conversations with god

so i was going to the library today. i wasnt a library person earlier, but i like the desk space and the natural light it throws in the basement, which brings me back day and day after to it. i digressed. anyway so i was on my way to the library and as i was walking towards it, a girl walked upto me asking me if i had time. if she could wrap it up in 5 mins., then i am all ears, said i.

which is when she started talking about jesus as the savior so on and so forth. what was amazing was she came from korea ( dunno which one), just for this! i wanted to start a discussion about the veracity of His existence, but I could see it would go nowhere due to 1. lack of time and couple of other reasons, which is why i post it here.

i have a different perspective here.

religion for me is an idea, a powerful idea, with God as the central figure. its a notion perpetuated since time imemorial.

religion was and is used as a medium to bring people together. now nobody wants to willingly go to hell, everybody wants to go to heaven (because the notion of heaven and hell is perpetuated as a good place to be and bad place to be). and if the idea is permeated that only by doing certain activities would you be granted a place in heaven, more often than not, people will do those activities. and what happens when like minded people come in contact? they live in harmony and peace.

and even though one doesnt subscribe to the above idea, here is another way to look at it. it is a fair assumption to make that at most 3 people among 10 are intelligent. the rest are sheeple ( herds) who like to be directed. so one of these "people" figured to get the "sheeple" to be productive by uniting them with a cause. and thus by introducting the notion of a super natural entity, they were more or less directed in their activities.

hence in my opinion religion and God are the most powerful ideas that man has ever come up with that has gained an unanimous acceptance in every era.

to further this argument, its the belief that characterizes God. say for example, there is a magic teapot somewhere in the universe. now some one says there is a magic teapot and its cosmic rays will benefit mankind so on and so forth. if just one guy or a small group believes in it, they are tagged as lunatics. BUT if the whole town (say) believes in the magic teapot, then it is suddenly God like, magical etc. (even though there is no such magic teapot).

devouts say if you dont accept God, you are a sinner and you go to hell. they also say that if one does good things, then one will go to heaven. so does a man, who doesnt accept God (atheist) , but does one's exemplary work for the benefit of mankind, have no chance in heaven?

i guess God exists for those who see Him as a source of hope, saviour etc, and doesnt for those who have their own sources of hope ( which may make them their Gods ;according to the reasoning above; albeit having them to accept it). so does that mean everyone needs hope to continue, to which i say a resounding, YES! after all that was only one of the positive things that came out of Pandora's box. :)

for some this post is tantamount to blasphemy and heresy but i hope it was thought provoking at least.

cheers,