Karen Armstrong's Does God Have a Future - Article Example

But God is simply the belief that we each hold that defines the difference between right and wrong, and good and evil. It doesn't necessarily take a 'man in the sky' viewpoint to hold a belief in God or religion. Science changes its explanations and theories with time and so does God. This is not a dead God; it is a living and growing God.Armstrong contends that "committed atheism can be more religious than weary or inadequate theism". She points out that any explanation for God is either absurd or tyrannical.

However, she uses the most extreme and lame versions of religion to cast her judgments. The living and evolving God is not left behind as a worn-out concept, unable to keep up with science and technology. In fact, this is exactly why people are returning to God. We face challenges in our modern world that can't be confronted simply on logical or scientific terms. The decisions that we make need to resonate with the belief that there is a lasting good to come from them. This comes by being rooted in the 'passionate theism' that guides us.

God may be a new and improved version of the previous over-ruling tormentor and keeper of the gates of hell. God becomes more compassionate when we can take responsibility for our own actions. But it is no less of a God. Armstrong claims that the United States has always been ".prone to extremist and apocalyptic enthusiasm". She points to the rise of fundamentalism as evidence. However, this is merely the crest of the rising tide of the return to religion. It is not representative of the sea of belief below it.

We see time and time again where mainstream religious advocates denounce radicalism.God not only has a future, but the future is also very bright. Our liberal acceptance of religion has allowed the concept of God to grow and flourish, and a concept is no less real than a rock or a tree. There is no need or rush to prove the existence of a material being that fits the definition of scientific inquiry. Science simply may never be able to catch up with God. Far from apocalyptic and weary, today's belief in God is vibrant and evolving.

God is not dead. Those that misunderstand God's purpose may have sentenced God to death, but the concept has been resurrected into a meaningful version that guides us in today's world.