Different Views

I’d like to write something about my thoughts in philosophy and theology. This is not something deep and awakening. These are just my observations regarding the stand of the two subjects on religion.

In Theology

My teacher always teaches us the importance of religion in our lives and the significance of God’s presence in our everyday living. She stressed the value of faith and belief in God and explains to us everything she knows about Him, including His early life, the different experiences He got into, the teachings He imparted to the people and His disciples, etc. She also implied that everything in this world can be traced back to God and He is the source of everything. In short, she believes that God is the center of our lives and we must live our lives according to His will.

In Philosophy

My teacher in this subject is a little different because although he has a religion, he speaks of God daringly. By this I mean he can speak bad words to God (for discussion’s sake) and not take back his word. Anyway, some of this subject’s views about religion speak of it as something unreal and pointless. There are views that argued that religion is not something divine and is only created by man to have something to depend on and blame to if anything goes wrong in life. Religion, still according to some views, is unnecessary and must be removed from this world if people are to live independently and responsibly. This is quite a contradiction to theology’s view that God must be the center of our lives.

My View

Now this brings me to my question. Whose point of view are we to believe in? The theologians’ or the philosophers’?

I have read many books that condemned God and enumerated His flaws as a supreme being. I have read arguments and articles that talked about the imperfections of God like His allowing of suffering for His people on earth. I have even read about God as being an opium for the people, which gives people temporary escape to all sufferings but in the end, will let people fall into despair when they realize the problem is still present.

Yes, I have read many books that could have made me an atheist, but still, I believe in God. I don’t know how long will I stay as a believer with all these teachings that contradict God but as far as I know, I will keep on believing in Him. I just don’t see the point why people keep on creating arguments about the existence or non-existence of God. Whether or not God exist, I think there will be no difference if people believe either way. I believe each person has a choice in life and I choose to believe. But people can also choose not to.

I believe people will come to see that the difference lies not on the existence or non-existence of God but on how people allow it to affect their lives. Those who believe will attribute everything to Him and may continue to do so as long as it does not overpower them. Those who do not believe will continuously find explanations to phenomena without using God as the reference. Of course, they may also continue to do so as long as they do not force the believers to be like them.

Again, believing God or not is a choice people must have. There is no right or wrong. A choice will only be wrong when people’s lives will be wasted because of it. God will always be present for those who believe and He will continue to be inexistent for those who do not.

P.S

These are just my thoughts about the two subjects. I do not intend to persuade people to be a believer or not. I just find it interesting to write something about these contradicting views which continue to be a good topic for debates in the academic world.