I am an agnostic, that means I don't really know if God exists or not. I simply don't care. Heaven and Hell? I absolutely don't buy that nonsense. For me, once we die, we die and vanish in nature. End of the story, saint or a-hole.
One day, somebody asked me, "if you don't believe in God, don't believe that there is heaven and hell, who do you fear to refrain from doing bad things? Don't you think that concept of God, hell and heaven, keeps we humans on track? without which, humans may go wild and evil?"
I know that's a logic of many theists. However, many of them forget that Hitler was not atheist. Many corrupted people are not atheists. They have faith in the God. If religion and concept of God and hell and heaven could keep humans on track, ancient world should have been much better. Buddha would not have to leave his palace in search of answers. Jesus would not have to be crucified. There would be no wars, no poverty, no collapse of countries and civilizations. So, basically, concept of these imaginary things don't really keep humans on track. Proven.
So, what does?
I take myself as an epitome (pardon me, I don't know anyone as much as I know myself). I don't believe in God, I don't buy hell and heaven fear, I don't think that praying works, I don't think that any thing will matter once I die. So, what stops me from doing bad things? Like for example, what stops me from raping, or stealing or betraying or cheating or murdering? Obviously, fear of law. That's one thing. But is that enough to stop me from wrongdoings? NO, especially in country like Nepal where rich and powerful easily get away with legal consequence.
What I fear the most is myself. It's not God, it's not hell and heaven, it's not law and constitution, that keep me on tracks. It's things that I believe, values I hold, status I have earned, position I have reached, people I have befriended, people that entrust me. I fear being hypocrite, I fear letting down loved ones, I fear losing trust from fellow humans, I fear being that guy that no one respects. I fear being the loser. I fear living as bad lover or bad husband or bad son or bad father or bad citizen. I fear living with cognitive dissonance.
This fear of self, fear of losing dignity, losing integrity is what keeps me on track and stops me from wrongdoings. A set of values, philosophies, ideologies that I live up with is what defines me, things I do is what recognize me, and that sums up to give me a distinct identity of mine. Living in contradiction will tarnish my identity. This fear of losing my identity is what keeps me on track.
So, do we really need the concept of God and hell and heaven to be good? Absolutely no.
What we need to teach people is, fear losing respects, fear losing integrity, fear being hypocrite, fear being good-for-nothing, fear lacking morals and ethics. World will become a better place on its own, from there. I believe.
Note: There were many comments. Because of lack of space, can not copy all. It can see philosophy of Fearism fan page posted by Kaagmandu Magazine.
https://www.facebook.com/philosophyoffearism/notifications/?section=activity_feed&subsection=mention&target_story=S%3A_I100000567952768%3A1476856959009888&hc_location=ufi&pnref=story
Comments