The New Face of Theism

I sometimes think that people give into certain ideologies or reject some without really understanding the spectrum and gravity of those. Also some ideologies, and labels associated with them, evolve in such a manner that once a believer or non-believer of those, can become associated with them in different capacities. The issue of theism is one such which recently has strung my thoughts on these lines.

Theism as we generally understand is belief in god (mono or poly), and if a little extended, also involves belief in a force or power which although we cannot experience first hand, do immensely influence our lives (often regarded positively). And to establish a relationship of such worldly faith with such unknown or supernatural power, and to increase understandings, the believers usually look up to priests and gurus; the sages and the great souls.

As humanity started entering modern age, gilded by scientific innovations and enlightenment, such unconditional belief became questionable among the "fortunate" educated population. Those who do/did not regard themselves as atheists, also generally had some reservations about accepting and acting on certain beliefs without giving any thought.

But then that was about God or religion. What's interesting is and what I'm trying to get at is, that our propensity to believe in something that we cannot experience did not really go away. A major portion of the population religiously continue to have faith in gurus to relate to and understand the invisible power(s) of modern times that we otherwise boast to have overcome with our clarity of mind and enlightened existence!! We continue our faithful existence and when our faith does not deliver what was expected, instead of ourselves trying to critically understand the problem, we desperately need the proclaimation of a preacher or a guru. And this is what I suppose is the "new face" of Theism.

If this was untrue, and we were truly as enlightened and critical as we think we are, then why did so many "modern" souls, so-much give into the credence of the invisible hand to direct and dominate our physical realities?? And then when the ideologies took their extreme turns (anti-regulatory, hyper-free market) delivering undesirable and unexpected events, a prominent preacher (Alan Greenspan) was needed to tell that "there was a flaw in the model" that He "perceived as the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works." And the flaw was "really grave". Though some so-called non-judicious, inefficient people did try to question that from time to time, and indicate the inherent problems with such ideology, their sanity became questionable and they were discredited and treated as minorities unable to understand and gather the blessings of the "faith", that appeared to be brilliant. And what is more interesting, is that, such belief is so neck-deep that it is difficult to yet fathom and seriously question it even when signs are so evident.

We are believers... and I don't think there is anything wrong in believing. But if we claim ourselves to be the most "intelligent' among all species, we need to make our thinking a little critical. A critical mind, that is a little more liberated to look into a broader territory, set eyes on the visible reality and does not need a "guru" to establish the connection between our faith and realism.Theism if should exist with a new face, must be one of hope, which is based on and can be realized within our earthly existence.

Sliding Economy, Landslide Victory

I have been planning for a while to get back to the keyboards and start putting my thoughts and experiences here since summer, but something or the other has pushed my desires into the backseat.
Yesterday night's landslide of Obama finally did push me out of my bed and make me sit in front of the computer after a brief 4 hrs. sleep!!!!

It's not the surprise of the landslide that was behind the 4 hours, nor was just a fantastic Obamania, it was the culmination of the events, the causes and effects, the unveilings of the veiled over the past few months which did have a cumulative effect on my hormones.

2008 will be a memorable year not only for the US citizens, but for the global society. From a racial revolution to economic revealation, it did throw a light on a lot of prejudices and our smoke-screen existence. Whatever may be it's duration, but the events did create some watershed moments. Moments when we saw major shake-ups
(and fortunately some acknowledgements) in the invisible economic bubble, when visibility has been sought after against an unreal utopia, when people were made to think twice before uttering racial biases. Yes, facts over faith have gained relevance, and all I can hope is this relevance will make our existence a little more relevant.