View source for How can you trust God if you don't know anything about Him? First you have to know something about God before you can trust Him.

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{{terms|"How can you trust God if you don't know anything about Him? First you have to know something about God before you can trust Him"}}
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[[Category:Questions asked to Srila Prabhupada]]
[[Category:Questions asked to SP... 1976]]
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<div id="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="section" sec_index="5" parent="compilation" text="Conversations and Morning Walks"><h2>Conversations and Morning Walks</h2>
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<div id="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" class="sub_section" sec_index="9" parent="Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" text="1976 Conversations and Morning Walks"><h3>1976 Conversations and Morning Walks</h3>
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<div id="GardenConversationJune221976NewVrindaban_0" class="quote" parent="1976_Conversations_and_Morning_Walks" book="Con" index="154" link="Garden Conversation -- June 22, 1976, New Vrindaban" link_text="Garden Conversation -- June 22, 1976, New Vrindaban">
<div class="heading">Yes. That is sense. If you do not know about somebody and you trust him, what is this? Yes.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Garden Conversation -- June 22, 1976, New Vrindaban|Garden Conversation -- June 22, 1976, New Vrindaban]]: </span><div class="text"><p style="display: inline;">Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: Let's say a country takes full advantage of this slogan.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: That is my question. Where is that full advantage? They are remaining in the darkness. Why do you trust, first of all. Why do you trust? So many questions there are. Why you are prepared to trust in God? If I ask, you must answer. If you cannot answer, then you are ass. It is good, even without knowing, but when the slogan comes from the government side, there must be full knowledge. Otherwise, the government is as good as common man. The government should be full of intelligent men. Why vote is there? You select an intelligent man. Otherwise, anyone can go. Cats and dogs, they also can go. Why the voting system? That you select some intelligent man. So if you cannot answer your slogan, then you are not intelligent, you are unfit.</p>
<p>Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: They've made the platform that the man himself can solve all the problems.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Then why do you trust in God? Don't trust in God, like the Communists say, "We don't trust in God. We shall do it ourselves."</p>
<p>Kuladri: But the forefathers who made up our slogan "In God We Trust," they were very unintelligent, they were very backwards.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: But you are intelligent. Why you are putting the forefather's words? You avoid it. That means you are cheating people. You do not believe in, but you still write it. That means cheating. Why do you write such things in which you do not believe? That means cheating. Hmm? What do you think? If you write something which you do not believe in, are you not cheating? That means cheating. You take word, you are giving a piece of paper, and it is written there, "one thousand dollars." That means you are cheating, in the name of God, he will accept you, that's all. If you say, "No, I don't want paper. Give me gold dollar," then you are finished. Your currency will be finished. Immediately there will be revolution, that "The government is cheating us." Actually it is cheating. What is the proof, value, of this paper, little paper? Simply "I promise to pay, governor and this..." But it is on trust only: "Yes, government will pay me." They'll never pay, but so long the government goes on, it will go on, that's all, cheating will go on. And as soon government fails, you throw in the street, no one will care for it. It has been practically proved in the last war, in Germany. There was scarcity of food, and those who had bunch of currency notes, they went for one piece of bread, so many thousand marks, "Give me." Nobody supplied. So the paper has no value, but if we believe, it has value, that's all. Otherwise what is the meaning of this paper, one thousand dollars? So it is a kind of cheating, "We trust in God; we are very good men. You trust in me."</p>
<p>Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: How can this practically be applied to American society, this idea of trusting God? How would things change?</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: By this Kṛṣṇa conscious movement's propaganda. That is not for America—for everyone.</p>
<p>Kīrtanānanda: How can you trust God if you don't know anything about Him? First you have to know something about God before you can trust Him.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Yes. That is sense. If you do not know about somebody and you trust him, what is this? Yes.</p>
<p>Raksana: Through the distribution of your books, through the...</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: That is distribution of knowledge. Our distribution of books means distribution of knowledge to these rascals, lowest of the mankind, bewildered. This is distribution of knowledge. Who was talking about that there is secretly, there is, our books are being read?</p>
<p>Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: That was in East Germany.</p>
<p>Hari-śauri: Harikesa.</p>
<p>Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: That was in East Germany. They have lists, and they pass Prabhupāda's books around. One person has it for one night or three nights, like this, and it keeps going around, because they are very much in want of this. They can't get enough.</p>
<p>Prabhupāda: Just see how forcefully they are being kept into ignorance, and we want to give knowledge, they don't, won't allow. This is government. So anyway, it is good news that our books are being read in that way. That means people are very eager, but they are being suppressed by the so-called government. What is the wrong there, that they cannot read these books publicly, because there is God? What is the wrong? When I was in Moscow airport, as soon as they found Bhagavad-gītā, they called police, the customs checking. The foolish man was kind enough, he said, "Not serious offense. Don't send him in the concentration camp." They can do. In Russia, even if you are foreigner, they can immediately send you to the concen..., without any knowledge, they don't care for your embassy or your... Such a rascal state, there is no civilized method. They send their own men, such an important man like that Kruschev. He was sent into oblivion; nobody knows where he is. Such a rascal government. Very difficult to live in. People are... Simply under terrorism the government is going on. In that sense your American government is so nice. Everyone has got the liberty. What is that nonsense government-terrorism.</p>
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