Are you a warrior ant, a worker bee, or are you who you are supposed to be? Find out and become the CEO of your life so you can be what you really are.
We have been bickering and even killing each other over our differences about God’s existence. It makes me want to point towards the real problem. Whether God exists or not to you, it is still your responsibility to live a mortal life with wisdom that creates comfort not only for your body and brain but also feeds your soul, allowing you to be happy and content in all areas of life. Wisdom or God is worth a priceless pearl, yet for non-believers, it may simply be a drop of water. Each teardrop has a story behind it, so look and see what your real story is.
If you are deprived of oxygen even for minutes, you lose all functions of life. Therefore, being alive for you is not in your hands; I should say you simply can’t will it. Remember, you breathe free oxygen and you are alive and functioning because of that. If that is the case, why do you have such a big ego that makes you believe whatever is happening is exclusively due to you? If you start to look at your existence and how you function, you would understand that you consist of trillions of cells, and every cell of yours is constantly screaming out loudly to tell you about the existence of God, depending on your ability to listen.
You yourself are like the cells of the human body. They receive life-giving oxygenated and nutrient-rich blood to live and function. They may have never seen you as a whole, but they can clearly acknowledge and feel being a part of it. They try to continue to reciprocate until they expire.
As human beings, metaphorically speaking, we are all cells of God. We may not be able to see God, but it’s all about personal perceptions while we are alive. For instance, if you want to enrich your mortal life experiences, you may and should believe in God and reciprocation because our makeup points towards it. Just like our cells do for our body’s well-being in return for the body providing life-giving circumstances.
Looking at life with this metaphor, you can not only see your personal disconnects but also feel the influences of our spiritual side within the living and functioning body.
Imagine and picture that the cells in our body are communicating with each other, vigorously discussing or arguing whether the body exists or not. After further discussion, if one cell states that there is no body but we just belong to one group of cells like arms or legs, believing in that is just like believing in a group but nothing beyond. Not believing beyond the group of cells means we don’t acknowledge the reality of humanity and God, yet it is evident that there is a lot more than our groups. The reality is that all cells belong to the matter that makes up the body. The physical side is only one aspect of the complicated and complex picture of humanity and God.
For cells, how the human body functions can be a disputable fact because they can’t see the body as a whole, just like we can’t see God as a whole entity. A cell can say that God does not exist, but the part they belong to does exist for sure. So, the knowledge of the belonging group or existing body part can dictate whether the individual cell believes or not. If a cell decides it does not exist according to the knowledge of its belonging group or existing body part, it would be making a judgment with incomplete knowledge. Remember, we learn something new every day. If that’s the case, what makes you believe your existing knowledge is ultimate and complete?
As human individuals, our belonging groups make us think that we are all there is. When we look at others, they are not our friends or fellow workers for God; worse, they are portrayed as enemies who must not be trusted and actually fought against.
Before you make negative assumptions and begin to look for problems or deny the benefits of believing in God, remember that our mortal life does not have to be scientifically or mathematically correct to be fulfilling. Ultimately, it just has to be filled with reciprocation, happiness, and contentment if you want to understand the real meaning or purpose of your mortal life.
To explain what I think does not mean I want everyone to agree with me and spend their lives the way I would like them to, or the way any religion or atheist group wants them to. If you want to bring some peace, happiness, and contentment into your mortal life, you will have to learn about the extreme behaviors of humans.
My purpose in writing this is to try to make extremists from both sides come down to earth and recognize the realities of mortality, not only for themselves but also to respect others’ lives.
Most, if not all, religions start with empty words of compassion for all, but their politics of belonging overpower to the point where the word “compassion” loses its first three letters, becoming “passion”. When everyone becomes passionate about their group’s politics, the hell of prejudice and discrimination breaks loose.
“Live and let live” is a spiritual and compassionate concept. Yet, I have to ask, how is it that all religious wars, without exception, have been part of our history? To me, all religious wars have been, are, and will always be political wars, period. Our politics of belonging are so powerful that we even use God to turn our disputes over differences and territorial disputes into religious conflicts, just to rile up regular folks to passionately perpetuate these disputes.
When things don’t add up, accept the results and move on with your mortal life while you strive to find God for a pleasant journey. You don’t have to choose any politics-riddled organized religion or seek forgiveness for sins you haven’t committed. You simply have to become comfortable in your mortal skin. It’s perfectly okay to not know everything there is to know. Always remember, we are still in a process of evolution—our brain, body, and we as whole beings are not only evolving individually but collectively as well, through a God-given process. We have been and continue to evolve.
Despite learning new things every day, we often believe we know everything there is to know. Ironically, our personal time is limited. This limited time should make us all humble, but as we grow up, we somehow become infected with the politics of belonging to our groups. This infection is rampant worldwide, fostering the worst of ego, pride, honor, and related personal and social problems.
This internal strife not only pits us against each other within our groups but also leads to external disputes, and even wars with other groups over our differences. Competition in the name of belonging seems harmless in sports, but its underlying politics compels us to work against ourselves as humanity and against God. To provide a clear perspective or understanding, I will attempt to define God without politics.
Imagine deep within your arm or leg, your two body cells talking to each other, debating whether the body exists or not. Scientifically, we have ten trillion of our own cells, and our bodies function with another hundred trillion bacteria or foreign life forms. The complexity is immense, and we are still learning how to seek help when we fall ill. It’s mind-boggling to realize this system is constantly evolving.
If you believe you have everything figured out, you should feel happy and content in your mortal skin. If you don’t, you need to learn more about yourself and your own functioning, regardless of certainty about God. Remember, we have fought wars for thousands of years, and I bet no one truly knows the death toll from our differences and extreme beliefs in so-called complete knowledge. Wars fought for religious beliefs or democracies are not spiritual. Therefore, before you decide with certainty about God, understand that you yourself are a living example of God.
Just look at yourself—you are God for ten trillion personal cells and a hundred trillion bacteria within you. They have not even seen you from the outside, yet you share a life-giving relationship with each other.
Both believers and non-believers should refrain from making definitive judgments with evolving knowledge. Nonetheless, a highly intricate body with equally complex systems should provide us with sobering and humbling perspectives on life, especially given our limited time here.
Despite our scientific advancements, as human individuals, we still require spirituality to navigate aging, illness, mortality, and to find happiness and contentment. Logically, this should humble us all, but our affiliations twist things to the extent that we can be manipulated and controlled. They exploit this awareness to mold us into followers of whatever is preached to us. Maintaining personal individuality becomes challenging when everyone in the group becomes willing to kill and die for the politics of belonging. We sacrifice our individual identity to please and empower our groups, identifying ourselves by labels such as Muslim, Canadian, Black, White, Male, Female, and so forth. Yet, individually, we forget that we are blessed with free will and a personal sense of justice, and our true identity is that of a human being.
Now, let’s examine what’s problematic about believing that we exclusively belong to a group of people. The cell in the arm or leg functions as part of the body, just as a group of people, nation, race, or religion functions within humanity.
Considering this as the entire picture denies the fact that we belong to humanity as a whole, yet we are deeply divided by group politics for who knows how long.
It seems like no one wants to acknowledge reality, despite the calls for us to mature and evolve, to take the next leap of faith in humanity and unite. The undeniable facts of global warming and the risks posed by infections like Ebola or Zika are staring us in the face. Extreme weather and melting ice are speaking loudly enough, yet some people choose to play dumb, from Trump’s Mexican wall to Brexit—it’s all about the politics of division. Can we ever overcome and shift our sense of belonging from our groups to humanity? Perhaps, let’s be hopeful and optimistic.
Humanity cannot erect walls high enough to shield itself from the pressing issues at hand. The sooner we come to terms and unite, the better. Instead, we are preoccupied with building nuclear weapons and other tools of mass destruction against each other. It’s all due to our political allegiances to our “arms” or “legs,” yet we should be thinking about the entire body, because if something happens, the arms or legs cannot survive on their own.
If you claim superiority over other cells and engage in war against each other, both sides praying to God for help and seeking to destroy the other, imagine the predicament you put God in. Essentially, you are asking God to kill and destroy other parts of God. It’s understandable why prayers may not always be answered.
Understanding God and praying for peace and harmony should be the essence of prayers. A mortal being requires practical physical sustenance as well as soul-nourishing sustenance. If cells could speak, they would discuss the body much like we discuss God—unseen, yet providing a profound sense of spiritual fulfillment for a mortal being. That is, if you value personal introspection. Embracing science as an essential for modern living is important, but remember to nurture your soul, because ultimately, you are responsible for living a fulfilling life. Especially mortal life should be filled not only with reciprocity but also with profound happiness and contentment.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, our sense of belonging spawns various offspring, and our ego is one of them. Humans have not been able to conquer ego since the dawn of awareness. We do and believe in things approved as truths by our respective groups. In the West, there’s a heavy emphasis on science, while in the East, religion holds significant sway. Regardless of where you belong, these are akin to arms, legs, or other parts of a larger body. So, bear with me as we try to understand how the body functions with countless different cells: brain, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, colon, skin, immune cells, good and bad bacteria, and so forth—known and unknown.
Amidst all the chaos, there is an underlying order that keeps us alive and functioning well, akin to how we perceive God. Believing solely in belonging to an arm or leg suggests either a lack of understanding of the whole body’s function or plain ignorance due to the politics of group affiliation.
Certainly, we strive to comprehend everything scientifically. Yet, we are perpetually faced with more questions, and everything, even what science has proven, is subject to evolution. Doctors once prescribed mercury with pride in science, yet today, mercury is recognized as a deadly poison, along with many other substances we were and are fed by so-called experts.
Our governance and justice systems were once rife with prejudice and discrimination, and though they are changing, we still have a long way to go, especially spiritually. Despite our advancements, further evolution is necessary. If we liken our body to God and compare it to what is happening in the world, it wouldn’t be just two cells; it would be multiple cells arguing and harming each other, ultimately damaging the body. This can be likened to an autoimmune disease, where immune cells attack the body they belong to, oblivious to the harm they cause.
Now, imagine if we are causing spiritual pain to God in the name of our religions. Metaphorically speaking, we are on the wrong path if we seek only to secure our position as a body part. It’s evident that functioning as isolated groups is not sustainable; we need to understand how the whole body functions.
Consider this example—it’s not humorous but illustrates what’s happening within humanity: A brain cell declares to all others, “Without me, none of you can live.” The heart cell interjects, “If I stop pumping blood, you’ll perish.” The lung asserts, “I provide oxygen; without me, you can’t survive.” The liver chimes in about detoxification, the kidney about filtration, the skin about protection from infections, and the colon about nutrient absorption. Then, God speaks: “When I am present, all functions harmonize, allowing me to exist within you. If I depart, I cannot survive physically, and you cannot survive spiritually or physically.”
As beings receiving oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood from a functioning body, my metaphorical question to all humans is: Why cause pain and suffering to the body or metaphorical God? A serious reflection reveals the need to view humanity with clarity, rather than being swayed by the politics of group affiliation or bodily cells.
To me, spirituality remains an individual journey, irrespective of scientific progress, because of our individual mortality. Since spirituality can benefit or harm individuals, it is each person’s responsibility to ensure they are comfortable in their mortal skin.
My aim isn’t to belittle human knowledge; rather, I seek to aid individuals in evolving to see beyond political divisions, placing mortality and the brevity of life at the forefront of priorities.
All of this empowers us with the potential to be CEOs of our lives. As a CEO, we must take charge. Consider this: if you only care for an arm or a leg, during times like global warming, you might think the body isn’t as crucial as your limb. However, the reality is that while a body can survive with limbs severed, it cannot live independently once they’re lost.
When people belong strongly to their respective groups, they often think they only belong to a part of the body, not the entire body. To me, God represents the whole body, whereas wanting to belong exclusively to a group and desiring your body part to dominate, regardless of the pain it causes God, reflects a failure to see the bigger picture. If you can’t see it, you need to evolve further and quickly. Lack of education may contribute, but deliberate ignorance is politically driven.
The bottom line is that as human beings, we aren’t exclusively connected to one body part; we are integral parts, or main characters, of the larger picture as well. Believing otherwise reflects ongoing evolution or incomplete knowledge.
Whether it stems from sports teams, communities, races, genders, nations, or religions, if exclusivity serves only a group of people, it’s rooted in plain prejudice and discrimination. Every group harbors hidden politics behind its rules. To me, if it’s political, it isn’t spiritual—even when it comes from religions—because ultimately, it leads individuals into zones where they perpetuate prejudices and discriminate against other cells of the body.
When there’s disorder or disease in the body, the entire body feels the pain. To me, spirituality is the harmony and cure for this pain. Now, reflect on your personal reasons: why cause pain and suffering for God in return for life-giving circumstances? If you feel helpless instead of helpful, it’s not in your DNA; it’s learned behavior or a mental disorder. Otherwise, you’re directly connected to God Almighty at a personal level for reciprocation, so you have no reason to feel helpless. Seeking help from those around you and compromising your values for security reveals they can’t help themselves due to mortality. Real help lies within; seek and find God from within.
The politics of our sense of belonging has caused much pain to God. We twist it so that those causing pain are told they act in God’s name.
Always remember, with free will, God has placed many responsibilities on our individual shoulders. With these responsibilities, our life is our personal project. With our mortal nature, we must ensure our lives are lived to create order, not disorder, in the body of God.
Understanding God transforms water into a priceless pearl for you personally, empowering you to fulfill what God intended for you: a living and functioning entity for ten trillion cells and a hundred trillion bacteria. Like a cell in our body or a single grain or seed that spawns new life and more, regardless of size, a human individual resides in a vibrant galaxy of their own. No one has ever known everything, nor does anyone ever will, until we realize our full potential. So ask yourself: are you there?
Remember, we’re an unfinished construction, still in the process of completion. Look at our bodies: lifting weights builds larger muscles, attending school expands knowledge, and remarkably, the more we learn, the more we can learn without increasing head size. Our brains evolve to adapt, indicating limitless potential for evolution. Claiming we know everything there is to know is simply egotistical. While we learn from books, remember, we write books too—all products of evolving brains belonging to evolving human beings.
Sadly, in the name of group belonging, we kill and rob each other of our potential. The only way out of group politics is for individuals to see, understand, and eradicate their ingrained prejudices and discrimination. As adults, instead of perpetuating this, we instill these beliefs in future generations, ensuring God perpetually suffers from a disorder of pain despite all the good we receive.
You can view life through perfect, mathematically correct numbers and scientific truths or religious moral truths. Ultimately, individually, you must find balance; otherwise, following extremists can result in a net loss.
Your real truth is your personal mortality and free will. If you choose a cause and harm an innocent, you cannot find peace within your skin because you are your own judge. Though not prominent in the grand scheme of life, consider yourself as a responsible, living God for trillions and trillions of creatures within. To bring balance to total chaos, you are an authorized CEO. Your thoughts and feelings can be destructive for you and all the life you harbor within. By embracing your responsibilities, you can care for yourself internally and externally alike.
The desire to learn more is ingrained in all of us from before birth, so living in a confined environment isn’t suitable for human beings. All our boundaries are meant to slow down our progress to match our evolutionary rhythm. If we rush too quickly, we risk losing not only collective happiness and contentment but also suffer individually in our mortal lives—a loss greater than what our belonging groups acknowledge.
If you truly believe everything happening in your life is solely because of you or those around you, think again. The reality is, whether discussing the existence of the body or not, arms or legs cannot function independently. All systems must work together to provide life-giving substances to every cell. It’s not one versus the other; it’s the collective functioning of the body. Though we understand a lot about the body today, our knowledge remains incomplete and in progress. With incomplete knowledge, we often make assumptions—sometimes benefiting from them, other times causing harm.
It should be evident by now that all cells in the body depend on the body’s proper functioning. Despite what we are taught or feel, we cannot claim that our functioning is solely due to the groups we belong to. Your belonging groups cannot alter your mortal nature—they cannot save you from death or disease, control natural disasters, or even provide oxygen for themselves. Believing everything is orchestrated by people is a mere assumption. Since we are taught and feel that we are the sole architects of our actions, we must grasp our true influence in the grand scheme of life. I strongly advocate for free will and personal responsibility, aiming for balance rather than extremes.
Simply put, we are accountable for our actions, but dismissing accidents or placebo effects entirely is extreme. Always remember, as human individuals, our lives are personal projects. How we think matters significantly because our stress, which spawns physical illnesses among others, is closely tied to our thought patterns. Stress impacts our health, happiness, and success—my triangle of priorities. In simpler terms, without health, happiness cannot exist, and a mortal life devoid of both cannot succeed, regardless of what our belonging groups assert.
If you’re told you’ll find happiness in the afterlife, consider this: if you haven’t learned to be happy with free oxygen and a healthy functioning body in your lifetime, how could God make you happy after death without physical control? Spiritual happiness and all pleasures are exclusively felt by the physical body—it’s as straightforward as that. All pleasures require a physical body to be enjoyed; you cannot savor food, not even milk and honey, without one. Whether God grants us physical bodies after death is debatable scientifically, but belief is a separate matter. Should one wager on it or place all their hopes in that basket? It’s a personal choice. To me, sacrificing these living years without happiness solely to please your belonging groups by adhering to their rules would be extreme.
Returning to stress:
If we cannot find happiness, we are inherently unhealthy. Being unhappy and unhealthy drastically impacts our measurable living years, making it crucial for a CEO to monitor extreme behaviors. Our uncontrolled sense of belonging isn’t solely linked to our belief systems; it can manifest in race, gender, and nationalism. As mortals with free will, we are CEOs. It is our responsibility to live our mortal lives accordingly.
If you need to adjust your mindset, do so while you still can. If your learned knowledge steals your happiness and contentment, you cannot blame God or those around you—you were blessed with free will. God might say, “I gave you free will for a reason; you bear more responsibility than your group acknowledges. Take charge, endure the emotional stress, and benefit from it. If you fail to step up, your mortal nature indicates time is slipping away, so act.”
A mortal’s goal should be to accumulate happiness and contentment. Sacrificing these for the approval of handlers reduces you to little more than a worker bee or warrior ant. Remember, human individuals are genetically more complex than ants and bees, thanks to our free will. Do not diminish yourself from what you are—a CEO. A CEO’s life may be complex, but you have the capacity to manage it.
Chief Executive Officers of their lives must also understand this message. Misinterpret me, and you might think I advocate selfishness, but I do not. My true message is that you must find balance in your personal life, especially in oppressive societies where survival takes precedence. Regardless of my words, physical survival must come first so that you can continue your thought process.
A CEO must understand how to run a successful company. Typically, a company comprises several departments. The same applies to your individual life. Regardless of the organization you belong to, in a mortal’s life project, personal happiness and contentment cannot be overlooked. If you perceive me as promoting selfishness, read my posts with an open mind, especially “Your Body and Brain,” where I discuss how deep personal happiness stems from serving—including yourself. Knowing how to self-serve is a department that will take care of itself. Do not treat others—or yourself—differently; subservience to others or even to oneself is extreme, a demotion from CEO to department head.
In today’s modern world, CEOs also bear the responsibility of examining scientific facts and the changing world to reinvent faith in spirituality. Again, this is a personal and individual responsibility of the CEO.
Even science revolves around repeatable facts, but a mortal being must first understand personal mortality and emotional fulfillment in temporary existence before delving into a life driven solely by facts and figures. Numbers and facts hold no significance to transient beings; what truly matters is happiness and contentment. I assert that it’s not about religion but rather spiritual satisfaction, essential whether you’re a believer or not. If either extreme—religious fervor or scientific rigor—is robbing you of happiness and contentment, it’s crucial to take control of your life. Remember, you have several different departments; focusing solely on one disrupts spiritual harmony, something you cannot afford to lose in mortal life.
I leave it to religious zealots and scientists to debate extremes, but I believe it all boils down to ego, a product of the political sense of belonging to respected groups. You cannot derive pleasure at the expense of others, so blindly joining groups and following their doctrines does not align with the role of a CEO. Regardless of your thoughts or feelings about mortal life, it is plainly and simply influenced by politics.
It isn’t solely based on facts because your true reality is your mortality, and as a mortal, your utmost responsibility is to find balance and avoid extremes and related spiritual offenses. Reciprocate and find happiness and contentment. If your religion or science provides you with that spiritual satisfaction, follow it, but do not demean others with your incomplete knowledge.
It’s not just egotistical; it’s prejudicial, discriminatory, and born of ignorance. Claiming our knowledge is complete is clearly false, especially as we learn something new every day. Look around and assess where you stand in the crowd; ask yourself if we’re discovering new truths or disproving old theories. If the latter is true, delve into yourself and understand what compels you to claim you know everything—scientifically, religiously, or otherwise. Human history is rife with examples of killing people over beliefs or differing thoughts. We invest emotional effort in proving others wrong simply to validate our ancestors. From religions to forms of governance, factions have battled and violated human rights in the name of ever-changing knowledge. From one holy book to another, from sects within religions to ongoing bloodshed spanning millennia.
Spirituality has been universal and consistent throughout world history and remains so in today’s modern era. It has consistently voiced its truths, yet we persist fervently in our political affiliations and sense of belonging to groups. Our politics of belonging birth egotistical behaviors; thus, it is unequivocally the personal responsibility of individuals to sift through politics and recognize the benefits of spirituality.
Consider our relationships with cats and dogs; often, our bonds with pets surpass those with fellow humans due to our unburdened expectations.
Whether on an individual, communal, national, or religious level, our core issue remains rooted in the politics of belonging. Persona, pride, ego, and honor are all intertwined with our sense of belonging. Do not misunderstand me—as evident from my writing, I advocate for balance. A CEO must combat extremes’ root causes, so I will outline how I scrutinize the origins of our problems. While I may appear critical of the concept of belonging, my criticism is aimed at the politics surrounding group affiliation, which fosters persona, pride, ego, and honor, thereby perpetuating prejudice and discrimination.
It’s not wrong to possess acquired knowledge, but it’s how we wield that knowledge that often goes awry. For instance, when individuals harbor prejudice and discrimination, they often do so under the guise of group identity, further stoking already hostile environments. By failing to question these biases, we perpetuate prejudice and discrimination, exacerbating rather than resolving our real societal issues.
As human beings, our population is rapidly expanding, alongside significant scientific and technological advancements, making our world feel smaller. Consequently, understanding human relationships has become increasingly crucial.
I advocate for balance and the exploration of evolutionary processes, yet I staunchly oppose prejudice and discrimination. My journey into the roots of these behaviors consistently leads back to the politics of group identity. If you embark on a similar inquiry, you’ll likely arrive at the same conclusion. Today, I delve into our politics and their impact on our relationships.
From personal disputes to age-old religious conflicts, it’s always the emotions of individual humans that fuel these fires, regardless of their origins. If these conflicts stem from our group identities, it’s up to the individual to evolve and understand their personal motivations—be it persona, pride, ego, or honor. Addressing these issues at the individual level is where we should begin to seek solutions.
Consider two people embroiled in an argument, blaming each other for a dispute. If we truly had absolute control over our circumstances—including life, death, and disease—such conflicts would seem trivial. Our troubles often stem from the assumptions ingrained in our acquired knowledge. To truly understand, we must read between the lines.
Imagine being told you possess free will, yet your allegiance to group identity renders it ineffective. You find yourself adhering to political rules rather than exercising your free will. In such a scenario, are you truly using the full potential nature has endowed upon you? Are you using your free will to pursue your personal growth, or are you merely conforming to your group’s dictates under the guise of spiritual truth?
Personally, I believe blindly following rules or succumbing to brainwashing can lead to trouble. Decisions should align with the times and their demands. On a lighter note, here’s a joke sent to me from Pakistan in Punjabi, fitting into this discussion:
During training, an officer falls into a well. Soldiers rush to help, tossing down a rope to pull him up. Upon seeing him, they salute, inadvertently letting go of the rope. After a few failed attempts, someone suggests calling a senior officer. The general, conducting an inspection nearby, arrives to assist. As the major is being pulled up, he spots the higher-ranking officer, salutes, and promptly falls back into the well. The onlookers then shout, “Call the civilian!”
On a more serious note, Ramadan is a fasting period for Muslims. They eat before sunrise and after sunset. However, blindly adhering to these rules without considering regional conditions can pose challenges. In northern regions, where daylight varies significantly between seasons, fasting and prayer timings based on the sun’s position become impractical. Fasting and prayers serve not just to instill discipline or obedience, but also to tame our primal urges and foster spiritual growth. While fasting is a common practice across many religions, it’s crucial to adapt these practices to evolving human needs.
Believing in religious doctrines or legal codes as immutable truths can hinder our understanding of evolution and even of God. If rules were divine mandates, we’d be akin to ants or bees. Instead, human civilization has soared beyond these limitations. We fly where winged creatures cannot, dive into the depths of the oceans without gills, and explore the inner recesses of mountains without claws. Our ability to perceive beyond the naked eye is a testament to our unique capabilities. Therefore, undermining our potential is contrary to what I believe to be God’s will. Our achievements are evidence of His divine plan.
Politics often simplifies God as good and the Devil as bad, but this perception is purely political. Blaming or glorifying them is absurd because each of us possesses free will and a personal sense of justice. Evading personal responsibility by attributing physical actions to an invisible entity is deceptive. Remember, humans are the ones who physically make things happen, for better or worse.
If you delve into the concept of free will, you’ll realize that both God and the Devil lose their significance. Our responsibilities as human beings increase exponentially.
Depending on one’s perspective and inner strength, one can uncover the roots of their inferiority complexes. My “theory of five bucks” simplifies this concept (read more about it). By focusing on our abilities rather than disabilities, we enrich our mortal experiences and lead fuller lives.
Our existence could resemble that of ants and bees if we neglect or fail to acknowledge our free will. To effect change, we need free will, a capable body, a sound mind, and the freedom to act. Life need not be perfect; we don’t need all the answers during our mortal existence. We lack the luxury of perfect control over our affairs. If you’re among those who feel otherwise, keep the nature of mortality in perspective—it grounds us and sobers us from the intoxication of certainty.
I believe in exploration and discovery. For instance, I believe in a God of order and harmony, not one of destruction and punishment. Despite our actions and nature, we are not mere animals to be conditioned with rewards and punishments. I believe in our ability to self-regulate through knowledge of free will and personal responsibility. Does this belief system conflict with my Muslim faith? Perhaps, according to those who reject evolution and adaptation to contemporary needs.
I believe no one should be compelled to change their beliefs through coercion or carrot-and-stick tactics. Personally, I believe in God and reciprocate His blessings and abilities, including the capacity to think and write.
We often gaze into space as if God resides outside us. Certainly, the cosmos operates within an order essential to our survival. The vastness and chaos of space underscore the miracle of our existence. Look within: you have ten trillion cells, supported by a hundred trillion other living organisms within you. The individual functionality within us is miraculous, yet we boast of personal agency, especially when belittling others and asserting our superior knowledge.
If you believe in a scientific worldview where life is mere chance and survival of the fittest, examine the sophistication and order amidst the chaos of your existence. Disbelief is one thing, but failing to benefit from a belief system in mortal life is a choice. I don’t impose my beliefs on others; everyone navigates their own journey. However, being a decent human being is essential, not just for others but for self-respect, as we all inhabit our physical bodies. Unhappiness and discontent signal an unfulfilled life; address the underlying causes.
Life, to me, is inherently complex. Simplifying it by blaming the Devil and praising God undermines ordinary individuals, robbing them of self-esteem. It suggests they are insignificant and absolved of personal responsibility. This lack of self-esteem only benefits the elite or controlling authorities, who use group identity politics to shame or silence dissenters.
We’re told life is as simple as A-B-C: believe in God to evade thinking and questioning, or reject belief and assume full responsibility. What’s the outcome of these systems? Regardless, we must face facts like mortality—scientists and religious adherents alike cannot escape this universal truth. Father Time and mortality spare no one; hence, we must individually seize control of our lives. We possess free will to navigate our mortal existence comfortably. If religious belief offers solace, embrace it. If a scientific worldview resonates, that’s your prerogative. But refrain from denigrating others or waging wars over differing viewpoints.
If you believe that your race, gender, nation, or religion should dominate the world, it’s akin to thinking an arm or leg should govern the entire body. The body functions with its various parts, not by any single cell alone. While cells have specific roles and functions, they depend not only on each other but also on the organizing or harmonizing force within, which I call God. In essence, cells contribute to bodily function but do not run the entire show.
Egotistically, we may assert our desires, but without oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood reaching every cell, we cannot function. Despite the chaotic environment, this organizing force, both internal and external, requires equitable consideration from all of us. Each cell has its place in the body, metaphorically speaking, just as each individual has a place in the world.
If you believe only your existence is justified, it’s not a matter of nature but rather a result of your politics of group identity. Logical examples abound, yet we often fail to connect the dots. While the spirit or soul requires a functioning body for physical performance, without the soul or spirit, neither can operate. Neither humans nor groups of people control life’s outcomes exclusively—so what drives our actions? Understanding life’s wisdom compels each of us to explore this question personally, without relying solely on past narratives, and with a sense of personal responsibility to become CEOs of our own lives, avoiding blindly following well-trodden paths with predictable results.
As cells, we are evolving beings; we know there’s more to our existence than mere willpower. Today, with the widespread advocacy for equal human rights and democracies as preferred governance systems, we recognize that no single group of cells directs the entire body.
Awareness of global warming and the necessity of space stations underscores our interconnectedness. Just as God is necessary for humanity’s function, so too are all individuals needed. If you still believe your group is superior or that joining a specific group will elevate your humanity, then humanity must evolve further to overcome our tendencies toward prejudice and discrimination against others.
Understanding is accessible to those who seek it, driven by a commitment to achieving equality. Despite our efforts, our allegiance to group identities remains a significant barrier to the next leap forward that humanity must take. Simply shifting to a new paradigm—embracing humanity as a whole rather than the segmented parts like an arm or leg—can facilitate this leap.
The United Nations has existed for decades, yet it has not effectively united humanity. This failure stems not only from our allegiance to group identities but also from its reluctance to fully embrace democracy and equal human rights as foundational principles. Despite nearly two hundred member nations, the United Nations seems to regress, contrary to its stated mission of peace. Rather than uniting, it often divides further—a stark contradiction to its purported purpose.
Our attempts to unify humanity are passive and misguided, exemplified by the veto system. Granting veto power to a select few nations renders the organization biased and discriminatory. Despite the United Nations’ opposition, America’s invasion of Iraq proceeded unchecked. Kashmir remains disputed after seventy years and three wars. Why do we struggle to overcome our allegiance to group identities? Even our foremost global organization is swayed by these affiliations rather than prioritizing humanity as a whole.
When war crimes and human rights violations occur worldwide, we must scrutinize their root causes and the efficacy of our responses. An organization equipped with a comprehensive justice system but lacking enforcement capabilities is ineffective. It requires the fortitude and authority to assert its values. Ignoring conflicts only perpetuates endless violence. The Kashmir conflict escalated India and Pakistan into nuclear powers, underscoring the need for global political transformation. We strive for political correctness, allowing religions to amass wealth and influence without taxation. This perpetuates prejudice and discrimination indefinitely.
Since its inception, the United Nations has utilized the veto system, a clear violation of equal human rights, yet it purports to unite nations. I advocate for its renaming to reflect the unity of humanity under equal individual human rights. No nation, race, gender, or religion should enjoy privileged status, as we all share the same composition and function. Education in equality should extend beyond political favoritism to encompass basic human rights.
Remember, an arm or leg doesn’t control the body; not even the harmonizing force I call God. It’s about the functioning of the entire system, yet despite all our advancements, we seem to regress against the natural course. Nature continually reminds us to cooperate, for our collective benefit or suffering is intertwined. Humanity comprises the body of humanity.
Consider if you can sense this unity, akin to how cells perceive the body as their reality. They haven’t seen it, but they experience life’s blessings and reciprocate instinctively. As individuals, what do you contribute to this reciprocity? Working, paying taxes, and directing those funds to support society’s needy epitomize your contribution. God does not demand—indeed, God does not need—anything from you, not even obedience in exchange for blessings. Fulfilling the needs of fellow human beings constitutes your physical contribution. While taxes may appear socialist, scrutinizing them reveals a spiritual dimension. Embrace this blessing as you transition from recipient to benefactor.
If religious teachings spanning millennia have not achieved their intended goals, it’s due to our allegiance to group identities. These teachings extol belonging to a specific group—absurd in an era where conflicts are no longer resolved with spears and swords but with nuclear and mass destructive weapons.
I am not discussing the authenticity of religion or science; I am simply highlighting their potential harms or benefits. If we destroy each other with nuclear weapons, what good is science doing for humanity? Conversely, if we continue perpetual violence over beliefs, when will we recognize the dangers of our organized and politicized religions? We must critically examine the root causes of extremism, both collectively and individually, to eradicate it from our evolving humanity altogether.
We all bear individual and collective responsibility to evolve with the changing times, not only in one aspect of life. For example, if we advance scientifically but dismiss the relevance of religion, sociology, spirituality, or emotional fulfillment, we are choosing to evolve selectively. Personally, I believe it’s our responsibility to evolve holistically to become complete human beings.
If you preach nationalism, religious glorification, or political agendas based on a sense of belonging, yet act contrary due to political considerations, it creates logical inconsistencies. At the highest levels of our organizational systems, such as the United Nations, equal human rights are openly advocated, yet the institution maintains a veto system in its constitution. How can these contradictions be overlooked? While politics is necessary to govern systems, we must eliminate these practices of contradiction. Otherwise, we’ll never overcome prejudice, discrimination, wars, and hatred.
I believe that preaching allegiance to our groups harms humanity as a whole. The solution lies in belonging to humanity as a whole.
So, how should individuals propel civilization forward to replace outdated security politics when even our foremost global organization, like the United Nations, operates on a veto-based, discriminatory manifesto? We must embrace a new paradigm to transcend old ways of doing things.
It may be challenging for conservatives, but in the name of peace and humanity’s survival, we may need to learn and adapt. Individually and collectively, we must introspect deeply to discern whether we’re connected merely as an arm or leg, or as part of the entire body. To me, it’s not even a question, but for individuals steeped in group identity politics, it can be daunting. I hope my analogy of the human body and its cells helps illustrate that logically, we are connected to humanity, not just its parts.
Spirituality teaches us about our mortality and the imperative of leading a decent life, while our group identities often mold us into warrior ants or worker bees. Regardless of science or religion, it is essential for each of us to scrutinize the motives behind our actions. We must aspire to spiritual growth because, ultimately, we will judge our lives based on our personal sense of justice—whether we’ve used our free will to live a meaningful mortal life or squandered it as mere worker bees or warrior ants.
Consider how cells converse about the body’s existence among themselves. They’ve never seen us from the outside, just as we cannot directly perceive God, no matter how advanced or sophisticated we become. This awareness turns a simple tear into a priceless pearl of wisdom. Before assuming evolution should govern all aspects of your life—be it science or religion—allow yourself to emotionally grow in love and compassion. This way, you can experience a complete, mortal life filled with contentment and happiness.