God shall be my hope

My stay, my guide,

And lantern to my feet.

— Shakespeare, 2 Henry, VI, II, 3

So say those who fervently believe in God, the Deity, the Supreme Being, The Almighty, Jehovah, Allah. They may or may not be devout believers or religious fanatics, but they share the notion that the Almighty exists and therefore live their lives accordingly.

But just as you have believers, there are also people who are the exact opposite, the nonbelievers, the atheists, the agnostics, the ungodly. Their numbers are far more than you would think, which sort of surprised me recently.

Because I grew up in a Christian home, went to Sunday School, did Bible studies, attended schools that were religion-based and had regular assembly for devotion with the belief that God is the Supreme Being, I grew up believing. Naturally, I thought that everyone shared those views, with the only difference being that of denominations.

There were Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Anglicans, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jews, Rastafari and a host of other denominations that all had different opinions regarding the road to salvation. What they all agreed on though, was that God existed.

Now I am exposed to another set of people who not only doubt the existence of God, but pour scorn on the very idea of His existence. They are the ungodly, and we’ll see what their agenda is, right after these truthful responses to ‘Born to lie’.

Hi Tony,

You told the truth about lies. Some lies have good intentions and serve a good purpose — not to harm the recipient of such lies. “I couldn’t tell a lie” was attributed to young George Washington, but that too was a lie, an urban myth, they say. All cheaters are liars, but are all liars cheaters? They say that the most dangerous liars are those who think they are telling the truth. Believe it or not, there is a ‘World’s Biggest Liar’ competition held annually in England. That’s the truth.

William

Hey Teerob,

What I know about liars is that they have to possess good memories. So many times we hear people say, “His story keeps changing.” That’s because he can’t remember what the lies were. So many husbands, wives, lovers and friends are caught in lies, but dare not speak the truth. The truth may set you free, but can they handle the truth? Lies have saved many relationships.

Carmen

I have been following the discourse between Dr Michael Abrahams and Rev Dr.Clinton Chisholm regarding the existence of God and why, if He exists, He is so cruel to allow so much suffering in the world. True, if you read the Bible you’ll see that God does exact His wrath on mankind from time to time, with a vengeance. Floods, plagues, diseases and such. Does He still do that? Dr Abrahams doubts the existence of God, and in fact, in his writings, has taken it further, as he mocks the Deity and those who follow. He scoffs at the so-called miracles, the futility of prayer, and people who are immersed in any form of religion.

We have had some literary exchanges where I have been put to the sword and mocked for my beliefs. There are also journalists who have written more than once that God does not exist. Many other persons joined the fray, taking me on, calling me names such as ignorant, misguided, and foolish.

In one of those exchanges, the question was asked, “If prayers worked, why did Hurricane Irma come into existence?” Hey, I too have my questions which I have expressed in previous columns. In fact, I recall from as far back as my high school days I would have spirited discussions with the pastors in Bible Knowledge class.

I have had my faith tested, but I have also seen enough around me and also in my personal life to be convinced that God does exist. Whether He is as cruel as the detractors say, I really do not know, but I am aware of His presence. And imagine, I’m not even steeped in religion.

Now, the fact is, millions of people throughout history believe in God, even though this belief has resulted in the deaths of countless other persons who didn’t share the same faith. “My religion is the only true religion, and if you don’t follow mine, you must suffer and die,” is the common cry.

Religious wars, the Crusades, with harsh persecution and cruelty, have caused more deaths than all other wars combined throughout history, so I am aware of religious fanatics who are blinded by their faith. The battle cry, “God and King Henry are on our side”, was the clarion call that echoed through Europe for many years by religious zealots. Such is the nature of man.

But they still held on to the belief in God and affixed many sayings to His name:

“God go with you.”

“Godspeed, my friend.”

“God bless you.”

“God is my witness.”

“So help you God.”

“Allah be praised.”

“Jah know, star.”

“Act of God,” which is actually used in legal and insurance documents. All give reverence to the Deity.

In fact, blasphemy is the term used to describe the verbal abuse of God. It is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, to religious or holy persons or sacred things. It used to be punishable by law in some countries, and even now some religions still take it extremely seriously, with imprisonment or even the death sentence. Anyone who mocks or disrespects the prophet Mohammed can expect a death sentence. I’m not saying it’s right, but just pointing out how seriously some people take their belief in the existence of God.

Are they all wrong, were they all misled throughout history, are we all victims of a cruel hoax, following a myth in the belief that there is some being up in the sky who watches over us, knowing all, seeing all, but allowing cruel things to happen?

What if the ungodly are right and the rest of us wrong? And yet, there are people who not only do not believe in God, but mock those who do. When I responded to Dr Abrahams’ mocking of God, His miracles and religion in general, I was surprised by the number of persons who shared the same ungodly views.

I was taken aback by the cursing and ridicule that came my way, as people actually attacked me for my belief. I was also berated for not endorsing their mocking of other people’s religions and faiths. It reminded me so much of the stories in the Bible of Pharaoh mocking God and asking for proof.

I tried to explain that I have no problem with being critical of another person’s faith, or even having spirited discussions. After all, Jew, Gentile, Christian or Muslim may not see eye to eye, but at least they should be able to respect each other’s faith.

Not so, said the folks arguing in favour of mocking religion and the existence of God. One guy even asked me, “Why should religion not be mocked? How can intelligent persons believe that there is a being up in the sky who sent His son to be killed, parted the Red Sea, raised people from the dead, turned water into wine… what rubbish.”

Others wrote that religion was created to keep people under suppression. Well, Karl Marx did say that religion was the opiate of the masses, so there may be a grain of truth to that observation. But I still contend that it is disrespectful to mock God or another person’s religion.

Who are we to say that the Hindu is wrong, or the Jew, the Christian, the Muslim? Isn’t it arrogance to feel contempt for another man’s faith even as you elevate yours, even if yours is the non-belief in God?

I ask this of the ungodly: Do you get married in church? Do you christen your children, do you attend church funerals, what do you teach your children, who do you pray to in time of distress, who do you thank for your good fortune? How do you swear to tell the truth with Bible in hand when in court?

Listen, I ask questions too as I have a very probing mind, and many still go unanswered. Why do bad things happen to good people while evildoers prosper? Why do babies die? Why, why? I really do not know why, but what I do know is that prayers do work, and I am no Bible-thumping religious zealot either. In fact, I don’t even go to church as often as I should, but I have enough proof that God exists. I have seen miracles, even though the ungodly would call them chance occurrences or coincidences.

As one man said, “Better I believe in God and He doesn’t exist, rather I don’t believe and He does exist.”

More time.

seido1@hotmail.com

Footnote: Honour, morality, integrity, honesty. Those words will soon be struck from our lexicon, erased from our vocabulary, as many people not only have no idea what they stand for, but will mock you for adhering to them. So many young people have no values and have no idea what it means to live up to those standards.

Is this a reflection of our ungodly state or is it simply that people are thinking only of themselves? Does selfishness push those values into oblivion? “That is old-time thing, boss, is modern time now. Them things can’t buy food or pay rent, is survival me a defend,” is what I hear a lot. It shows in the mayhem on our streets, in our schools and society at large.

To switch gears though, last week the big big minister of government said ‘forecasted’ instead of ‘forecast’ on TV. Remember my column two weeks ago, ‘Prappa henglish, bad patwa?’