Faith Is Our Inexorable Fate

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 27 January 2024 "It is obvious from the statistical (empirical) analysis that Belief in God is the default position of humanity from day one. It is so, not because of an aberration of thought but because of a genuine need of humans to be at internal peace." Waheeduddin Ahmed "Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed." Friedrich Nietzsche I agree with Mr Waheeduddin despite being an apatheist. Faith is humans' inexorable fate. Here I'm completely avoiding the most stupid debate regarding god's existence or non-existence. That's perennially inconclusive because it always leads to bitterness. Humans' belief in god is a natural evolutionary process. Oxford psychologist Justin Barrett believes that the human brain (not mind; it doesn't exist) creates 'healthy' illusions for a relatively less complicated existence on earth. Out of those 'healthy' illusions, the belief in a supernatural being is also there as an inherited perception and the manifestation of an evolutionary adaptation that exists exclusively within the human brain. Some neuro-biologists even believe that there's a G(od)-spot in the human brain. But that's as elusive as a female G-spot, to use a homonymous pun. In fact, there is no actual spiritual reality, no God or gods, no soul, or afterlife. Consequently, humankind can no longer be viewed as a product of God but rather God must be viewed as a product of human cognition. But that's again polemic. Point is: Nature Nurtures as Thoreau said. Nature has nurtured the human brain in a BELIEVING way. To believe is to relieve. To believe in something (supernatural) is not just evolutionary development, it's also a psychological ploy for survival. Newton said, God is man's last resort. It sure is. Because it has been found that even hardcore atheists have remembered god at least once in life! There's no atheist in a foxhole is a famous English proverb. A few years ago, the world's most celebrated atheist Richard Dawkins blurted out, Oh my god, when a believer's question stumped him! Neurologists have rightly concluded that god resides in EVERY individual's consciousness as an evolutionary reality or illusion. To all believers (who constitute nearly 72 percent of world's population) god is a REALITY and to the non-believers, agnostics, sceptics, atheists and apatheists, god is an ILLUSION. To quote Urdu poet Jameel Mazhari: Khwaab Ho Ya Phir Haqeeqat/ Hai Wajood Donon Hi Sooraton Mein Us Ka (Whether a dream or a reality/ It does exist in both ways). Those who question and doubt, deny the existence of god. But ontologically, they also somewhere and somehow contribute to perpetuating the myth of god. All said and done, one must never be so arrogant as to deny every 'reality' as an illusion. Human brain is still unable to grasp thousands of phenomena. ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/faith-inexorable-fate/d/131592 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism