by KESHAV PRASAD VARMA | Feb 14, 2017 | Religion
God is the creator of all that exists. The Rig Veda describes how God created the world; the Upanishads and the Puranas supplement this description and provide more details. This creation is cyclic – it arises, runs its course, comes to an end, and then God creates it again. The complete cycle lasts for a long time. Compared to it, the time that God spends in creating the world is very short. ‘What does God do when He is not creating?’ A commonly-held view is that “He remains busy in running the world”, and it may come with a short explanation, “The world is vast and complex, and managing such a huge system ought to demand all of his time.” This comment is rhetorical and comes out of the concept that God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. It does not give reasons or provides any basis for the observation and thus it is not a complete reply. For a better understanding, we ought to look into what other knowledge is available to us on how the world operates as a system as it moves on its day to day journey. Today our general perception of the world goes beyond the ancient documents of scripture and mythology and takes into account explanations provided by science, which is based on empirical evidence. At macrocosmic level are the galaxies, stars, planets and other heavenly bodies, all engaged in an endless journey. Physics explains their movement with mathematical precision with the help of the Laws of Motion and that does not call for control or interference by God. Coming down to our planet...
by KESHAV PRASAD VARMA | Feb 14, 2017 | Ethics
Ethical behavior is the firm ground under the feet on which a civilized society walks. Ethics defines what right conduct is and what is not. It draws from moral values which, in turn, are framed by religion. Every tenet of ethics can thus be traced to some religious dictum or belief. Conversely, what religion does not approve cannot be a part of ethical conduct. If that is how ethics is defined and ethical code of conduct has evolved, can an ethical life be lived without support from religion? Is it possible? Let us see if there is any historical evidence of it. Atheist Philosophy provides some testimony that it may be possible. Atheists are non- believers and do not follow religion. They have always been part of the human society though never in significant numbers and rarely conspicuous. ‘Charvaka’ was one such sect in India which has been mentioned as early as the 6th century BCE. Atheism as a modern philosophical stream came into its own in the 19th century CE under the influence of four German philosophers- Ludwig Feuerbach, Karl Marx, Frederic Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. They provided the theoretical framework of Atheism, and it appealed to the intellectuals and attracted them. Atheism grew in popularity and by now it has turned into a political movement which openly ridicules the religious society for its lack of reason and unscientific outlook. The traditional societies all over the world are predominantly religious. The Atheists are part of the same society and live within its acceptable norms of conduct. They generally merge well into the society and it may not be...
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