The Voyager is a weekly newsletter where I, Karn Nahata, share with you the discoveries I made on my voyage through the Internet. Sit back, grab something to eat, and enjoy the ride :)
Do you believe in God?
We’ve all been faced with this question in our lives. We all have our own interpretations. All of them are self-biased. Obviously. They have to be. It is impossible to be objective when answering a question that is fundamentally designed to be subjective. And there lies its beauty. It is my go-to question for trying to know a person. Are they someone who questions the dictated order? Are they conformists? What are their experiences that shaped their answer? I am like a school kid with a project. I almost wish to publish a book someday, of all the different and fascinating answers I’ve collected.
Over the years, I have also thought a lot about my own interpretations of this question. Quite intensely at times. I was fortunate enough to have parents who never imposed anything on me. Maybe watching them question the status quo played a big part in my interest in this topic.
In my explorations, I have come across a lot of thought-provoking ideas when it comes to this topic. Here are some of my favorites :)
The Egg
Andy Weir is an American science fiction novelist. He is the author of The Martian, which got remade into a hit movie by popular director Ridley Scott.
Before Andy became famous for The Martian in 2011, he wrote a short story called “The Egg” in 2009. It is a captivating story of a man who dies and lands in an after-life cafe of sorts. And there, he meets “God”. The story is their conversation. A man trying to make sense of his death and, well, God.
I stumbled upon this story back in 2018, when I was in Ahmedabad for an internship. Since then, I have come back to it multiple times. It never ceases to amaze me. It is one of my most favourite takes on the God question.
You can read the story here. It is a quick read. Also, I hope you appreciate the use of “you” by God when addressing the man in the story :) (That’s all I am going to say).
Talking to God
January’17. Early morning. I was in college. Attending some boring lecture on taxes. Sitting at the back, I had become proficient in using my phone without the professor noticing. This allowed me to spend most of my time in classes aimlessly reading stuff on the internet. This tax class was no different.
Stumbling through different corners of the web, I came across a blog - The Ragged Trousered Philosopher by some unknown guy named Harry Stottle. On it, one particular entry caught my attention. Titled - Talking to God. It is about a man, who comes across this fairly ordinary-looking stranger on a metro, claiming to be God. The story is about the man shooting a bunch of questions around life and existence at this God-person trying to test its legitimacy.
I still remember vividly, sitting in that class completely blown away by the answers to the man’s questions. While a personal story will never truly convince me of the existence of a God; if there is one, then this story feels like a logical enough description of its existence.
You can read it here. It is a slightly long read, but the pay-off is absolutely worth it.
Hoping God has a sense of humour
Ricky Gervais is a British comedian. He is one of the funniest people I have seen. Never one to mince his words, he is also well known for being an outspoken atheist. I really believe that great comedians take their audiences to places they wouldn’t dare to go to themselves. Ricky is great at doing that. In this video, he gives his take on religion, answering questions that could be considered highly controversial for public television. He also makes you laugh a little while at it.
Until next Sunday.
Hey there. Thanks for reading. Would love to know your thoughts on the God question, if you choose to share. Drop an email and let me know :)
Nice read. Very challenging topic. And interesting anecdotes
So profound. I enjoyed the conversation between God and man.