He is invisible - that is to say, not only can we not see him with our eyes, but we can see no sign of his passing or of his presence. Tennyson wrote :

      Strong Son of God, immortal Love,
      Whom we, that have not seen thy face,
      By faith, and faith alone, embrace,
      Believing where we cannot prove;

But how can we embrace this Being in faith - how can we believe where we cannot prove?

Karl Marx believed that religion was invented by those in power in order to keep the peasants happy - he called it 'the opium of the people'. It is true that faith in God enables people to live through hardships more easily than if they had no faith. But it also enables them to be manipulated more easily. What cause is not strengthened by telling the people they are suffering or even dying for God and will be rewarded in heaven afterwards? What threat is more terrifying than that of eternal hell?

Surely, if we are to be reasonable, responsible people, we must get rid of outdated superstitions and begin to believe instead the evidence of our eyes?

That evidence is that the world is as it is, not as we would like it to be. There is no helper or comforter to take away the pain - we must face the pain alone. There is no one to answer our prayers - no mighty being who will change the world into a world we would like. People have prayed for centuries and the world is the same - in part beautiful and joyful, in part awful. Good people and bad people all die the same deaths at the end and live the same luck and bad luck in their lives.

What do you think? The greatest hoax of all time or a beautiful and powerful truth?

Note : the views expressed above are not necessarily mine...

Read comments on this week's session at MAILBOX.