Anna

   "Let me explain the problem science has with God."
   The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then
asks one of his new students to stand.

   "You’re a God believer, aren’t you, son?"
   "Yes sir," the student says.
   "So you believe in God?"
   "Absolutely."
   "Is God good?"
   "Sure God’s good."
   "Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
   "Yes."
   "Are you good or evil?"
   "The teachings says I’m evil."

   The professor grins knowingly. He considers for a moment.

   "Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and
you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? Would
   you try?"
   "Yes sir, I would."
   "So you’re good…"
   "I wouldn’t say that."
   "But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you
could.
   Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t."

   The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn’t,
does he? My brother was a God believer who died of
   cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this God
good?  Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"

   The student remains silent.

   "No, you can’t, can you?" the professor says.

   He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student
time to relax.

   "Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?"
   "Er… Yes," the student says.
   "Is Satan good?"

   The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. "No."
   "Then where does Satan come from?"
   The student falters. "From… God…"
   "That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil
in this world?"
   "Yes, sir."
   "Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct? "

   "Yes."
   "So who created evil?"

   Again, the student has no answer.

   "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness.
   All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"
   The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
   "So who created them?"

   The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his
question.

   "Who created them? "

   There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace
in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized.

   "Tell me," he continues. "Do you believe in God, son?"
   The student’s voice betrays him and cracks.
   "Yes,professor. I do."
   The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use
to identify and observe the world around you. Have you
   ever seen God?"
   "No sir. I’ve never seen Him."
   "Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your God?"
   "No, sir. I have not."
   "Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God or smelt your God? Have
you ever had any sensory perception of God?
   "No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t."
   "Yet you still believe in him?" thundered the professor
   "Yes."
   "According to the rules of empirical, testable,demonstrable protocol,

   science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?

   "Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."
   "Yes, faith," the professor repeats.
   "And that is the problem science has with God.
   There  is no evidence, only  faith."

   The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of
his own.

   "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"
   "Yes," the professor replies. "There’s heat."
   "And is there such a thing as cold?"
   "Yes, son, there’s cold too."
   "No sir, there isn’t."

   The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The
room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to
   explain.

   "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat,
white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have
   anything called "cold’.
   We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat,but we can’t go
any further after that. There is no such thing as cold;
   otherwise we would be able to go colder than -458 degrees. You see,
sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We
cannot
   measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is
energy.
   Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

   Silence across the room A pen drops somewhere in the classroom,
sounding like a hammer.

   "What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"
   "Yes," the professor replies without hesitation.
   "What is night if it isn’t darkness?"

   "You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the
absence of something. You can have low light, normal light,
   bright light, flashing light. But if you have no light constantly
you  have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning
we use to
   define the word. In reality, Darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be
able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?"

   The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This
will be a good semester.

   "So what point are you making, young man?"
   "Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical  premise is flawed
to start with and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

   The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can
you explain how?"

   "You are working on the premise of duality," the  student explains.
   "You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and
a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something
   finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a
thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much
less fully
   understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be
ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is
   not the opposite of life, just the absence of it.

   "Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved
from a monkey?"

   "If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young
man,yes,of course I do."

   "Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"

   The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes
where the argument is going. A very good semester indeed

   "Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and
cannot even p rove that this process is an on-going
   endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a
scientist, but  a preacher?"

   The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the
commotion has subsided.

   "To continue the point you were making earlier to the other students,
let me give you an example of what I mean."

   The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who
has ever seen the professor’s brain?" The class breaks
   out into laughter.

   "Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt
the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain? No one
appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of
empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol,science says that you have no
brain, with all due respect, s ir. So if science says you have no brain,
how can we trust your lectures, sir?"

   Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his
face unreadable

   Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers.

   "I guess you’ll have to take them on faith." The class breaks into a
deadening applause

   "Continuing further, Sir, when GOD created the universe he made a set
of rules which governs every living organisms, categorized in his own
way.
   For some, life is a predestined, well programmed journey of life. For
others, like humans, the rules of life are the direct results of their
own actions, words, thoughts or/and conducts. So, Sir, happiness,
sadness, good, bad, sickness, good health, poverty and abundance,  is
man’s own doing unto himself. The wrong an d bad happenings in man’s
life, is nothing but the lack of righteousness in his way of life."

   It pays to have faith in God ….
   Evil is not the opposite of Goodness…it is the absence.