? Theory of Evolution? Darwin theory? Natural selection? Survival of the fittest?

Probably yes & probably no.

Evolution:
Even Darwin, near the end of his life, said, “Not one change of species into another is on record… we cannot prove that a single species has been changed” (Source “My Life and Letters”, Volume 1)

Intelligent power/being or God:
If God created us and this earth/universe, is it believable that It/He/She caters to the prayers/thoughts/life of 6 billion human beings?
If It/He/She doesn’t care or cater to our prayers then why did It/He/She created us in the first place?

Intelligent being/ super power from space/advanced alien species:
This concept is similar to the God concept mentioned above, but here we don’t generally attach emotions to these beings. They might have inhabited our planet, played around with our DNAs, created a multitude of life forms, domesticated some animals & studied us for some time. And they left. They are least concerned about us. Or maybe they are watching us from above as a scientist looks at his lab mice! Probably. Or probably they simply stranded us.

I believe in the concept of Evolution and Intelligent Super power form space. And I don’t challenge the concept of God because who knows, God must be crazy enough to actually watch each one of us and listen to our prayers. And probably laugh at us.

So I’m happily AGNOSTIC.