11/20/2014

IsbeliefinGodavirusofthemind,asatheistsclaim?|TheSpiritualScientist

Question:IsbeliefinGodavirusofthemind?
AtheistsclaimthatreligiouspeopleareinfectedbyaGodvirus,whichmakesthemhaveanirrational
beliefinaGodthatcannotbeseenorforwhomthereisnorationalreasontobelieve.Howdowe
respondtothis?
Answer:Firstofall,thisusageofbeliefinGodasavirusisanintellectuallychargedattemptat
emotionalmanipulation.Itissimplyemotionalmanipulationtobiaspeopleagainstbelieversin
GodOhthesepeopleareinfectedbyavirus!Itisintellectuallychargedvirusescancomefromone
persontoanother,thatisknowntoeducatedpeopleandaviruscanalsoaffectcomputerprograms
ordigitalsystemsitcanpropagatethroughpendriveoremailsetc.Itismeanttocreatean
untouchabilityaroundreligiouspeoplesothatpeoplecanbepolarizedagainstthem.Thisiswhatit
is.Letslookatitrationally.Firstofall,whenwetalkaboutavirus,ifitisaninfection,thenthereisa
tangiblethingcalledaviruswhichcanbeputinalab,inaplate,examined,andkilled.Isbeliefin
Godatangiblething?Whichcanbemovedfromonepersonsheadtoanotherthroughtouch?
Obviouslynot.Isitacomputerviruseventhatisaprogram.Softwaremaynotbeathinginthe
physicalsenseofathingbutstillthereisacodewhichrepresentsthat.Nowifwesaythatthebelief
inGodislikeasoftwareprogramthatinfectsthemindofpeoplethentheproblemcomesuphow
doyoudecidewhichbeliefsarelikeviruses?Essentiallyallbeliefsincludingatheisticbeliefsare
basicallymodesofthinkingofthemind.Sonowwecallacertainprogramasavirusbecauseithasa
destructiveeffect.Arewegoingtosaythatthoseprogramsthathaveadestructiveeffectare
viruses?Ifthatisthecase,thenbeliefinGodmakespeopledomanytimesgoodthingscharity,
compassionyessomepeoplemaybecomesuicidebombersandcommitviolenceinthenameof
religion,butcomparativelyspeakingmillionsandmillionsofpeopleareinspiredtowardgood
becauseofabeliefingodithasanupliftingeffectonpeople.
Thentheatheistswillarguethatthosebeliefsthatarerationalarenotviruses.Becauseatheismis
rationalandtheismisirrationalsoatheismisbynomeansaviruswhereastheismisavirus.Thissort
ofselfservingtaxonomysystemofclassificationisegregious.Itissotransparentlyselfservingthat
norationalpersonwillactuallysubscribetoit.Butstillletsanalyzeitfurtherthissortoflogical
sophistrytrickeryleadsto.Iftherationalbeliefsarenotviruses,irrationalbeliefsarevirusesthe
questioncomesupwhoisgoingtodecidewhtisrationalandwhatisirrational?Manyoftheideas

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IsbeliefinGodavirusofthemind,asatheistsclaim?|TheSpiritualScientist

mainstreaminsciencetodaywereconsideredirrationalwhentheywerefirstintroduced.For
examplewhensomepioneeringscientistsproposedthathumanscouldflyusingsomemachinethey
werelaughedat.Wasitthattheideawasirrationalthenandbecomerationallater?Anauthorityno
lessthanEinsteincriticizedquantumphysicsbuttodayitisindeedconsideredmainstreamscience.
AlbertEinsteinconsideredittobeirrationalpracticallyspeakingdoesthatmakethosepeoplewho
propagatedquantumphysicsirrationalandinfectedbysomeirrationalityvirus?Orthefactthat
quantumphysicsisnowcommonlyacceptedasmainstreamsciencedoesthatmakeEinstein
irrational?Hewasthebestscientistofthelastcentury.

Afurtherproblemcomesisthatmanyofthetopmostscientistsinhistoryhavebeenbelieversin
GodstartingfromCopernicus,Galileodownthroughtheages,eventodayFrancisCollins,pioneer
ofthegenomeproject,PolkinghornemanyothersbelieveinGodtheyareeminentlyrational
peopleifwelookattheirscientificwork.Thenhowdowesimplisticallydividethatrationalpeople
thosewhobelieveinGodhavetheGodvirusandthosewhodontbelieveinGodarefreefromthe
virusbutwhataboutthosewhobelieveinGodandarerationalfromallotherangles?
TheBhagavadGitaoffersafarmoreintelligentclassificationratherthansimplylabelingbeliefin
Godasaviruswhichissimplyanintellectuallychargedattemptatemotionalmanipulation,ithasno
rationalsubstance,itfallswhensubjectedtoseriousintellectualscrutiny.ButtheVedicscriptures
describethattherearethreemodesofmaterialnaturegoodness,passionandignorance.People
wholiveinignorancetendtobedestructive.Peopleingoodnesstendtohavecontributiverolesin
theirlifetheydogoodtoothersandtothemselves.Significantlythisclassificationgoodness
passionandignoranceisdonebasedonobjectivequalities.TheSrimadBhagavatamdescribesthat
evenreligioncanbepracticedinthemodeofignorance.ReligionistswhohavefaithinGodbutarein
themodesofignorancetheywillbedestructive.Andsimilarlythereareatheistswhoareinthe
modesofignorancetheywillbedestructive.
SothevirusesinthemindarenotbeliefinGodbutthemodesofnature.Thelowermodeswhich
especiallygenderdesireslikelustangerenvyprideillusionthesearethedestructivemental
patternswithinustheyaretheprogramswhichweactonthemtheygetdeeplyprogrammedand
theystartprogrammingus.ThissystemofclassificationintheVedicliteratureisnonsectarian.Its
notsayingthatthosewhoareHindusareingoodness,andthosewhoareChristiansandMuslimsor
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IsbeliefinGodavirusofthemind,asatheistsclaim?|TheSpiritualScientist

peoplewhodontagreewithHinduismareinpassionandignorance.No.Itsauniversaltypological
system.Hinduscanbeingoodnesspassionandignorance,Muslimsandevenatheistscanbein
goodnesspassionandignorance.Thereareatheisticpeoplewhoforwhateverreasonsmayhave
chosentodisbelieveinGodbuttheirlifestylemaybeinoverallgoodness.Thatisalsopossible.
Ratherthansimplisticallytryingtodemonizebelieversornonbelieversforthatmatter,theVedic
scripturesgivesusauniversalmethodofanalysisbywhichwecanunderstandwhatiswhat,and
moveforwardinlife.ThisideathatbeliefinGodisavirusissomethingwhichitselfwecouldsayisa
virusthathasbeenpropagatedbyatheistsinthehopeofemotionallyisolatingbelieversand
manipulatingpublicopinionagainstthem.Weshouldbeintelligentenoughtoseethroughthese
machinationsthesesortofeviltricksoftheatheists.

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