“Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.” — Albert Einstein.

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Mankind was born at a time when the world was still in a state of Pangaea. With volcanoes, shifting tectonic plates and mega-tsunamis it was an unstable mass in the universe, and countries, as we know them today, were still in their formative stages. The lack of knowledge made man want to pray to what he could not understand, and this gave birth to the notion of ‘God’. His birth came from fear of the unknown. To appease God, sacrificial ceremonies were conducted, which were mostly violent. Over the centuries, as the earth slowly settled down, humans thought that their sacrifices had helped appease God.   

Nomadic existence slowly came to an end and settlements were born. A governing body was put in place — which mostly consisted of religious heads. Thus came into existence the complex relationship between religion and politics. As time moved on and people continued to evolve, settlements too grew into cities and countries. Politics became more complicated and religion became a tool to strike fear into the hearts of masses. The birth of Christianity, Islam, the Crusades, the birth of the Vatican — religion had become the most important part of everyone's lives.  

The evolution of the human mind and the concept of religion and God went hand in hand. “Human beings were born themselves and they created God, said my father,” quotes Gauhar Raza, an atheist, a scientist and a leading Urdu poet. Something that cannot be fathomed made people want to worship it.   

Faith in God helped people ‘do the right thing’ as PM Theresa May said describing her 'moral' approach to Brexit as the reason that ‘lies behind what I do’. But she is not the only one to feel so religiously inclined. People such as Albert Einstein and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam have believed in spirituality and that the existence of God comes from the idea that a human being is part of the whole — the universe — limited in time and space.  

Gifted people think they are especially hand-made by God with an extra zing of creativity sprinkled on them to make the world a better place. Rupert Sequeira, a tattoo artist at The Flying Lotus in Andheri West, believes that everyone is created by God but artistes are given extra attention. “God has given me the ability to create and while I cannot create life through my art, I know this that part of my artwork will always remain with another person till he or she disintegrates into the dust. Whatever I am is because of him. I am grateful to Him for having found my talent at an early stage. There are many who continue to struggle for a long time. I believe in following your heart and doing what it tells you to do rather than be pressured into living a life where you cannot call your own shots,” he explains. God for Sequeira isn't an entity but more like a superior power that sometimes makes him feel small and realise his shortcomings. This makes him want to work harder trying to get better. 

The human mind is a complex maze full of wondrous intellectual pathways and delightfully creative by-lanes which gives rise to an imagination full of historical significance, rarely questioning the truth behind its facade. Faith does not have a right or wrong. faith is just faith, is what Rohit Negi, a staunch believer of Shiva, thinks. “God plays a major role in what we do and what we think. Change comes from thoughts which are born out of our past karma. Just putting a name to a particular entity does not make God. He is everywhere. God motivates people to do the right thing and to reach out to becoming better,” continues the Senior Financial Service Manager of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. 

For the pious, the relationship between God and themselves is more like a parent-child relationship. They believe that God trusts and loves them and therefore they reach unprecedented heights of success. “I don't know if God makes me do the right thing, but I feel that God is the director and the supreme power. God for me is an energy that gives us an opportunity to choose between good and bad. We can choose once the cards are laid down on the table. God gives you the gift. From there on it is your call to fulfill his potential,” says world famous Israeli singer and song-writer Idan Raichel. According to Raichel, humans are tools to convey messages to the world and they may spread the word through songs, writings or any other form of communication. “Songs like ‘Imagine’ are inspirations beyond time. 700 years from now this song may even become a hymn in a church somewhere,” he explains. 

But life is complex. People like Sofi Wilson, a world traveller who resides in Santa Barbara, California, believes in tat tvam asi (you are that) — it is the ultimate idea of good and bad that elevates someone to a position of importance. “All ideas of God are true. It’s whatever makes sense to us. I am where I am because of God's divine love for me, God loves me and wants me to be successful because He believes in me,” she says with emphasis.  

Raza on the other hand belongs to a different school of thought. He believes like Einstein — that the basic laws of the universe are simple but because of limited senses one is unable to grasp them. There is a pattern in the formation of life and it is that pattern which is given the name of God. “God making you do the right thing is a wrong notion. Following a cause or an idea without rational thought in itself is irrational. If the word God makes you decide on the right or the wrong decision then that is irrational. A peace-loving religious man and a terrorist, both quote from the same religious text. It is your idea of right and wrong that makes you who you are. Such ideas need to be indoctrinated into children so that they are allowed to question and inculcate a rational thought process. It is time they were given the right to understand the right and the wrong themselves because the idea of God is now redundant,” concludes Raza.