Looking for Replacements?

Got enough guilt to start my own religion
-- Tori Amos, "Crucify"

In this piece:

Let us start with the basic assumption that majority of the population believes in a God. Let us assume that he does exist. But not unarguably.

For atheists -- there's food for thought, too. The second assumption being that any pronoun which begins with a capital letter refers to Him. For political correctness & easier reading.

Forget modern day messiahs, pop icons have an opinion about Him. Momentous occasions in our lives spin us back to our faith. God, over the next 100 years, hmmm? With the million agendas, hidden or otherwise - does the world have the time to think about him? How much credit would Warren Buffet give to God for sound investments? What about your washer- lady between feeding her husband and 7th child? And your local political heavyweight? The liftman - when he between the 4th & 5th floors? The manager of the textile mill at new Bombay? The Children flying kites on the terrace?

It's been a rare day. I thought about His existence & purpose. A few random notes.

The praying reflex It is not because we believe that the Great Guy Up There is listening and sorting out our problems one by one. He never was a genie on the run, trying to grant anyone's wishes. Besides no one has ever conclusively & scientifically proved that he exists.

Most of us pray because -- we've got to talk to someone. And by merely being silent god's the best listener one can imagine. Because we do imagine that is there.

One-stop-shop

Your arch rival is praying for the same horrid things that you wish him.

He believes you deserve it as much as you think he does. He truly thinks that of the two - he is more righteous, justified and basically virtuous. Funny, the same thoughts run through your head. I doubt God runs a company where Directors are assigned to various species of humans. So it's the same guy listening to him, to you, to me, and the owner of the stand where your morning paper was bought. Go figure his priorities.

In time of need

So you prayed when your team was selected. Then again, when you narrowly made that submission deadline. Once more when your love brought you unimaginable bliss. Plus when your project ran through with accolades. Or when your chocolate brownies did not get burnt. When you spent the day with a school pal after ages. Your boss gave you the new cabin. You missed getting run over.

Hey, no one does. For if we pray for all the serendipity in our lives, we won't have the time to really live. God's around the corner when we feel life falls short of expectations. He is there for the time the brownies do get burnt and your dog dies and the professor need a little pleading to get those grace marks and when a raise would be most welcome.

In the next hundred years, God will take less of our time. Like today's kids -- we will expect a superachiever who minds his own business and does his job well.

God Inc. with sound liquidity & a growth plan.

Artificial Life

Don't know if you missed it last month - but I almost did. A supersomething scientist in a freaky enormous lab in the developed part of the world (the papers told me) has synthesized a gene. In extremely simplistic terms -- he has created the basic unit of life from plastic compounds. He has made life. And all this while the world is under the assumption that God has monopoly rights on those kind of things. Fascinated? Frightened? I don't know how to react yet - because this puts little question marks on things like Karma, re-incarnation, re-birth, the soul and other such personal faith.

One popular entity

Run a search on your friendly neighbourhood search engine and here are the stats.

GOD; 21ST CENTURY : 1.5 MILLION HITS

The Internet is the medium with the message for the next century. We see cultures steeped in rituals, beliefs and traditions. Our holy books tell us how to live. They are beacons in a fog for some and as important as the morning cuppa to some.

The Net -- rivetted to technology and the mindset of generation to come. It is also an unbiased transmitter for anyone with a voice. It almost runs a "situations vacant/wanted" for new faith. For the disillusioned lot -- there is new hope and for the cynical - lots of loyal company. Chats on the Almighty and sites professing the Second Coming. Got a religion? Broadcast it.

You don't know what it is (but it makes you comfortable) That is reason enough to hold your belief in God, in your religion or your choice to abstain from it. God has been & will be a choice. That doesn't change.

Roshni is a 20 year old student in Bombay, India, studying AncientComputer Programming, and loving it all, in a cynical, sadistic sort ofway.