THE IDEA OF GOD

This is not about spirituality or religion, rather is about some rational, practical issue. In a sense, humans invented God and then God created humans. This may appear ‘the egg first-hen first’ kind of a riddle. I also don’t purely subscribe to Frederic Nietzsche’s dictum, ‘God is a slave’s creation’. Personally, I would say I live in the ambivalence of belief or non-belief—but over the years, now realize the very Idea of God is useful and helps human beings both in their spiritual sanity as well as physical health. Theism has its important utility, a reason why man invented the Idea of God—whether physically He/ She exists or not is no issue—it’s about the idea itself that served us well and does so, now. It’s only bigotry, from time to time that hijacks/claims God, owns Him/ Her, dissects into parts—this God or that God and creates disharmony among people.

I guess, the origin of divinity and God for mankind is not too old, may be 5000-6000 years BP. I know some may jump on me on this. Well, I am not against what they believe, if they are comfortable, and happy with the idea, the purpose is fulfilled. My point inventing God was a biological necessity, especially once we enter into late Neolithic, possibly into Chalcolithic or the Bronze Age. The human numbers have grown many times after the beginning of farming and animal domestication. From about a global figure of just about 5 million, by 3000 BCE it jumped 10 times to about 50 million, possibly 70-80% of which was in the Middle-east, Anatolia, South Asia and China. Human groups have spread out the entire globe by now. In many areas agriculture has stabilized and cities and early polities have emerged along with long distance trade, development of Script (Sumer, 3000 BCE, Egypt, 2500, IVC contemporary to them); so also private property in some form or the other.

If we have some faith in Darwinian Evolution, then Homo sapiens come under those groups of the Big Apes, who always had one Leader of the group and the rest, followers. Leadership is, as now, contentious, and keenly contested but had some privileges, like today. But so too are the security and safety established for the group. For social animals like apes, monkeys or other such mammalians, lonely existence is both dangerous (physically) as well as psychologically. It is in the genes to be social, be together under the watchful eye of the leader. There is a good example the elephants, with the oldest Grandmother as the group leader and repository of the social and biological history of the herd, important key to their survival.

When our numbers were small during the Paleolithic, and the nomadic ensamblages no more than 15-20 individuals, the leadership was easier, a democratically chosen or a consensus choice of an elderly-man (not to forget all the Great Ape societies are Male-centred, again in the genes). Being conscious of death from old age, disease or killed by animals, accidents or natural calamities, those early foragers would have some notion of power more than the leader of the group, some visible like a hill, a tree or some invisibles like spirits of the forests, the ghosts of predecessors or totemic birds, serpents or animals, the roots of all animistic pursuits. But after we had become larger, with emergence of polity, the city and diversity of economic and social life, the old model did not work. So figures like God-King Gilgamesh Uruk, Hammurabi of Babylon emerged or our own Epics of God-King Rama or Lord Krishna came in popular imagination. The story was similar for nearly 2000 years of history of Pharaoh’s God-King dynasties of Egypt. There apparently has been no clear evidence of a similar model either in IVC or in the Chinese polities of 2000 years BCE. It was natural to expect the genetically programmed large human groups will succeed under very able leaders, ideal for the followers. But there also emerged the tyrants and the oppressors or the revenge of the victorious and slavery imposed on the defeated. And here too, a leader was essential, like Moses for redemption and freedom from suffering. Here, Nietzsche becomes relevant—where no leader was available God was invented for salvation from suffering and emancipation. Towards the middle of the First Millennia BCE organized religions emerged, like the Jainism, Buddhism and Judaism, along with traditional practices of Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) and other practices like Taoism, Confucianism and animism in many other culture. Then arrived the Eras of Jesus Christ and then, Islam in the 7th century CE. Interestingly, in both Jainism and Buddhism there is no clarity on existence of God, some interpret Buddhism as agnostic and materialistic. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, existence of God is primary but they are represented by the Messiahs, whether Abraham, Jesus or Mohammad. Finally, the separation of the Temporal (the Political Leader/ the King/ Emperor) and the all powerful, Divinity has come about and the temporal power needs sanctification by the divine and power flows from the divine. The exception to this was the Chinese political model, even after organized religions like Buddhism, or subsequently Islam and Christianity arrived there (Francis Fukuyama, 2011). In any case, under Buddhism, Gautama Buddha was the leader and one who leads away from pain, suffering and death (through rebirths) and therefore, ultimate salvation, Nirvana—‘deliverance from rebirths’.

The point I was trying to make that our genes tell us to have a leader, who provide cohesion to our social life (psychological wellbeing) and a political life for physical wellbeing of safety and security that could be the King or their modern incarnations, benevolent or malevolent, in which case the Ultimate Leader, God is there for our wellbeing. So spirituality and then religion in essence had two principal functions: first by setting a moral order, it made us wise (sapiens) and therefore, creation of Homo sapiens, a thinking and rational progenitor of the Great Ape family with whom we still share 96% of our genes over the separation of 7-8 million years! Second, the psychology of security provided by the leader or the Supreme Leader, God Himself/ Herself or even the very Idea that God exits as our savior/ protector, of self, our families and the extended ones, society, nation or the humanity as a whole has a huge bearing on our biology and our physical wellbeing. Happiness as Biologists tell us allows our body to secrets four hormones, Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphins,  which are essential to our physical wellbeing and that makes our organs and brain function perfect and that boosts our immunity to fight all invasive microbes that surround us. Conversely, loneliness, depression puts our guard down and we are easily overwhelmed by our enemies, not the tigers and lions whom we can deal with other means, but the millions and billions of the microbial world that are thirsty for our blood. So, a reassuring Leader, a father/mother figure or God Himself/ Herself or the very Idea of the protector acts positive on our physiology. In times of the current pandemic that has gobbled up the entire humanity, the Idea of God as the ultimate leader is positive to our psychological wellbeing which in turn helps boost too our immunity and confidence to live and let live. Life after all is the most wonderful thing in the Universe and needs to be conserved at all cost. So our biology in a sense tells us to have a leader, God in whichever way you see and that is good for us—the idea itself is capable of protecting us and our physical wellbeing too.

NB: I am grateful to my physician elder Sister (Professor) Dr Sanjukta Mohapatra in putting the idea of immunity being also a product of our psychological wellbeing in me and faith in the Supreme Leader, God gives us useful immunity to fight the dreaded COViD 19. Not to say this is enough. Of course, we need the Doctors and medicines and care, but immunity is of a great help in fighting the disease.

Avaya C Mohapatra is a Retired Professor, Served North Eastern Hill University, Shillong (July 1976- September, 2017). He is a freelancer in academic writing and a blogger (acmohapatra.blogspot.com). He can be reached via email: acmohapatradr@gmail.com.