ABSTRACT
There is probably nothing graver than the question of God. It consumes waking consciousness and lives in the psychic underworld of humanity. It is always there, invading our thoughts, structuring our social practices, and hence driving interpersonal, political, and economic relations, where the fate of our existence hinges on an answer, beckoning for a response. Billions of people are preoccupied with this question everyday, although it largely affects us unconsciously in ways most people remain unaware of. Although entire cultures are organized around religious custom, the God question is ultimately an intimate enterprise each person must face alone. As a philosopher and psychoanalyst, I remain deeply engaged in this quest-ion, one which (admittedly) will likely haunt me until my dying days; yet my somber conclusions offer little consolation in the moment. There is no ultimate destiny (telos) other than what we make for ourselves. God is a promise of hope—of peace, happiness, eternal salvation—what we all want, an antidote to hardship, hate, and our undying pain. But we must face the brute reality of life on its own terms, where there are no promises, for we all must find our own way. Each of us must live and die by our own choices and actions, and that is why, in the end, we are all ultimately responsible to answer this question for ourselves.
