Click here if you would like to Contribute or send a feedback.
Click here to read more articles from Dr.Narendra Nayak. Divine retribution or the wrath of God has been sometime immemorial a tool in the hands of the priestly class and the weak. Whenever one strays from the rigid path shown by the former, the delinquent would be warned about divine retribution. On the other hand the latter who had no means to avenge the injustice meted to them by the strong and the powerful used this as the last weapon threatening the wrongdoer that “God will see”. As a rationalist I have been intrigued by this phenomena. How would a non – existent God punish someone? Again, I would wonder; what would happen when the devotees of one God attack those of the other. When each of them would ask for divine intervention from their respective Gods, would it not amount to a ultimate war between the two or more Gods? Or would the member of a divine pantheon arraign themselves on two sides and get down to serious fighting? More than divine intervention it is an interpretation of this phenomenon that is more dangerous! Because, though one need not be afraid of the non – existent Gods, the devotees of this deity do exist and so do weapons, which may be conveniently available at hand! Personally, I had to face the divine retribution quite a few times. On two occasions it was done in a very clandestine manner. The brake cable of my two – wheeler was cut through and a few stands were left intact. This was to ensure that the cable would cut when I would brake hard in an emergency and meet a worthy end befitting divine intervention. On another occasion the retribution was more direct. I was attacked by a mob whose “religious sentiments” were hurt when I was demonstrating that the miracle of idols drinking milk was due to surface tension, a commonplace phenomenon due to molecules of a liquid attracting each other! The most recent incident in this is the curious case of the Karnataka Minister, who, in his words declared from a public platform that the Gujarat earthquake was a divine retribution to attacks on Christians. It is indeed strange that the Almighty has to resort to a earthquake to teach a lesson to those who attacked the faithful, that too after quite few months after the occurrence. It would have been more apt if the retribution were to be swift and specific. Instead of killing people and destroying property recklessly, the all – powerful deity could have struck down the attackers on the spot. It could have been still better, if the omniscient creator could have anticipated this thought in the minds of the evildoers and banished it before it was put into effect. Though the effectiveness of this statement as a tool to bring more into the folds of theism is yet to be evaluated, the reaction from the more mundane was swift. It resulted in the resignation of the minister! Again, if divine retribution were the causative factors for all natural disasters, one would have to certainly question the deity whether it is right on his/ her/ its part to mow down even those who cannot be considered as sinners even by the longest possible stretch of one’s most fertile imagination? For, newborn have died along with octogenarians, toddlers have been killed along with unborn fetuses! Have they sinned? If not, whether it was in this life or an imaginary previous existence? At the time of holy crusades, again a blood bath in which Christians and Muslims slaughtered each other wholesale, all for the liberation of a so-called holy land, some brilliant even came to the conclusion that the most of these were not successful because the so called liberators were sinners, decided to send children who had not “sinned” and would have God on their side! Contrary to these expectations, these blemish less children were captured and sold into slavery! No divine wrath descended upon those who did this! Most dangerous in this class are those who think that they are the tools through whom the Almighty has decided to show his/her/its wrath. People under such delusions can be really dangerous, like the Taliban, the inquisitors and the devotees of many other Gods. For each of them thinks that they are the chosen ones and they have no qualms of conscience in perpetrating the worst of atrocities. They are under the impression that it is the divine spirit that is guiding them in doing all the atrocious cruelties. Many a time they welcome death in the course of such more luxurious life in heaven! The highly motivated storm troopers of God are said to be inspired by much! So, it is time for us to look at natural calamities as disaster caused by physical forces, recklessness man and careless exploitation of nature and not as divine intervention in worldly affairs! Dr. Narendra Nayak
Mangalore Click here if you would like to Contribute or send a feedback.
Click here to read more articles from Dr.Narendra Nayak.
| 
