Stephen William Hawking's God

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 14 March 2024 “When people ask me if a god created the universe, I tell them that the question itself makes no sense. Time didn’t exist before the big bang, so there is no time for god to make the universe in. It’s like asking directions to the edge of the earth; The Earth is a sphere; it doesn’t have an edge; so looking for it is a futile exercise. We are each free to believe what we want, and it’s my view that the simplest explanation is; there is no god. No one created our universe, and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization; There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe, and for that I am extremely grateful.” ― Stephen Hawking Stephen Hawking breathed his last on March 14 ----- It's not important to quote Stephen Hawking, the great theoretical and cosmologist, on the ever-inconclusive debate as to whether or not god does exist. What's important is to be inspired by his exemplary and indomitable spirit. Despite being severely disabled, he never believed that his condition was the curse of god or an outcome of bad karmas in the past life. He once said, " Once you remove god, fate, destiny, karma and all such obscure and unfounded elements from your life, you become wholly responsible for your life and actions. That's of paramount importance. Human life is an existential phenomenon, not a divine creation." He was a true Karmayogi, who lived his life without ever cursing, complaining or sulking. The believing masses ascribe their ill fate to god, fate and karmas. But individuals like Hawking never resort to cursing or complaining. Poona-based astrophysicist Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, who was Hawking's coeval at Cambridge, narrated an incident when a famous Christian evangelist met Hawking and suggested that Jesus would cure him if he accepted the 'son' of god as his 'saviour.' Hawking said, " So, your Jesus waits for acceptance to cure a person ! Please request him on my behalf to eradicate poverty, hunger and violence from the world. I'm happy with my wheelchair-bound existence." That evangelist never again pestered the legendary cosmologist. This is what we call courage of conviction. The great English astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle would often say, " I may be wrong but I've the courage to adhere to certain beliefs I'm convinced about." Hawking stuck to his atheism till the end and when he passed away on March 14, 2018 at the age of 76, he was a satisfied man in the sense that he didn't have to change his convictions regarding god's non-existence and the futility of fate. Only a man of his calibre can be so passionate, perceptive and precise about all cosmic phenomena without seeing 'god's hand' in them. But the frightened masses aren't so evolved like him, therefore, they still pray, nay beg, to a fictitious god and kill each other to prove that my god is better than yours, my faith is the only real faith and my book is the god's unaltered word. So damn primitivism that still eclipses human mind! Those who're further curious to know Hawking's godlessness, can refer to my article, Hawking’s Godlessness in TOI. By the way, today is Einstein's birth anniversary. He too never believed in a god described so foolishly, primitively and naively in all scriptures written by our troglodyte ancestors living in a bronze age. Believers argue that Einstein was a believer. What they don't understand is Einstein's perception of god which is so evolved and different. By god, he meant Truth: The sum total of Nature's Laws. That was god to him. His entire life was an endeavour to realize that Truth. If you want, you can read my write up, though I'm sure, the diehard believers will neither be convinced, nor will they be able to comprehend it as their brains are enslaved by the conventional faiths and an imaginary god: What Einstein Can Teach Theists And Atheists ----- 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/stephen-william-hawking-god/d/131910 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