As per Genesis, god created the earth out of chaos in 7 days. He created Adam and Eve in his own image. Be it the Greek, roman or the Christian civilization, the god is described as anthropomorphic. The famous Greek philosopher Xenophanes claimed that if Oxen or Horses or Lions could draw they would give their gods the same bodily shapes as themselves. Did god create man in his own image, or man created Him in his own image?
The existence of God has been doubted from time immemorial. The definition of god runs into many kinds of paradoxes when tested on touch stone. Shelley in his Ode to Liberty calls religion a pest. According to him the word religion or god was coined by priests in order to exploit and dominate the public.
The world is replete with incidents of reincarnation. I belong to a devout Sikh family, and like others, I too have been indoctrinated to adhere to the rituals properly. But what I personally feel is that religion has much to do with a person’s upbringing, society, history and culture rather than his faith. For example in my country it was said that a man suffering from leprosy must have committed inveterate sins in his previous life. He was declared an outcast. In ancient roman culture twins were considered ominous. They had to be disposed of right at the birth, and the mother was bathed in holy water. But science doubted all such unreasonable claims, and today we know that these incidents are but natural.
The people of my country are highly religious. My country, India, is inhabited by people from all walks of life – Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. The people are obsessed with religion to such an extent that many birds, animals and plants are considered as avatar of god. Priests play with their religious sentiments even at the expense of their lives. There are almost 330 million reincarnations of god in the Hindu mythology. The people have become so superstitious that even an anomalous birth is claimed to be associated with god.
In 2005 a deformed girl was born in one of the most rural states of India, Bihar. She had four arms and four legs. Her parents instead of ascertaining the reasons behind her disfigurement instantly believed her to be a reincarnation of goddess Durga. She was named “Laxmi” after the same goddess.
The news spread like rapid fire, and oblations and ablutions were heaped on the girl in the form of cash and gold. Laxmi’s parents cashed the religious propensity of the people to their utmost interest.
It was two years later that the girl was operated on. The physicians and surgeons diagnosed that she was actually a pair of ischiopagus conjoined twins. Today she is leading a normal life, alienated and aloof from the status of a goddess.
LAXMI AFTER OPERATION
Religion avers that black people are black because of their sins in the previous life. This doctrine has been imposed everywhere in the world to keep the people in fear of God. But this belief, when analyzed on a scientific basis, revealed that the color of skin depended not on sins but on the concentration of melanin synthesized in the body due to the sunlight.
Religion emphasizes that we all are the off springs of Adam and Eve. But even this canon of religion does not hold true as Charles Darwin through his revolutionary theory of evolution scientifically proved that man evolved from organic matter. Religion often tells about miracles that reflect the glory of god. Mystics often claim to have seen the God. Recent researches in the medical field have proven that people tend to become closer to divine perceptions during epileptic seizures.
Religion is a two – edged sword. It is a fear indoctrinated in the mind of man to subdue him under control. It has become an instrument to elude responsibility, and impute the consequences to Heavens. The existence of God can neither be testified nor denounced. No matter what religion is, but it evidently bespeaks a blissful state of cognizance called "Heaven", Enlightment” or "Nirvana"
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- Herbert Spencer
According to Herbert Spencer Science is organized knowledge. The scientific revolution of the 17th century, which is associated with the names of great scientists such as Galileo, Newton and Robert Boyle, initiated a period of tremendous progress which showed no sign of coming to an end. Later, science became related to greater names such as Einstein, Mendel and Darwin. It was expected that it would be an age where all mysteries would be resolved.
The Bermuda triangle or “the devils triangle” stands as one of the greatest mysteries that have still kept mankind at bay. According to a general report, more than 50 ships, airplanes, boats and choppers have vanished into thin air between the years 1945 and 1974. The most common explanations offered by science vary from supernatural to natural. It is claimed that the said ships and aircrafts have been abducted by UFOs and aliens. But since scientists do not believe in beliefs and opinions, they have come forward with other explanations such as – human error, compass failure, gulf streams, hurricanes and the presence of methyl hydrate. But the possibility of some other reason has not been deracinated. Is it not possible that the enigmatic triangle is under the sway of some cynics or pirates who deliberately eliminate the intruders?
As per Ptolemy’s geocentric theory (c. AD 90 – c. 168) of planetary motion, all heavenly bodies move around the stationary earth that lies at the center of the universe. In 498 A.D. Arya-Bhatta postulated that the earth revolves around the sun while continually rotating on its axis.
In 1543, contrary to the Ptolemic model, Copernicus suggested that the earth as well as other planets revolve around the stationary sun. This Heliocentric theory was supported by Galileo, who with a telescope proved that Venus also orbits around the sun. John Kepler on the basis of observations laid laws of planetary motion, and emphasized that the orbits of the planets around the Sun are ellipses with the Sun at one focus.
Even Kepler’s laws of planetary motion could not escape the rapier of doubt. Finally Issac Newton came up with the theory of gravity, and laid the laws of motion. It was a mere apple that arousing Newton’s doubting instinct and inquisitiveness helped him postulate the eternal laws of motion and gravity. But even Newton’s law of gravity was doubted by Einstein, who superseded Newton’s theory with his “theory of general relativity”.
It can be concluded that scientific beliefs change over time but each new theory is closer to the truth than the previous one. Science recorrects itself while religion remains rigid. My conclusion is that doubt is very conducive to knowledge. The scientific spirit which is opposed to the uncritical acceptance of dogma has been responsible for the enormous growth of knowledge. we should not forget that if necessity is the mother of invention, doubt is its father. Doubt is the passage through which one must pass before entering the temple of wisdom.
The first key to wisdom is assiduous and frequent questioning ... For by doubting we come to inquiry, and by inquiry we arrive at truth.
(Peter Abelard)
BOOKS:-
Lagemaat, Van de R., Theory of Knowledge. Cambridge University press, 2005.
Dombrowski E, Rotenberg L, Bick M, Theory of Knowledge. Oxford University Press.2007.
Woolman M, Ways of Knowing. IBID press 2006.
WEB PAGES:-
Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherents. 9 August 2007. July 30, 2010.
<http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html>
World population. 29 July 2010. August 1, 2010.
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population>
IMAGES:-
. January 2010. July 31, 2010.
<http://funfunpics.blogspot.com/2010/01/lakshmi-tatma-indian-girl-with-8-limbs.html>
Pictured: The little girl who had eight limbs and was worshipped as a deity starts school. January 28, 2010. July 31, 2010.
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1246431/Lakshmi-Tatma-The-little-girl-limbs-worshipped-deity-starts-school.html>
Cabinet of wonders. December 31, 2007. July 28, 2010.
<http://www.wunderkabinett.co.uk/damndata/index.php?url=archives/1205-Therein-lies-a-tale-of-men-with tails.html&serendipity[cview]=linear>
Mystical Places – the Bermuda triangle. December 19, 2008. July 25, 2010.
< http://www.pisceandelusions.org/reference/bermudatriangle/ >
Nature of universe. January 27, 1998. July 26, 2010.
< http://www.physics.hku.hk/~nature/CD/regular_e/lectures/chap04.html>
by
sc_rahulgrah (student)
