Our God — Page 147
Great Benefits ofBelief in God 147 kind of love, tenderness, and affinity, not only between human beings, but also generates these same types of sentiments in one’s heart for lower animals, plant life, and inanimate objects. There is a saying: ‘Love me, love my dog’. That is, if you love me, you must love everything about me. This saying is based on an accurate analysis of human nature. If we really believe in God and have a relationship with Him, then it is absolutely impossible that our heart be devoid of love for His creation—especially for man. I can accept that one who claims to believe in God may be false in his claim or self-deceived. But I cannot accept even for a moment that the heart of one who truly believes in God can be devoid of love and sympathy for creation (because that would be against human nature). The history of the world also bears witness to the fact that those who have a strong belief in God have a higher level of sympathy and love for mankind. When people’s belief [in God] weakens, their sentiments of love and brotherhood also decline. In short, there is absolutely no doubt that belief in God is the strongest, surest, and fastest acting motive for unity and broth- erhood among the human race. As the sentiments of unity and brotherhood are essential for world peace and desirable progress and welfare of all nations, every wise person is obligated not to abandon this useful and blessed belief. One may think that those who do not believe in God com- monly treat others with love and sympathy and take interest in philanthropic activities, indicating that belief in God is not essen- tial for such sentiments. Our answer is that we never claimed that such sentiments cannot be produced by anything other than belief in God. We believe that many factors produce such sentiments to a variable extent. However, we maintain that only belief in God