No God or Know God??

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem Science has with God, The Almighty.

He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.

Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm? (Student is silent.)

Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student: No.

Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God.. .

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.

Prof: So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.

Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.

Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.

Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat,

but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.

Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't.

If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student: Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure.

Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.

To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?

(The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.

With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?

(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable. )

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student: That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH.

That is all that keeps things moving & alive....... ......... ..

Note: This post originally appeared as Facebook note by Hitesh Mayani

and has been reproduced here with his permission.

Defamation, a thin line to cross in cyber times

At the Blog camp at Mumbai on February 20, 2010, a discussion by Monik Pamecha (Twitter @monikinom) took a very interesting turn. The incident where blogger Chyetanya Kunte was forced to offer an apology on certain comments made against a famous media personality was being debated hotly by a few bloggers, who were trying to find ways and means to avoid / prevent such incidents from happening in the future.

I did recall that there were provisions in the Cyber Laws of the country that prevent defamation of other persons and that got me thinking on this issue. Just as someone remarked at the blog camp, with every freedom, there are responsibilities. So too with the Freedom of Speech. While our Constitution does grant us the freedom of speech, we must remember not to transgress our rights and cross the thin line between freedom and its abuse.

Defamation, also known as slander (spoken) and libel (written), basically means spoiling someone's name or bringing disrepute to any person. Cyber defamation would obviously mean spoiling someone's name, or bringing disrepute to any person by means of cyberspace, including social media, blogs, websites, emails, bulletin boards and like.

Bloggers must take care not to let their anger get the better of them, since it is very easy to let-off steam in a blog or a like social media, on an impulse or in the heat of the moment. Also I understand that the blogger would be held responsible for comments posted by readers on a blog, so comment moderation is also an area that bloggers must be careful of.

I do suggest that with more and more people (including celebrities and media personalities) embracing cyber media like social media (twitter, face book etc), websites and blogging in a big, such conflicts are just a precursor of things to come. Individual bloggers will never be able to stand up to big corporations. So blog smart, moderate smarter.

Why you should join the Indian Youth Congress

Mumbai – 26/11

Pune – 13/02

What next.

Twitter and its users in India came into its own following the terror attacks in Mumbai on 26th Nov 2008. The tweeple tweeted, raved, ranted, lit candles and were even able to organize, if I may say, a peaceful gathering of all Mumbaikars at the Gateway of India within a week of 26/11 happening.

The reaction to this outrage felt by the average Mumbaikars was that there was a change of guard in the state of Maharashtra. The Chief Minister & the Deputy Chief Minister were replaced. Even the Union Home Minister of India was replaced. People squarely laid the blame on the politicians this time round.

Come Lok Sabha Election time, we had a few high profile independent candidates. Ms Meera Sanyal, country head of ABN Amro bank and Dr Mona Shah, a consultant eye surgeon stood for the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat (site of the 26/11 terror attacks) and their candidature did somewhat create a mild scare in the existing dispensation. Unfortunately, the experiment failed miserably. Both the candidates lost their deposit.

Come the 2009 assembly elections, the Cong-NCP combine is voted back to power. Terror or Security is not a major issue, sons of the soil is. The booted are back in the corridors of power. Ex-CM Deshmukh is a Union Cabinet minister, R.R. Patil is back as state home minister. We have come back a full circle.

High profile individuals (Meera Sanyal) or non-mainstream political parties (Professional Party of India) have not created the desired impact. Middle class participation in the political process has to take place.

A good opportunity is being created by Mr. Rahul Gandhi, Gen Secretary of the Indian National Congress. The youth (18 – 35 years) are being wooed to join the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and are also being encouraged to participate in organization elections, either by standing for positions, or by voting for people standing for various positions.

It’s an opportunity not to be missed. Please grab it with both hands!

-@R113