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| Friedrich Nietzsche |
“God is dead. God remains
dead. And we have killed him…” - Friedrich Nietzsche
“If God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish
him.”- Mikhail Bakunin
Various religions, religious denominations and even
individuals have formed different conceptions about this God. In line with
their conception, they worship him the way they feel it pleases Him.
While some
are motivated by sheer love in their service of the "universal
consciousness" otherwise referred to as God, others too do it unwillingly
and grimly for fear of his divine wrath and grievous punishment. Other people
too follow him religiously not because they yearn to willingly obey his
sometimes-strict requirements but particularly for what they believe they can get
-financially and materially- from following this God. Well, you might call it
very selfish.
On the contrary, many a people are inclined to side with
Friedrich Nietzsche that God is “dead”. Though Nietzsche had his own reasons
for making such a courageous and outrageous statement, others prefer to
interpret his words to suit their own observations. For instance, 19th century philosopher
Mikhail Bakunin and others who share his line of reasoning posit that the “death”
or inexistence of God is good for total human liberty and therefore believed
that if God really existed, it would be
necessary and in the interest of all to abolish him.
God is dead? For people who believe in the demise of God or
in his nonexistence, they don't find it surprising when people's prayers go
unanswered. When people are sick and bedridden and there is no healing from
above despite the patient's seemingly godly ways, the best explanation they
could conjure or conjecture is either God simply doesn't care about human
affairs or is simply suffocated to death by depraved, corrupt, violent and
sickening human conduct and activities.
Even when there are violent wars where man is bitterly
slaughtered by fellow man, when there are earthquakes that swallow hundreds and
thousands of souls and destroys families, when there are poverty that
impoverishes and fatally reduces the quality of life of many a people, when
there are injustices, crimes of all sorts, pain and suffering, people are just
disappointed when they understandably raise up their heads and ask God
sincerely and justifiably the oft-repeated question “Oh God, why?" only to be responded with
a deafening silence from the "causeless cause" and the “ birthless” and supposed “deathless”
deity above.
For frustrated mankind, the only conclusion they can draw is
that God is dead. If God isn't dead, why doesn't he use his infinite powers to
solve the world's bizarre problems? why does he allow so-called men of God to
misrepresent him and shamelessly use his name and his word to intimidate and
dupe people, engage in loose and promiscuous conduct, constantly lie to their
members through fake dreams and visions, perform fake healing and miracles to
deceive even the elect and the elite and deliberately twist, misinterpret and
misapply God's word to deceive thousands into blind submission to their
authority? If God is alive, why doesn't he strike them with a bolt of
lightening to put a stop to the defamation of his name and character? Why does
God watch apathetically to the corrupt conduct of politicians who claim God's
backing for their nomination, appointment or election but take delight in
self-aggrandizement and greedy accumulation of national wealth at the expense
of the masses?
The last straw that seems to break the camel’s back is when
God if he was alive sat unconcerned for decades of intense religious
persecutions and atrocities done in his holy name that took away countless of
innocent and righteous lives. Indeed, it seems the worst injustices have been
perpetrated in the name of religion and God.
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| Mikhail Bakunin |
Currently, Good has been labeled as bad and bad good. People
who pursue righteousness and godliness suffer whilst those who immerse
themselves in every wrong conduct and behavior prosper at the speed of light.
Shouldn’t the reverse be the case? If
God is that powerful and alive, why doesn’t he step in to correct matters and
clear his name of all the reproach heaped on him? No wonder many people are
concluding God is no more - dead.
This is what Nietzsche
obviously meant when he implied God is dead. Mere Humans have ably and
completely reversed the just values and reward system purportedly instituted in
our conscience by the omniscient and omnipotent God, and this is even worsened
by the “ungolden” silence of the Almighty. One couldn’t agree more with
Nietzsche when he stated “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed
him….”
This increasingly attests to the fact that the existence of
God might be a sham after all probably contrived artfully and intelligently by
a bunch of old but clever religious men who saw his existence necessary.
But is God really “dead”?
Very well written. Captures the concern of many a philosopher and thinking person that has ever existed. Although this so called "problem of evil" is still one of the most difficult quandaries theology and apologetics alike has wrestled with and still wrestles with, the fact that it is so problematic does not necessarily mean "God" as such, does not exist. Perhaps, this would apply to the version of "God" whose attributes directly conflict with the inherent nature of the "problem of evil" but then this is only one such "version". Many others are possible and amongst these, one of them may be the God that really exists.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Vincent. True, the "problem of evil" is one that has baffled not only religious leaders, but as you rightly noted, philosophers and thinking people in general. I tried to answer the "problem of evil" in part 2 of the article from God's (the Bible) viewpoint. Nevertheless, reconciling the awesome nature of God with the awful problems of the world has never been easy to thinking minds. But the existence of God is highly probable and I tried to address that in part 2 of the article in question,
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