Sanjay Shukla

Imagine creating a realm crafted with intricacy, a world of breathtaking beauty where each detail is a masterpiece curated just for your enjoyment. Picture this grandeur, and now envision God creating an infernal pit with serpent-like flames awaiting you in hell. Does this God intend to cast you into its fiery abyss?

Consider the complexity of the brain, a marvel that enables you to ponder, question, and explore. Does God forbid your inquiries, snuffing out the spark of curiosity? Are you not entitled to probe the very nature of existence?

Within you, a treasure trove of creativity lies, with imaginative ideas that dance within your heart. Yet, is it truly divine to believe that exploring these artistic visions would bring down curses upon you?

You’re granted consciousness, a vessel to fathom the wonders of this universe in all its intensity. But are you then doomed to dwell in perpetual dread of post-life punishment?

Amidst a world teeming with splendours – vibrant sunsets, gentle rain, blooming flowers, succulent fruits, lush forests, mighty oceans, towering mountains, barren deserts, playful animals, melodious birds, and delicate butterflies – you’re surrounded by the symphony of creation. Is this symphony not a melody of benevolence, an ode to your existence?

Have you ever wondered whether the God you revere would impel you to regard this majestic reality as illusory, a mere figment of your imagination?

Consider this: while bestowed with the prowess to analyze and dissect, could it be that you’ve been blinded to the reality that the flames of ignorance have already engulfed you?

Over countless millennia, humans have sculpted magnificent tributes to their divine icons, etching devotion into the hardest rocks. Yet, does your divine God decree these masterpieces to be shattered into fragments?

In crafting the magnificent tapestry of life, humans emerge as one of the most remarkable threads. Yet, are we, in turn, mandated to extinguish these vibrant threads to appease the Creator?

The universe extends its boundless gifts – sunlight, rain, snow, flowers, fruits, forests, oceans, mountains, and creatures – an offering that fills our senses to the brim. This bounty is not bestowed to enforce submission but to affirm that within Earth’s hug, we find security and plenty.

Has the divine committed a sin in shaping humans who inadvertently cast it in a shadow? What if the compassionate deity you worship is but a guise for a sinister force?

How can a benevolent God condone the annihilation of life, a power only it possesses? If divinity embodies cruelty, selfishness, and narcissism, what then remains to distinguish the malevolent?

In your pursuit of power, have you created religions, inadvertently revealing your true face, one that aligns more with the Diabolic than the Divine?

Reflect on this, for it beckons us to ponder the intricate interplay between light and darkness, benevolence and malevolence, Religion and Non-Religion.

— Inspired by a discussion with “Ajju”