There’s an ancient Hindu verse that goes:
“Why is it that Brahma (the god of creation) made this world and leaves it so? If, being all powerful, he leaves it so, he is not good. And if not all-powerful, he is not god”
I never found a believer who could answer this to my satisfaction.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
About hbhatnagar
I need to fill this up with much better content than I had populated it with earlier. Why I write a blog maybe? I started blogging in 2009 or thereabouts. I was a newly turned atheist and wanted to converse with others of the same persuasion. We're not exactly a big population group in India! It didn't go very well and I sort of lost interest, posting a few things now and then.
I got a lot more regular over the last few months and have been posting almost daily since February '15. There were many reasons why I gradually became more regular in posting, but one way or the other, here I am! So this blog has taken shape, being at different points in time my showcase, my comedy club, my art gallery, my book club, my therapist, my close friend, my innermost self....but always my little corner of the world. You are all welcome to visit and I hope you stay awhile!
A few points about me because I don't want to lead anyone on(and trust me this does become an issue more often than I'd care to admit).
I'm Indian, the brown-skinned variety; if race, ethnicity or skin colour is an issue, you don't have to get to know me any more than what you see on my blog.
I'm 40, so if age is an issue, please be informed accordingly.
I was a doctor, an ophthalmic surgeon for 10 years before I quit practice.
hbhatnagar 
I’m also searching for the answer since long and still confused.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Indira | 16/08/2016, 10:18 AMI hope you find an answer. Mine sufficed for me though it was a reductionist explanation…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by hbhatnagar | 16/08/2016, 10:22 AMPlease write it. I may get a clue.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Indira | 16/08/2016, 10:28 AMI might do that one day, atheism is the essence of it though.. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by hbhatnagar | 16/08/2016, 10:29 AMI would love to read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Posted by Indira | 16/08/2016, 10:30 AMI must admit that I know nothing about Hinduism, but I can propose a possible answer for Jahweh. God creates us because he needs objects for his love: he is a principle of love. That means we must be separate from him, not sock puppets. We must have free will. He does not impose belief on us, and does not control our actions. We are free to make the world as it is.
To put it in other terms, the way the world is — including this freedom — is a good way, though it may not seem so to those who suffer.
LikeLike
Posted by Scott | 10/11/2011, 2:52 AMThanks for your comment.
I find it a stretch to believe that an omnipotent god needs to create us because he needs objects for his love; he is complete in and of himself, And why must we have free will to do bad? Why would he create a world in which the bad can harm the good? Your view seems to be similar to the deist view of a god who doesn’t meddle with his creation, but the jahweh of the OT is a very meddlesome god! 🙂
As for the world as it stands today, our perception of it varies a lot according to our station in life and our circumstances as well as our emotional history, it’s a very personal view. I doubt though that anyone could objectively call it the best of all possible worlds, and many would not call it a good world either, for that matter. How do you think it could be a good existence for those who suffer for no faults of their own?
I must admit that I don’t claim to know a lot about hinduism either, I’m certainly no expert, but there is no central concept of god in hinduism, not in the anthropomorphic sense that i get from reading biblical scripture. All the “gods” you hear about commonly are actually (though not universally by any means) regarded as incarnations of an amorphous spirit. The karmic theory and the idea of re-birth are more central than what image of the spirit a person believes in. I’ll stop here, since I think I almost sound like I’m proselytizing! 🙂
LikeLike
Posted by hbhatnagar | 12/11/2011, 10:36 AMThe last thing I want to support is the deist perspective. God is active in the world, though we don’t have to take literally the meddlesomeness described in the Old Testament. But free will is important. I cite an example from my experience training my dog for obedience competition. Sometimes even well-trained dogs will make mistakes that take them out of the competition. Then we try to be philosophical: “What do you expect? They’re dogs. If we want perfect consistency, we should get wind-up toys.”
God, in my obviously limited understanding, does not want wind-up toys. Though (as far as we can tell) omnipotent, he creates creatures who can — and therefore will — make mistakes. If there’s such a thing as an angel, that infallible creature is boring. A dog is more loveable than a wind-up toy. And free will, the signature characteristic of a human being, implies the ability to do bad.
I don’t have a complete answer to the existence of evil. Having led a privileged, comfortable life, I am in no position to tell someone with vastly different experience that this is a good world. But I think an understanding of free will is a step.
The anthropomorphism of the Bible is understandable. It’s not easy to describe a god without chopping him down to manageable size, or consciously focussing on limited aspects. I don’t have too much trouble with seeing the Old Testament Jahweh as a human construct of a spirit, and I thank you for passing along that insight.
LikeLike
Posted by Scott | 13/11/2011, 4:09 AM