When we objectively analyse certain activities which supposedly please God, their true nature can be realised only then.
Take a man who is wishing for a large amount of money. If God grants him this gain it will be only on account of another’s loss. After all, that money has to come from somewhere else.
Then, why should God favour that man? Is it because he is a good person? But good is a relative term. And the theory that God favours good people disproves itself every day. On the other hand, if God favours only those who pray to him, then he is no different from a man in power who helps those who constantly flatter him.
When God helps a man, that is praised as greatness, but when a man in power helps someone, he is accused of favouritism.
Yogis and babas are respected and worshiped. This isn’t because of their magical abilities like making objects materialise out of thin air. The same trick performed by a street corner magician goes unheeded.
What sets the babas apart is the way they behave, dress and their talent for public speaking. By the way they live, godmen create a mysterious aura around themselves.
The sleight of hand combined with their other qualities, earns them the fear and respect of the people. Just talking about God doesn’t contribute to their sway over the people. For example, if a baba arrived at a meeting on a Honda bike wearing jeans and a T-Shirt, with an iPod player at his waist, to preach about God, would anyone listen to him?
When we hear from reliable sources that a widely respected politician is, in fact dishonest, we immediately despise him. That’s because we had respected the politician only because we thought that he was working for our good. But in case of God, if we expect something from him and he does not give it, and on top of it, he aggravates our misery, we still continue praying to him. We feel our prayers will be answered some day. To draw an analogy, that’s like buttering the boss constantly at our workplace even though he is rude and blacklists us for no apparent reason. We keep hoping the boss might just end up recommending us for a promotion some day. Hope keeps us going.
At times, people say that they came to believe in God because they were saved miraculously from death. Take the case of a man who has fallen overboard from a ship mid-ocean and is terrified that he will be eaten up by sharks. At the last minute, he is saved by another person. Yet he is convinced that he has been saved by the grace of God.
If that is so, then would the sharks be justified in despising God for depriving them of their food? And should they turn into atheists? Think about it.