Debate: Society needs theism as an end in itself, irrespective of the existence of God.
The Interclass Debate occurred a couple of days back. I managed to get the 3rd prize for the Best Speaker. Here is my speech:
"People go to church for the same reasons they go to a tavern: to stupefy themselves, to forget their misery, to imagine themselves free and happy, for a few minutes anyway."
A stand-up comedian once remarked,"Most sermons sound to me like commercials, but I cant quite make out if God is the sponsor or product."
Respected Chairman, fellow speakers and dear friends, a very good evening to one and all. I'll be speaking against the motion- Society needs theism as an end in itself, irrespective of the existence of God. Almost all the speakers before me have spoken about the semantics of the motion and defined theism in detail. Hence, I'll talk about atheism for a change.
Atheism can be broadly defined as the lack of belief in the concept of God. This encompasses both those who believe there are no gods- the "true atheists"- and those who make no claim about whether God exists or not- the "non-theists".
But before we go ahead, we have to consider religion, because as one speaker remarked, theism and religion are intricately related. What exactly is religion? In my opinion, religion is that relationship which exists between man and his creator, whether real or imaginary. An ideal religion is that which is centred on the individual, broadminded and allows a lot of scope for personal interpretation. Hence, all organised religions- be it Christianity, Islam or Judaism- fail in this respect, as they attempt to enforce an artificial uniformity among people, which is both unnatural and unrealistic, as each person will naturally tend to have a different idea of how God is or ought to be.
And this enforced uniformity results in fundamentalism- a conservative mindset that remains impervious to new ideas and becomes an obstacle to progress. A case in point being the attitude of the Vatican during the Renaissance of the 16th and 17th centuries, or the ongoing efforts by the neo-conservatives to include "intelligent design" as an alternative theory to Darwinism in schools all over the United States.
When almost every religion proclaims that theirs is the true faith and their path the only path, then tensions are bound to rise and intolerance to other faiths is inevitable. Violence in the name of God has cast bloodstains on almost every religion, and is probably the final nail on the coffin of theism. Isnt it ironic that all this occurs in a world where truth, peace, brotherhood and tolerance are touted as the guiding principles of all religions?
Supporters of theism may argue that fear of God has prevented many a person from commiting crimes, but that is just a ploy to deflect attention from their many faults. What about the atrocities commited in the name of God? What would God think of the Holocaust? The Crusades? The numerous communal riots in our nation since Partition? September 11? The so called "war against terror"? Would He approve of it? Definitely not.
If God exists, I dont think he'll want us to squabble over Him, and kill innocents in His name. Hence, its evident that theism has failed in its basic purpose of uniting man with God, rather, all it has succeeded in is dividing mankind. It is imperative that we find an alternative, and this is where atheism comes in.
To quote Albert Einstein," I cant conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures. I would rather contemplate the mystery of Life and the marvellous structure of the existing world and try to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in Nature." And as George Bernard Shaw put it," I believe in God; only I call him Nature."
So lets forget our differences, become rational selves with faith in Nature, ignore dogmas and superstitions, and try to improve the world from the mess that it is in right now.
I'll conclude with this comment by Mark Maron,"I believe in God........ just in case. Its like there's this list somewhere and you dont wanna be on it. I dont want to say THERE IS NO GOD and then die and say,'Oh, hi, Mr. God, is there some kind of community service that I can do?' "
