The 'Nuclear' God

                                                   

                  The end of World War 2, with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki stunned the human conscience. The ability of mass destruction gained by the superpowers gave whole new dimension to the idea of violence. 

                 I am reading THE COLD WAR by John Lewis Gaddis and I cannot stop myself from identifying with the terror generated by atomic bombs. But my terror is at the sight of violence by ISIS, the beef ban in different states of India, the idea of Love Jihad and the Dadri incidence near our capital, Delhi. I am terrified by the intolerant and irresponsible statements and behaviour of people who are in responsible positions. I am terrified when a few good people have to return their awards for the intolerance of majority. I am terrified by the murders of rationalists and thus the consequent end of rationalism in India.

                 The theory of basic human inclination for violence paired with this newly acquired nuclear weapon’s ability of destruction gave nightmares to the whole generations. But the wisdom of Prussian strategist Carl von Clausewitz prevailed. He warned that states resorting to unlimited violence could be consumed by it.

                 The shock of Hiroshima and Nagasaki compelled human beings to go against their basic inclination for violence. It is a paradox that the result of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings was the future avoidance of wars. Still the weapons were upgraded from nuclear to hydrogen bombs with increased capability for destruction. These weapons destroyed targets without any discrimination. In hindsight, even the most destructive weapons known to humans had this positive quality of treating everyone equally and thereby terrifying everyone equally.

                  Whereas Religion as interpreted and spread by the fundamentalists is aiming at specific pin pointed destruction of targets i.e. Infidels, a feature not available even in nuclear bombs. Violence generated in the name of religion has ability to discriminate. Moreover, access to this weapon called religion is unlike the limited access to nuclear bombs.

                  Even during cold war, in between the maddening contest for possessing nuclear arsenal, the wisdom of world leaders to use these weapons only as a deterrent prevailed. President Harry S. Truman, the only individual in the history of mankind who ever ordered the use of nuclear weapons said,” machines are ahead of morals by some centuries.” This thought of Truman compels me to think about religion and what it is doing to our morals. As long as we are deriving our morality from religion, there is no hope for humanity.

                 Today the religions are bigger threat to humanity than the nuclear weapons. What ISIS is doing to the world is worse than what nuclear bombs did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

                 Back home, the minds whose most important source of information is social media are incapable of maintaining any restraint. On the contrary rationality and wisdom are enemies of this new weapon called religion. The recent Dadri incidence in India and the beef eating controversy bears testimony to it. The increasing intolerance and the contest between religions for such intolerance is a real threat to our existence and our future.

                  As the writer points out, nuclear weapons withstood the Clausewitzian standard that military operations must not destroy what they are meant to defend. Can any religion withstand this standard today? The new low ISIS has reached with its barbarity can do the same to religions that Hiroshima and Nagasaki did to nuclear bombs. The terrifying possibilities were exposed and that prohibited its use in future. 

                 I am not talking about being atheist or agnostic. We can just keep our religions to ourselves. It can remain a very intimate, private affair and guide us personally than mindlessly making us a part of herd and providing us with some illogical logic to kill our fellow human being. 

                 The universality of potential destruction by nuclear weapons gave hope for a peaceful future. Today, the fundamentalists are using their weapon discriminately. So is there any hope for restraint and peace? My personal belief is, If we continue thinking on religious lines, NO!

                 At first our God was in every live and dead on the earth. Our God resided even in our enemies. Then came the idea of My God vs. Your God. Subsequently My God became superior to Your God. Violence became inevitable at this point. Everyone opposing My God became my enemy. Then everyone not following My God the way I demand was supposed to die. In this process we have reduced our God from Universal to Nuclear. Alas! This Nuclear God is incompetent to make me a better human being.

                 As long as we don't accept the potential of this weapon called religion to dehumanise the humans, there is little hope for humanity. Let our morality rely on humanity, not religion. The end of world civilisations by nuclear bombs could be avoided because the wisdom of a few good men prevailed. 

                 We are at the crossroads again. Our morals have failed to catch up with technology. We can't afford to be defeated. Humanity needs to rise against all religions with all its might.