Our God — Page 161
Great Benefits ofBelief in God 161 Moreover, as a remote possibility, even if the people break away from the revealed religions, religious ideas will persist, because it is unlikely that, after breaking away from these religions, all of them will adopt an identical set of beliefs and code of conduct. In this case, the number of religions in the world will far exceed the current number. If there are currently ten to twenty religions, the number will multiply to thousands, even millions, as every- one would wish to invent a religion of his choice. This increase in number of religions will lead to an extraordinary multiplication of differences and consequent increase in conflict and bloodshed in the name of religion, from an occasional to everyday occurrence. One might say that it is only the revealed religions—with doc- trines of God, resurrection, and the Day of Judgement as the cen- tral themes—that can cause conflict and bigotry. This is because followers of each of these religions consider themselves as those who have achieved salvation and regard others destined for hell; this leads to mutual enmity and rivalry, whereas non-revealed, man-made religions not based on the notion of God and the Day of Judgement cannot cause such negative feelings. But this view is against human nature. Human nature triggers a feeling of com- passion on seeing someone in danger and creates a desire to save them—that is the natural reaction. It is unnatural to feel hatred and contempt in this situation. Therefore, if followers of different sects regard themselves saved and the others lost, then their nat- ural response should be of compassion and a desire to save them. Hatred and contempt are out of the question here. It is inconceiv- able that one would develop feelings of contempt and hatred for a drowning man; the natural instinct is to jump in the water in an attempt to save him. If someone, despite having the capacity, does