A long time ago, I heard a story about four blind men who went to see an elephant. Many of you might have heard or read it, but I’ll recount it here for those who haven’t.
Anyway, these four men finally came upon an elephant in the zoo (and were apparently allowed to touch the animal). Now an elephant is much larger than a man, so none of them could actually feel the entire girth of the elephant.
One got hold of his tail, the other, his legs, the third his stomach and the fourth his…well, lets not talk of what the fourth guy laid his hands on.
Soon they were back home and began discussing the encounter. The first man, who had got hold of the tail said that the elephant is like a rope, the second who had felt the elephant’s legs said that he was like a tree-trunk and the third argued that the elephant seemed like a huge wall to him.
In truth, they were all wrong, since none of them was able to perceive the elephant in its entirety with the limited senses they had, and thus asserted and believed only what they had felt to be true.
A theists experience of god (if he/she/it/them exists) is quite similiar. They have never seen god, nor heard him, nor tasted him, nor smelled him nor touched him- they can only feel god within, and assume that the world has been created by him.
The picture becomes even more complex when you add the concept of Satan, or a demonic force to this. Most people believe that this force is the cause of Evil in this world, and is uniquely different from God.
Theists also argue that Jehovah and Allah can not be “Gods” since they are genocidal and evil, and God is good and benevolent.
Just like the blind men argued that the elephant was like a rope or like a wall, theists argue over many characteristics of god, with the consistency of one belief: that God is benevolent.
What if they are like a group of blind men who got hold of the tail?
What if the evil force is the stomach, another side of the God?
What if the god they perceive is not complete but encompasses the evil as well?
What if there is no God at all, and all they are feeling is just the workings of a mortal brain? What if they are like the blind men who went to see the elephant, but were duped into seeing a donkey- since they had never seen an elephant or a donkey, how would they differentiate between the two?
What if?
Hi,
Yeah, latent faith is irrational and it is as being blind to the reality. Truly, learned and educated are like the four blinds believing in a object which has no evidence of the godly attributes, which they always imagine it to be. It can’t be, because there is actually no god. So it becomes imperative to not remain blind, but to the see the concept of god through the eyes of science and logic. Then the real god will become known and to the surprise of the herd, logic will emerge as the god of all gods.
saif