“Tsunami… what is that?” Almighty enquires.
Saksham, who has been talking to Almighty in his dreams, replies, “Oh, tsunami is a series of huge ocean waves that are created usually by an undersea earthquake. The waves went beyond the natural land barrier and submerged some of the coastal habitats. Thousands of families were affected. We went there to initiate efforts to relocate some communities. We also helped some of them rebuild their houses.”
“Now I know what you are talking about." Almighty remarks casually, "It was just a little shake in earth’s crust. Nothing unusual.”
Saksham asks, “So, you saw it. Did you try to do something about it? Like subdue its consequences… to minimize its impact on life?”
Almighty distances from Saksham's idea, “No, not really. It wasn’t that major an event.”
Saksham feels disheartened by Almighty’s lack of concern. He challenges Almighty’s decision, “I thought it was huge. Close to hundred people died. Thousands of families were displaced. Isn’t that big enough?”
“I understand your concern. But, it wasn’t big enough for me to intervene.”
“Well, if not this, then what would be big enough for you? What would propel you take corrective action?”
Almighty shares his philosophy, “Son, earth is a self-regulating automated system. It has the ability to recover from most minor incidents like this. I would consider interfering only if I see a natural calamity that threatens irreversible damage, something that may affect the entire life on earth. I mean entire life on earth, not just human beings.”
Saksham would have preferred more involvement from Almighty, “I don’t understand this. On one side you say you like the fact that I am working hard to improve other people’s lives. But, on the other hand, you yourself give up an opportunity to do the same. Especially, when you have the power to do more than what thousands of us can do.”
“You must understand the difference. You are living a human life, I am not. It serves you well to be concerned about humans, your own species. I respect that you are willing to go beyond your own needs and put whole hearted efforts to improve lives of others. Social efforts like this help species become stronger, enabling them to beat the odds and improve their chances of survival as a whole. It is their key to evolution.”
“But, the same rules do not apply to you?”
“Right, as I said, I am not human.”
“But, you could care for humans.”
“Well, I do. I love and care for all my creations. Humans are the result of one of my most persistent efforts. I have worked hard to make them what they are; I have bestowed them with special powers. Despite the fact that they are probably headed towards making a mess of their own home, this planet, I am proud of them for the long distance they have travelled. They have amazed me beyond my expectations. But, that does not mean I assist them with every little trouble they run into.” Almighty clarifies his position.
Saksham persists with his demand for intervention, “Why not? It won’t hurt to spend a little effort in bringing a better order to earth. Especially when you are here and it is so easy for you to do it. If there is a tsunami, your little touch can calm down the waves and avoid loss of life. If there is a drought, you could easily bring some rains from elsewhere. Your little service could make a big difference to people’s lives.”
“So, you want me to do miracles?” Almighty asks.
“Well, why not? I guess there is nothing wrong if they help change things for better.”
“There could be... my miracles could make humans dependent on me. They could make them feel small, powerless and probably lazy. They will wait for me to interfere at every small opportunity. Humans may lose trust in their own abilities. I can’t let that happen.” Almighty defends his stance of minimum interference.
“What if people already think you do miracles? What if they have already made their lives dependent on your miracles – waiting for your miracles to pull them out of their misery?”
“Tell them to stop wasting their time. Ask them to trust their own capabilities.”
“They stand hours in line to take a look at your statue, waiting for one brief look at you that they believe will bring them good fortune for the rest of their lives.”
‘Tell them statues cannot contain me. If they want to see me, they must close their eyes and follow the goodness of their heart. I am with every well-intentioned effort that tries to restore the order of this world.”
“They perform various rites and rituals when faced with a drought, to please you. So, your miracle may shower upon them.”
“The natural calamities are the unfortunate accidents of a highly automated process, called nature. Tell them they must adapt to life’s challenges. I may sound harsh, but the truth is life was not designed to be easy. All species have the ability to take care of themselves. But, it takes a strong will and persistent efforts to beat the odds and earn a living. Survival is hard work. The one who adapts, lives on. Others become history.”
“They do work hard to adapt to circumstances. I think most of them do. But, they also seek your help – for support, for inspiration and in case of need. They carry a faith that you are around, watching them, looking after them, and taking note of their deeds. They believe you will punish the evil doers and reward the good hearted, sooner or later. So…”
Almighty interrupts Saksham, “Who thinks that?”
“Almost the entire human world carries that belief.”
“Really? It does not feel right. If most of the human population believed I am watching them so closely and may punish them if they did something wrong… then there would be much less evil on earth than what we have. Humans would live a more ethical life. There would be less crime and corruption. Remember, the list of world’s problems we discussed a while back, that could have been much shorter list.”
Saksham becomes defensive, “Well, okay… may be the corrupt ones don’t believe in you that much. Or, may be, their understanding is a little flawed.”
“What is their understanding of me?” Almighty asks.
“Hmmm… where do I start? That is a big one.” Saksham talks to himself while thinking, “There are actually multiple religions, each with a slightly different representation of you.”
“What exactly is a religion?”
“Well, religion is a system of belief that talks about the supernatural power, that is you. The power that has created this entire universe. Religion also provides guidelines for people regarding how they must live a good life.”
“And, you said there are different such religions. Why not just one?”
Saksham finally gives up being defensive, “To be honest, there are quite a few religions. And, within some religions, there are again different versions that differ on some key beliefs.”
“And, if they are different, there must be different definitions of me. And, possibly different guidelines regarding how to live a good life.”
“Quite right.” Affirms Saksham.
“If they are different, they all cannot be perfectly right. So, any consensus among humans… which religion is the one closest to reality.”
“Of course not. If they believed one religion was closest to reality, they would have all followed that religion. Everyone believes their religion is the purest one, the ultimate religion. And, everyone’s belief in their religion’s purity is so strong that even today wars are being fought in the name of religion.”
“Wars are being fought over religion even today, and you say they are only slightly different.” Almighty is intrigued to find more about religion, “Let me ask you this… do they believe there is only one such supernatural power? Or, do they believe in multiple supernatural powers, for example, each controlling a different part of earth?”
“The former… most religions believe in one supernatural power.” Saksham clarifies, “Few believe in multiple gods, but they also believe in one final power that has created this universe. And, they believe it controls not just earth, but the entire universe.”
“Interesting, and confusing… they believe in one supernatural power, a power that is infinitely strong… a power that has created the entire universe. And yet, this omnipotent power did not ensure all humans have the same version of its presence… that is one single religion for the entire world. That power left humans believe in different interpretations of reality, so they keep fighting forever. Doesn’t that make all religions just an incomplete glimpse of reality?” Almighty ponders over another possibility, “Unless, I am a sadist and derive pleasure from their confusion and violence.” The thought frustrates Almighty, “Do I look like a sadist to you?”
“Oh no, of course not!” Saksham feels apologetic, “Not you, they believe the people of other religions are at fault. They trust their religion owns the perfect truth and others are mere interpretations. They believe people of their own religion are the blessed ones, and people following other religions are infidels.”
“But, that would be an unfair and mean God! Worse than a sadist!” Almighty feels alarmed at the thought, “They think I gave preferential treatment to them, a small population of humans… making them the keeper of the perfect knowledge about me and this world. And, I denied others the same opportunity, leaving them to mere interpretations. Shame on me if I did that!” Almighty pauses, finding it hard to digest the thought, “Shame on me if I even mean that!”
“That is just what they think, and they all could be a little wrong.” Saksham throws in another possibility, “May be all their religions are mere human interpretations… possibly based on some meaningful glimpses of your vast power. But, there is still a chance that one of them maybe closer to reality, compared to others.”
“And, how do we figure that?” Almighty asks.
Saksham tries to evaluate the idea, “Actually, it could be easy for us to figure which one religion is closest to reality. That is, if you could tell me… when was the last time you visited earth?”
“Well… in human terms, it must have been several hundred years.” Almighty sounds little unsure, “May be over a thousand years. I am not certain though.”
“Hmmm… I am afraid that does not help much.” Saksham tries again for a more helpful answer, “Any chances you could be little more precise?”
“You must understand… it is difficult to measure time in earth’s terms when you are traversing the universe, say visiting a galaxy that is far away from earth.” God defends himself.
Saksham tries another route, “Tell me this… did you visit earth multiple times? And, did you ever live a human life?”
“Sure, I keep visiting earth every now and then. It is just difficult to give you a complete report of when and for how long I stayed here. And yes, I have experienced life as a human being. I need that sometimes… to get a better idea of where things are headed on this planet.”
Saksham is still hung on to solving the puzzle, “Hmmm… that does not help either. The question still remains which one is the true religion… the one closest to reality.”
Almighty comes up with his solution, “Why don’t we do this? You give me quick summary of each religion, and I pick which one looks the most logical to me. They talk about me anyways… so, I guess I get to choose.”
“Oh, that is going to be a long discussion… there are quite a few religions.” He thinks for a short moment, quickly evaluating the religions in mind, “We can probably say have a similar core guiding principle, but they differ significantly in their mythology, scriptures, rituals and visual representation of God. And, unfortunately, I don’t have all those details with me.”
“What about this… may be the differences – rituals, visual representation, etc. – are errors of human interpretations.” Almighty weighs the thought, “Let us see if the core guiding principles carries any weight… the one you said are common in most religions. Tell me a little more about that.”
“Well, all religions prescribe things like you must treat other human beings with love and kindness, you must be honest, you must not steal or commit forgery, you must not murder, you must not commit adultery, you must show courage to stand for truth and justice, must aim for magnificence and greatness of soul, and things like that.” He pauses and makes an attempt to summarize, “In other words, humanity is the core guiding principle in most religions… suggesting humans to live a life that exemplifies positive virtues.”
“Well… that makes perfect sense. I would certainly attest to all that.” Almighty affirms the idea, then asks, “So, then what is the problem? If all religions believe in humanity, where does it go wrong? Why do still they kill each other over religion itself? Isn’t that against humanity?”
“I have similar questions on my mind, but I am afraid I have the answers.” Saksham poses the question back to Almighty, “I thought you would know… you are the omnipotent and the omniscient. You should know everything.”
“Well, you can call me the omnipotent and omniscient about my world, if you wish. I created the rules of this living world, and I understand them well. But that does not mean I know the cause and effect of each and every action that happens in this world. I need to run around taking care of the entire universe, from end to end. Do you think I would have time to look into each and every thing that happens on this tiny little planet?” Almighty gets defensive, “I created humans and made them able enough to carve out a world of their own. Concepts like civilization, economy, electronics, etc. are their creations and they know the best about them. If you bring a broken laptop or a phone… and ask me to fix it, I won’t have a clue. Do you get my point?”
“Yes, I understand.” Saksham knows he can’t argue with that.
“Why don’t you go back and ask your fellow humans? May be you will find some expert opinions who can educate you better on that.”
Disappointed, Saksham says half-heartedly, “Okay, I will try.”
Almighty pauses for a few seconds as if listening to something, and says, “Listen, I hear some rumblings; this could be an earthquake. I will see you later.”
Saksham stays tight-lipped.
Almighty vanishes away, leaving Saksham alone with big questions on his mind... Is the religion-based hatred a failure of religion? Or, is it a failure of humans who have failed to understand religion itself?
