In times of violence in the name of religion, the world needs to create a new god
- Genocidal attacks can be averted if divisions based on religious differences are bridged. We need a god that welcomes all existing faiths
In a world that constantly sees violence which is mostly stirred by religious faith, one may well ask where all this has come from and what one can do to prevent genocidal attacks, whether between Sunnis and Shiites, Jews and Muslims, Catholics and Anglicans, Hindus and Buddhists, Christians versus Muslims – the list goes on.
It seems to me that the problem started with the concept that God created man in his own image. Wrong. It is high time that the God created by man should be re-evaluated.
In brief, man should create a new god. One who is – as the poet T.S. Eliot stated – polyphiloprogenitive. A lover of all things made. The new god should not only be this, but he (or she) should be welcoming of all existing faiths, and should also be omnipotent.
It will be very difficult for the high priests of the various religious sects to accept this and give up their stranglehold on those attracted to their particular faiths with all the wealth and power that this affords them. But, if the world is to survive and prosper, this should be the aim. Imagine then a world with no heaven, above us only sky, and one with no religion too – or at least one much modified by the newly created God.
Dr Brian Apthorp, Shouson Hill Road