Who is an enemy of God?

A Blog Post

An atheist is not an enemy of God. So is a rationalist or a person who lacks faith in a particular prophet or religion. These are choices people make as a part of their freedom or conditioned behavior. They are not God’s enemies, but a part of his diversity. They have a purpose in our world and play an important role in testing our faith, in the process either weakening it or strengthening it. It is the same God who speaks through them and exists in them as a part of his great mystery and concealment.

They may disregard commonly accepted moral or ethical code or they may be prone to common human vulnerabilities, but it is not ground to treat them as enemies of God. You cannot blame them for not believing in God or for being different from you. It is not sin if they want to trust their senses and rely upon their direct experience rather than the unprovable words of authority figures, scriptures or institutions.

In many ways, atheism, rationalism and agnosticism are also faiths only because proving the nonexistence of God is as difficult as proving his existence. Their faith is shaped by their belief in the non-existence of God. From a theistic perspective, an atheist is also God’s creation only. His faith arises from the fact God hides himself from him and creates the illusion or the reality of his nonexistence.

As the Bhagavadgita affirms, a person is verily made up of his faith only. As his faith, so is the person; and as the person is, so is his faith. You and your faith are inseparable. It follows you even in your sleep. It becomes reflected in every aspect of your life, including your choices and actions. It is a product of your past and the sum of your learning, awareness, beliefs, experience, perceptions and cognition.

In short, it is made of your karma only. In Hinduism, we believe that all beings are subject to ignorance and delusion. Therefore, not having the right knowledge or mistaking one thing for another is a part of our natural existence. You do not incur any sin for holding on to your beliefs, as long as you do not harm others based upon them.

One becomes an enemy of God when one becomes an enemy of the humanity and becomes a source of evil to oneself and others, engaging in inhuman acts, causing hurt and harm or inflicting pain and suffering upon others, including animals and other creatures. From this perspective, anyone who practices hatred and cruelty towards others and lacks compassion and consideration for others and God’s creation is an enemy of God.

An enemy of God goes against the preservation of life upon earth and against the order and regularity of the world. He not only makes light of God's eternal teachings, with a single-minded obsession to replace the institutions of religion and ancient traditions with their antithetical ones but also lives solely for himself and his wicked beliefs, disregarding the values which promote peace and happiness or sustain life or love and compassion.