Podcast: Creating God

Thought this was a brilliant podcast. It discusses the concept of God and religion as Darwinian ideas - that they were a natural part of our evolution as a species.

That they’ve evolved over time (from the idea of God as a punisher of evil/sin to a more benevolent, forgiving father-figure). That they served a purpose - of establishing trust between people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to trust one another. And that the phenomenon we see today - of disbelief in a vengeful God or even the rise of atheism - are in a way, results of our transactions (ex: banking) systems becoming more reliable.

One aspect of atheism I don’t enjoy is the sort of militant atheism that people like Dawkins demonstrate. One of the people who are interviewed in the podcast (Azim Sharif, who identifies himself as a secular atheist), speaks about how he avoids confronting people who believe - because he sees the good that belief does for the religious - especially in troubling times.

As I listened to the podcast, it struck me that perhaps political inclinations are a type of religion. We identify ourselves as Liberals, Conservatives and think ours is the only truth. We convince ourselves that someone who believes differently is dumb, misled or worse: evil. We rarely question our own biases.

As a bonus, the podcast features two beautiful sound bytes. One of an Adhan and another of the word Om. Both are beautiful and feature an explanation of what they mean and why they are important to the faith. Even if you don’t listen to the podcast, do listen to these short clips.