Is man one of God’s blunders? Or is God one of man’s blunders?

Was it God that created man or did men create God?

Perhaps out of fear, because the universe is so large and infinite that people once thought and still think they need a father  or a “higher being” to protect or guide them or to give them a reason for whatever  they don’t understand?

Or perhaps because some smart people found out how to control the masses?

Yesterday’s religion is today’s mythology… just think about the many, many ancient temples and mythologies and religions in various parts of the world…  think about the Greek Gods and Goddesses the Gods in Egypt or the Gods of the “northern hemisphere”. ..

Just a myth – a fairytale?

Why are so many people so confident that our “today’s God” is real? Maybe today’s religion will be tomorrow’s mythology.

I grew up in a very religious (catholic) family – no need to go into more details, everyone knows what that means… but I had way too many questions which no one could answer. I was told to read the Bible and that this would answer most of my questions, but unfortunately I had more questions than before.

I always looked at the Bible as a book written by men, a book of philosophy, a collection of different philosophical writings inspired by beliefs and the circumstances that existed at that time, a written record of beliefs that made it through thousands of years, translated in all languages many times…

As every text it can be interpreted in many ways and my interpretation was very different than that of my family. But no one could ever prove me wrong. Not my family, nor other people whose religious beliefs were different. Most often I was told to prove that God doesn’t exist. How could I, since those who believed in God couldn’t prove his existence either…

But then… the word “belief” or “faith” explains itself pretty well, it is something for which we have no evidence.

Some people need a “guide” to deal with their lives; hope, while the have do deal with difficult situations or challenges… others do not. Where is the problem?

Well, the problem starts if I tried to convince you that YOU are wrong and I am right and that my way is the only acceptable way by forcing my belief and my moral onto you or others. The problem grows when those with different beliefs are seen as enemies or “less human” with “less moral” with the worst result that people get killed because of something called “faith”.

The Bible as well as the Quran are soaked in blood… we just have to read the history books and we should be able to recognize that they are full of dead people, who had to die because of religious beliefs and we continue to let these numbers growing.

In contrast, science is becoming  something that “common” people can not understand, due to its supposed complexity and distance from life. Math is literally THE Horror for almost each pupil and his parents; many will even question its necessity for everyday life. Some of the most significant scientific theories of today are considered “just another theories”, although firmly confirmed by strong evidence.

It seems that many people are afraid of science, forgetting how much it already improved our lives and longevity. It seems that science is becoming a monster while the simple answers and “truths” of religion, the rules of superstition, the astrology revelations and transcendental swindling seem much more attractive and easier to understand.

Like I said above… the universe is so large and infinite that some people probably need a father or a “higher being” to protect or guide them or to give them an easy answer or hope for whatever they don’t understand…

But science is no monster. It is one of the most beautiful achievements of free human spirit and persistence. Its basic principles can be understood by everybody, its methods we unconsciously apply to our surroundings every day, and its countless results we wear, use and live with, without ever thinking about it. When properly taught, math, physics, astronomy, linguistics, history and philosophy, to name just some faces of science, can be deeply thought provoking and influential. It is our duty as intelligent beings to examine and understand the world around us. It is in our nature to ask questions, to be curious, to look for interconnections in the reality we live in. The only requirement is to have the courage to wide open the eyes and see the world as it is, and not as we would like it to be.

It makes me sad to see that the wave of faith is seriously threatening to drown the remarkable achievements of human curiosity for knowledge.

Science cannot disprove the existence of “a God”, but it does prove that the Bible is wrong in many of its chapters… well, for me no problem since I always looked at it as a book of philosophy…of times long gone.

Against all previous challenges in history, of which some had thrown us backwards again, human curiosity, courage, and the quest for logical explanations brought us here today, in spite of dictators who were and are thirsty of nuclear power and in spite of leaders whose most important book was or is the Bible/Quran. History books are proof of what happens if the majority in one society dismisses reasoning in favor of faith.

That’s why it is so important to encourage discussion, ask questions, exchange knowledge… And we must never stop discovering the beauties of the universe around us revealed through science, while religion and the belief in it, is something that should stay in the privacy of one’s home, then b science, reasoning and personal beliefs can go hand in hand.