All the “civilized” people in the novel's world have been deprived of the right to believe in God. Because their lives seem to lack nothing, they have no need to seek God or rely on Him. Religion originally emerged, after all, from humanity's struggle after being cast into an extraordinarily uncertain world. Religion helps people overcome fear and pain and contributes to social stability by strengthening the bonds of community. Yet in Brave New World, no natural suffering, pain, or fear is permitted, and life rarely departs from its predetermined framework. The “civilized” people have thus been denied even the opportunity to believe in God.
What this suggests is that belief itself can be manipulated. It is said that faith comes from hearing. To believe something, and even to form a thought, we must first encounter some external stimulus. A newborn's eyes are like mirrors: what they reflect depends on the surroundings before them. However independent human beings may be, the beginnings of what occurs in their minds are profoundly shaped by their environment.
Why, then, do we believe in God? If our thoughts have merely been planted in us, how can we claim to believe in God sincerely? Recall the biblical passage: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” Evidence of God already exists within us. Regardless of the environment in which we grow up, humanity universally bears traces through which God has made Himself knowable. In other words, the human conscience and the instinct to seek God themselves testify to His existence. Even if a newborn's eyes resemble mirrors, they always reflect light that has first struck something. Most of our thoughts come from outside us. Yet beneath individual “thoughts” lies a deeper structure of “thinking,” and at its end, I believe, God naturally stands.
Ultimately, “Why do we believe in God?” is not the right question. Our very existence testifies to God's existence; in this view, denying God would be tantamount to denying ourselves. Sadly, the civilized people of the novel have even this movement of thought completely controlled. In conclusion, as believers who bear the responsibility of living an existential life, the question we should ultimately ask is this: “What makes it difficult for me to believe in God more deeply?”