Opinion For society’s sake, we must ask ‘Does God Exist?’
Let us not forget that the ‘real issues about religions and religiosity’ rest on the bedrock of faith in supernatural power, which shapes our destiny
Lyricist Javed Akhtar with Islamic scholar Mufti Shamail Nadwi during a debate moderated by journalist Saurabh Dwivedi on the existence of God, in New Delhi on Saturday. (Express) The debate between Javed Akhtar and Mufti Shamail Nadwi on the question of God’s existence has sparked a national debate. One can divide the social media reactions into three broad categories: Some stand firmly with scientific rationality and oppose faith-based arguments, some support Nadwi’s faith-based arguments and others have rejected the entire effort as useless or ill-timed.
I was aware of the discussion, which lasted almost one-and-a-half hours. Some who were approached to moderate the debate, including Yogendra Yadav, refused. Thankfully, Saurabh Dwivedi agreed and proved to be the best choice. However I was surprised by Yadav’s article in The Indian Express (‘A public debate on “Does God exist?” takes us away from real issues of religion, religiosity’, December 23). He thought the debate was “pointless” and “irrelevant”. He concedes, however, that it was an “unusually civil” debate. In my opinion, in this age of cacophony, this is a good enough reason. It was a demonstration of how diametrically opposite views should be expressed and listened to, with civility and restraint, without accusing, abusing or physically threatening each other.
I hold Yadav in high regard. He has a keen eye for detail, but perhaps he didn’t have the opportunity to review the social media comments that followed the debate. Many have accused Akhtar of not saying anything new, but the same applies to Nadwi, who repeated what has been said for centuries. The debate has certainly once again put scientific rationality on the national agenda, and Akhtar’s outstanding personality played a major role. Akhtar has always taken the bull by the horns, and he did it again, which gave the younger generation the courage and opportunity to broaden the debate — thousands of rationalists have expressed their views fearlessly. The debate has generated unprecedented interest about the dichotomy between faith and belief, and how faith in supernatural power is used to justify social evil.
Science does not care if God exists or not, but it has serious social implications. In the public arena, “God” is not “a relic of a bygone age”; it is a living reality. Over centuries, Charvaka philosophy has not even touched public discourse or social structures. Let us not forget that the “real issues about religions and religiosity” rest on the bedrock of faith in supernatural power, which shapes our destiny. Many rationalists and agnostics have been hesitant to challenge the foundations of faith-based arguments.
Let us also not forget that in times when science and scientific rationality are under intense attack, babas are given a free hand to invent and serve superstitions to the public in the name of supernatural power; the rights of women, Dalits and Adivasis are trampled in the name of God; secular books and literature, along with Darwinism, are removed from the school syllabus. In such times, it is our duty to discuss, “Does God exist?” If we do not confront this question head-on, it will blunt the edge of every struggle to save democracy. Gods will keep us divided.
The writer is former chief scientist, CSIR
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