My friends in law school seems to be staunchly atheistic, agnostic or simply against the idea of God. Prima facie, that seems like an intelligent take on things. Science is the new demigod, we don’t need a god in this modern age or some myth to tell us how we came about. Science told us, it’s evolution. Plain and simple. First there was water, the atmosphere created the conditions needed for living things, oxygen and all. Then there were cells, which became fish, which became reptiles and then you have amphibians and which in turn became monkeys as is their wont. I am not denying the process of natural selection. I am aware of a certain degree of natural selection, but to trace the whole human DNA to one cell takes a lot of faith. Almost more than believing we were created by an Almighty God.
And what about hell? Why would a good God decree that He is the way, the truth and the life? Isn’t that a little egoistical? Does he have an ego issue? Does he need his creation to worship him? So that he can go to sleep at night or something.
It’s the idea of objective reality. Even if you don’t believe that there is gravity, it doesn’t matter how much you don’t believe in it, or dislike it, it’s there whether you believe in it or not. And so is God. He’s there whether you like it or not, whether you believe in it or not. And with God comes the idea of justice.
Justice. Then each should be judged according to his works and his deeds, and one wouldn’t have to bring in Jesus Christ and claim that he’s the only way to God. But there is a glitch with God’s standards and our standards. There is a huge gap between the two– our good deeds are perhaps tainted with self-interest, so that you can feel good about yourself or something. So Jesus became the standard, and you only need to believe in Jesus and his standard will be your standard.
And the idea of worship is something that is instinctive in a person. Even if the person is an agnostic or atheist or free-thinker, they will still worship something in their own way, be it cash, their children, the latest fashion, other people’s opinions. So it’s not that God needs our worship, but that we need to worship a god.
So are we God’s toys?
Given that God is supposedly all-knowing, so he knows what’s going to happen in the future too. Then what’s the point of praying to God when he has already determined the outcome? In that case, we don’t really have a choice, just the illusion of a choice. But think about it, just because God sees into the future doesn’t mean he’s going to control the future. He’s an observer, the choices are your own. What he will do is to give you strength for the present. And it is the present that will determine the future anyway.
