The Idea of God

The Idea of God

What is the difficulty in accepting the idea of God  if you accept the Theory of Evolution?

    When one is presented with a theory of evolution, one is actually being presented a hypothesis or deduction (to which no significant proven opposition exists) since it is supported with empirical observations of nature and logical inferences on top of that. Basically, it is like any laws of physics or chemistry that we have arrived at through keen observation by our five senses and logical inferences by our brains. People, especially those with structured training in science and allied fields or most thinking individuals tend to believe information reported by our senses. 

    But, they don't seem to perceive that the five senses we have been given are quite faulty in the sense that they report only relative data instead of data in absolute terms. For example, when you come out of a dark room suddenly into a brightly lit space, it will 'feel' brighter than normal initially, in fact, uncomfortably dazzling till it 'settles down' to a comfortable relative brightness in your perception.  Similarly, if you continue to eat sweets, they will tend to 'feel' not that sweet down the line though the sugar content hasn't changed drastically. It will 'feel' sweet enough only if you intersperse the eating bout with contrasting foods. That's why high-end restaurants serve you palate cleansers in the course of a meal.  We also know that inverted images formed on the retina are perceived upright by the brain. 

    So, we can say that a thinking individual must agree that the five senses are not the ultimate reporters of truth. Not just that - the laws of Newtonian physics that we take for granted on this planet fail to be true at the quantum (sub-atomic) level. So, these are no way absolute or immutable laws.

    Moreover, brain is not everything or the only intelligent apparatus in our bodies. It does not hold a prerogative on intelligence by any stretch of imagination! Every cell in our bodies has memory and intelligence of its own since they don't always take orders from the brain. In fact, it has been proved that our gut is our second brain as it does not take orders from our brain for the majority of its functions.  It collaborates with brain only in case of an emergency like in choreographing an exquisite vomiting action preceded by an unmistakable vomiting impulse. 

    In that sense, the theories like theory of evolution are limited realities in our best perception based on large amount of observational data. So, it can almost be likened to a best case estimate or even a faith in our data and perception. Besides, it is not like we are creating all these rules and laws out of thin air; surely, we are not their creators - we are just uncovering them. 

    These rules and many others are quietly operating beneath the surface of our observation since the early rumbles of human existence. If they are already in operation without any of our help, we must wonder what prevents a thinking individual with scientific temper to not ask the obvious question? The questions like - When did it all start? Why does this go on, completely unaided to boot? What is the source of creation? Or, in fact, who is the creator? As human beings, we would like to believe that a human-like person or a superhuman has started it all.

    Some religions propose (and millions agree!) that superhuman like individuals appeared on the planet and pronounced canons and commandments by following which the lives of the faithful are redeemed. Hinduism, on the other hand is adept at concretizing abstract principles (basically thoughts that one can argue for, like I have tried to do in this blog). Hindu civilization in the Indus valley geography (before it was given the status of a religion by the colonizers) came up with a flexible definition of God. A tree is a God, an animal is a God or God's mode of transport, a book of knowledge is a God and even food that nourishes us is a God. There is one for everything and everyone - fully formed and described colourfully beyond doubt.

    It is actually an ingenious idea that there is nothing in this universe that is not God. God is immanent! Isn't that the Truth or Truism that the scriptures of this land and civilization proclaim as Mahavakya-s? They even engage a curious seeker of Truth in a dialogue and go on to prove these Truisms through sheer logic beyond any shadow of doubt. 

    A person who chooses not to believe in God is still believing in God's non-existence. A believer of a different kind and completely acceptable as a phase of one's journey or evolution! Every doubt of a skeptical individual makes the arguments in favour of God a tad stronger in the long term.

    If one has enough humility to bow down to the creation as something that is way bigger than oneself, one's beliefs, feelings and logic, one is on a sure-footed journey to God - to one's God.