Dear God, have you heard the post-truth? We’re killing in your name
Dear God,
As an atheist, I know it is stupid to approach you for help, but I hope you will appreciate the fact that I live in a paradoxical era. I am told you created the entire universe and consciousness. So even though you probably are already cognisant of my aspirations, I want to speak out to you.
I am not erudite enough to know when you last visited Earth, but I am aware that you manifest yourself in many forms and in different eras. And each time you do so, humanity is humbled and follows you with supreme reverence.
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| 'Anyway God, many, many years ago, I used to think you exist.' |
But God, this reverence soon makes some of us blind. And true to the paradoxical times we live in, when people become blind, they begin to see! Most people first see the colour of the skin, while some can see features that you have created in us in response to the environment you chose for us millions of years ago. And I must tell you, that your environment has been tampered with too.
Because we are destroying the environment you created, we face harrowing consequences, which strangely are attributed to your wrath again. I am referring to floods, earthquakes, droughts, tsunamis etc. Of course, you’re aware about how we try to appease you with prayers to protect us from those consequences. While it is none of my business to comment on what conspires between you and your followers of many a hue, I want to warn you that I have a strong feeling that each sect, every stream of your followers is taking you for granted.
And just in case it slipped your observation, we’ve our own tantrums too which we usually call war, or sometimes terrorism. What we call it depends on where we’re born or who we owe our allegiance to. You’ll be surprised we’ve dragged you into our little conflicts — yeah you heard that right — we’re killing in your name.
Now don’t pretend to be sad and frown and stuff like that. It’s really uncool these days to even think about peace or propagate pacifism. Besides we’re killing in your honour, damn it! Have some gratitude!
Anyway God, many, many years ago, I used to think you exist. And like all good children, I used to say a prayer before I went to bed. I don’t know if your memory is as good as mine, but let me remind you of what my prayers were. I used to pray to make the world a better place and make everyone happy. I used to tell you that I am aware, that as a part of the world, if the world is happy, I will be too.
I used to pester you to make the “robbers” good people. I thought you’d understand that as a child I had limited vocabulary and by “robbers” I meant evil-doers. Now, no matter which part of the world I look at, you have made the “robbers” the good people, who are our rulers. There is no apparent difference between the “robbers” and the “rulers”. It is a kleptocracy everywhere, and the “robbers” are deciding how humans should live (I thought you’d sorted this out for us — you called it fate or something) And you know, these “robbers” have sliced the Earth into territories, which we call countries.
I bet you’re cringing in your heavenly abode and thinking, “This kid has a problem with everything! Can’t he understand it’s for easy administration?". Well I’m with you on that. We need to have territories to manage our affairs on Earth. But you know what? These "robber-rulers" tell me that I cannot visit another slice of this Earth you created. Then there are some particular slices of your Earth I must hate because we’re enemy slices. Even the chaps from those slices hate our special slice.
Of course, there are some of us who want to make amends and banish violence and stuff like that. But we’re too few and are often hounded for attempting to preserve sanity. They call us “anti-nationals”. Those are strong words, God. It can result in being socially ostracised, raids by the government (a government is a mechanism created by the robbers-rulers and as we both know — the robbers and rulers are always armed). I am beginning to think that it is insane to want to be sane in an insane world!
My ilk tries to arm itself too. We are convinced that education will make everyone sane and teach us to love and be compassionate. But these damn robbers-rulers have contaminated that too.
They have equated education with rote learning usually enforced over a period of 17-18 years. Then, if the student has enough money, we undergo another few years of specialised rigorous rote learning (the benevolent banks assist many students during this specialised period, but of course we have to pay them back usually over a period that lasts a life time…more on this another day).
Anyway, as I was saying, our only weapon is education, but that has been inoculated with a hallucinogen called “marks” (remember I used to beg you as a teenager for these things every year, around the month of March?).
When I was a child, I often heard the adults saying “children are an incarnation of God”. It gave me a big kick. I was convinced I was you, God. I began dreaming about how I can use my powers to curb violence and hatred. I wanted to see happy people everywhere — in every slice of your Earth. I pondered over solutions for problems I didn't understand. I tried to think like you, God. Years have passed but I never got any answers.
It then dawned upon me why the adults called us children, God. They know we’re both helpless and can only watch the horrors of the world without being given the power to stop them. These robber-rulers are too damn cleaver, I tell you!
Maybe that’s why you don’t visit the Earth these days to set things right. But you know what people in every slice of the Earth say? They say after we die, we will all return to God. So even though you may be ignoring my prayers, lemme tell you — after I die, I am gonna look for you, I am gonna find you and I am gonna demand answers from you.
I am hoping that you will treat my grievances with due concern and attend to them. If you do not, I have lived long enough in one of the slices of your Earth to find means to arm-twist you. What I am saying is God, if you’re not going to respond, I am going to escalate the matter to the Goddesses.
I’ll make sure there is pandemonium in your abode!
Yours faithlessly,
Rakesh Kotti