Has Humanity Failed? Do We Need The Fear Of God To Keep Us Civilized And Happy?

Although Renaissance enriched and enhanced religions, rigid Reformation that followed fragmented its unity. Even though latter enhanced blind faith, using logics to expose The Church it surprisingly gave way to logic on matters mundane. Stretching logic science suddenly emerged as Enlightenment saw the light of the day. While Right of Man gave commoner the right to make social laws with logic that lessened divine social laws, Freud’s making of science out of sex lessened divine sexual laws. While state’s non preference for one church- secularism - hurt state’s support for religion, Darwin’s preference for historic skeletons hurt support for God itself. With era of ‘good news’ changing to era of logic, as if asserting ‘It’s a cash orientated society’, faith grabbed a bear graph and science the bull.

As if grabbing the right time, while in the eastern front, killing people, communism tried to kill both God and religion, in the western front pluralism is killing the good news of ‘One way to God’. Although faith and fear remained, while partial disregard of divine laws saw ‘Scriptural laws are for the ancients, not us’, further disregard and fear is seeing enhanced cash flow to holy sites and works to absolve sin.

           

Finding the right time or as ‘Even as a dog has its day’, now the quiet, dejected, persecuted and unworthy people of the past became vocal with the new good news - ‘there is no God’. Feasting on scriptural deficiencies, stalwarts among them like C Hitchens and R. Dawkins became bestsellers.

Free from Emperor’s, then God’s, then guardian’s fear man has never been so free and without fear. Stretching logic he has stretched science and technology almost to end points. Increasingly taking charge of mundane affairs, while UN produces a la 10 commandments for nations, states produce laws on equality, justice, human dignity, underage sex, family, government change and peaceful demonstrations. Peaking in logics, achievements and beautiful laws, while atheist suddenly seemed to top the evolutionary chain and God now became irrational and unnecessary to civilise us- Homo sapience, believers continued to play ‘divided we fall’.

However, the logical ‘They lived happily ever after’ hasn’t yet quite come true.

While financial corruption sees rich but incompetent bankers - supported even by the poor (possibly for the 1^st time), equality corruption sees rampant racism and unequal pay, and moral corruption sees rising adultery, wife swap, family breakdowns, unwanted babies, sexual abuse of kids, sex slavery, rise and rise of STDs, and decreased respect for the elderly, political corruption sees scandals after scandals. With leaders forming mutually supportive corrupt networks, paedophile ring leaders, corrupt bankers, war inducing arms industry barons and petrol price hikers go unpunished. In fact, when own or borrowed (of professionals) smartness, money and secrecy are cocktailed anyone can virtually do anything. And when media is with and not after him, even a corrupt becomes an untouchable ‘god’.

When ego rises and fear of peers, parents and the police goes down, almost enticed by ‘catch me if you can’ even ordinary well fed mortals riot - as in UK. The most desired country –USA - also leading in most people in jail doesn’t sound good. Although highly glamorised principle of free speech and right to change government every 4-5 yrs are there to instil fear in the wrongdoers, practice sees less.

With merger of 3 million in London against Iraq War amounting to London tour alone or not more than Chinese dissident’s cry due to Tony Blair’s ‘I am the leader’, free speech may not always restrain our fearless rulers, and change little. With the ruling class – the elite - smartly having stakes in both parties unlike single party sticking ordinary ones who follow tradition than free choice, voting simply changes the projected personality. The ruling class that formulates policies and the ruled class that pays remain the same. With parties having cash, data, intelligence, branches and workers all over and qualified aspirant having little, while the competition is uneven, even when freely chosen, our glamorised free choice enthusiastically chooses lesser of the two evils alone. In addition, with a UK tabloid screaming ‘How could millions be so stupid’ on the Bush junior’s 2^nd victory (1^st being through a legal coup) and Christmas like commercialised election seeing media moguls getting richer through folks donated cash producing irritating TV ads, even the most widely talked about election looks unimpressive. With parties needing cash for the big show and billionaires needing laws to lessen tax and enhance profit pre-election promise becomes rhetoric, victory parade by the ordinary becomes a show and rise of rich (hedge fund managers) poor gap becomes a reality. 

With democracy being the end of our political evolution – communism just trails- disgruntled intelligent folks can fatalistically disregard voting but can’t be revolutionaries. Although drugs, alcohol, gambling and porn can take us to a blissful world, they bring us back to addiction and hell.

With us Homo sapience slaughtering in the name of species (Neanderthals), religion (Crusades) and ideology (Communist politicide), we need fear like a horse bridle to restrain us. However, with fear against social wrongs vanishing and against legal wrongs by police made unseen by power and secrecy, and open defiance, as in UK riots, needing street cameras as ‘Big Brother is watching you’, the question is, ‘Do we need a bigger fear to tame us’?

Can God or concept of God help us?

Though Ramakrishna’s ‘Yes I can see God as clearly as I see you’ ‘turned’ Swami Vivekananda into a great teacher- even in USA - ordinary us haven’t seen one. Though a known God would be demystified and less regarded, atheist’s ‘There is no proof of God’ isn’t wrong. Although, citing massacres their ‘Religionists/religions are bad’ or ‘Faith makes one bad’ get ‘Stalin feasted on enemies’ retort and Hitler was a Christian’ manages a debate, scriptural ‘God is bad’ gets lesser resistance. Even though, belief in an unproven entity may not be right, medics aren’t wrong when they use acts unproven drugs that work well. It ruled us for 1000s of years anyway. Besides, like removing virulence in vaccine, God can be made good.

Apart from extra awe, perspective, needed psychological support, sense of duty and stimulation in art, architecture, music etc., God gives us the fear of ‘Nothing can be hidden from God’ (a la Big Brother) and the certainty of punishment. And for aimless disregarded over drinking and early dying elderly, the associated afterlife can give aim and zest in this life - when nobody cares.

Although, hypocrites still use the vanishing God when needed, enjoy commercialised festivities and donate more to wash their sins out of fear, we Homo sapiens, the product of survival of the fittest - who slaughtered Neanderthals, need a bigger fear that stops the bad acts themselves. Like fear of camera stopping repeat of UK riots or of AIDS stopping sexual revolution in the 70s, mega fear helps to restrain us. A study says fear of hell lessens crime rate. For this, not a cruel but an all knowing God along with the certainty of punishment helps. Helping us here, if there is a God, it helps in the afterlife too. However, with Europe ‘feasting’ on Syphilis epidemic even when God’s fear reigned, it isn’t a panacea for all our errors.

May be love of God is. But then, it is a much higher philosophy.

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