God is the one celebrity who is talked about the most. There are many definitions of God and as many interpretations. The interpretation of God I'm referring to is that which is invoked all the time in our daily life. He (or she) sees us all the time and rewards us and punishes us. In fact, he runs every minute of our lives, according to some. Popular phrases thrown around about God include: "God will take care of you", "Fear God or else he will punish you", "God, save me", "God sees everything", and "God, please help me clear my exams", etc. The type of God I'm referring to is the one you offer prayers to, fear, and talk to.
Now, I have not met God, nor have I met an underworld Don. But I have witnessed the relationship people have with God and am well aware of the workings of an underworld Don from my extensive film watching. I can't help but see striking similarities in both God and a Don. The Don is a person who is really powerful and has accumulated his wealth and power by wrong means. He rules a few people and ensures they are loyal to him. They must play by his rules or they will suffer the consequences. He loves when people suck up to him, and Fear is the ultimate key to his success. This is precisely the sentiment that strikes me as quite similar to our view of God. Fear is the key to God, too. The standard view of God also shows him eager to punish people, say, if they slip in saying the right prayer and he expects that everyone do everything exactly as it is supposed to be done in some unwritten code of conduct. He is ready to be angry at drop of a hat. People have to sing songs and praise him all the time, suck up to him, and still have to live in fear of him. The same is the case with a Don -- he can shoot you because he didn't like the news you brought or didn't pay him the proper respect.
By definition though, God and Don are not the same. A Don is an outlaw who probably has some good qualities, but in general tends to be "bad". Now God, by definition (irrespective of religion), is the most powerful and nicest dude ever. He is so powerful that he has made the entire universe and he is pretty much the definition of 'good'. Good starts and ends with him. Basically he is the ideal parent and infinitely powerful such that he can do anything. If he is so good, by definition, then do you think he will ever do bad to you? So, why does a human need to 'fear god'? If God is omniscient and knows whether you are "good" or "bad", why do you have to suck up to him? So if you are a good guy or a bad guy, it won't make a difference if you go to the chosen God's house of worship, how many times you remember him in a day, how many times you pray to him, what you make for a feast in his honor. However many things you do to please him it, he won't care. Why? Because by definition he is not an insecure human who needs pampering or fake followers to make him feel good. He is the universe himself so probably all he cares is - you be good. Try being good to each other... right?
So what is this entire world doing sucking up to this underworld God? It's very possible that long time ago, due to the lack of structured government and law and order, this view of God was used to control masses. and society used his name to put every rule in place. Whatever the case is, we don't need to worry about it anymore.
My Point is - Don't worry, be Happy. If you believe in some kind of God, by definition, he is good and nice so he won't do you harm. He may guide you, but he won't harm you if you are trying to be good. Unfortunately, if he turns out to be like an underworld Don and needs all this sucking up to do to keep him happy, then we all are doomed, anyway. Don't worry, he will find a fault in no matter what ritual you do. He will catch you with a mistake, no matter how hard you try. In that case, maybe you should choose a religion which has fewer tasks required of you to keep him happy. But there's another reason you may continue to do these rituals. Probably out of love. So do whatever you do for God, do out of happiness and when you feel like it, not out of compulsion and fear and some written diktat. For good or for bad God knows already .... so relax.
