THE FAULT OF MAN

ONE of the main disclosures of modern physics has been that
the energy reaching the Earth from the Sun is the result of
nuclear reactions at the centre of the Sun. As the physicist
Fritjof Capra wrote, nuclear processes at the centre of the
Sun are of singular importance for our planet, “because they furnish the
energy which sustains our terrestrial environment.” — The Tao of Physics.

The fact that nuclear energy transmitted by the sun reaches the earth in
the form of light and sustenance shows that nuclear energy, in the hands
of nature, is a source of life for the world. But the same energy in the
hands of men becomes an instrument of death and destruction.
What is the reason for this starkly contrasting state of affairs? It is that
nature has no power of its own; whatever it does conforms exactly to the
will of God. We, on the other hand, have been invested with freedom. Just
as nuclear energy, when it emanates from nature in the form of sun’s rays,
is a source of light and sustenance for the planet, so religion, as revealed
to us by God, is a source of light and sustenance for the spiritual world—it
nourishes our souls and guides us onto the path of eternal salvation.
But just as men have mishandled nuclear energy, they have mishandled
religion. They have used it to advance themselves to positions of power,
to win esteem, to accumulate wealth for themselves at the expense of
others and to spread conflict, hate, division and suffering in this world.
The author Richard Dawkins, in his famous book, ‘The God Delusion’,
blames religion for much of the bloodshed in the world and many of the
ills in society.

It would be wrong to blame nuclear energy for the potential of destruction
it holds for us, because that would be due to its misuse, not to any fault of
its own. In the same way, it is wrong to blame religion for the evils which
men have perpetrated in its name. This is the fault of man, not the fault
of the divine religion which he corrupts.