Does God Exist?
by Dr. Sushil Fotedar
Many times I wonder as to whether a Personal God exists or not. I do not
subscribe to the views of a committed atheist beyond a certain point for he
fails to see the limits of his powerful weapon-- logic, to be precise—and
tends to assume that the poor bird can fly in empty space as well! At the same
time, if God is an article of faith, I do not have anything further to say, nor
do I want to get into argument with vehement people of the faithful kind, for it
then becomes a free-for-all wherein rationality is the first unfortunate victim.
So, where do I stand? Am I a wishy-washy fence-sitter too confused to make up
his mind or, rather, a weak thinker who cannot see the clarity of a solid
conclusion? Hopefully, I do not feel I belong to any of these categories and,
therefore, I need to go further and come out with my point of view.
Richard Dawkins, the celebrated atheist of modern times, opines, and I agree,
that belief or otherwise in God is not an all-or-none phenomenon, but rather a
spectrum of probabilities and human judgments about the existence of a personal
God can be placed alongside between two extremes of certainty. The spectrum is a
continuous one and, according to Dawkins, can be represented by the following
seven milestones along the way:
-
”Strong Theist”.
100 percent probability of God. In the words of Carl Jung,’ I do not believe,
I know.’
-
”De Facto Theist”.
Very high probability but short of 100 percent.’ I cannot know for certain,
but I strongly believe in God and live my life on the assumption that He is
there.’
-
“Technically Agnostic
but leaning towards Theism”. Higher than 50 percent but not very high.’ I am
very uncertain, but I am inclined to believe in God.’
-
“Completely impartial
Agnostic”. Exactly 50 percent. ‘God’s existence and non-existence are both
equiprobable.’
-
”Technically Agnostic
but leaning towards Atheism.” Lower than 50 percent but not very low.’ I do
not know whether God exists but I am inclined to be skeptical.’
-
"De Facto
Atheist”. Very low probability, but short of zero.’ I cannot know for
certain but I think God is very improbable and I live my life on the assumption
that He is not there.’
-
“Strong
Atheist”.’ I know that there is no God with the same conviction that Jung
“knows” there is one.’
So where do I stand?
Where do YOU stand?
Of course, be honest, and…
… And unafraid!!
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