Coming Out of Closet: I am an Atheist

From time immemorial, religion is known to be one of the most powerful concept which affects us. Religion runs families, politics, governments, ideals, cultures, protests... We judge people by their commitment to religion, and religion unites and it divides people. With all this mass hysteria behind the word “religion”, one assumes that you cannot criticize religion. Even the mildest of criticism is taken as blasphemy, judged against sin. Our moral values are guided by religion, ethics are dictated by it. You must be morally deprived or ethically impoverished to even think of criticizing religion. With all this at stake, I want to come out of the closet and let it be known, to whoever cares, that I am an atheist!

I had been through the stage of experimenting with religion and concept of God for a long time now. Belief in god is the paternal legacy that I inherited from my family, since the time that I remember. The idea of God was so obvious with nothing to question. The story is long and not interesting. So I'll just cut it short to, “one day I realized that I no more believe in religion or even in the concept of god.” For me religious texts are fiction, faith is a virus and God is no different from Aladdin's fantastical Genie. So, if you are talking to me about any of these subjects, do expect no or a sarcastic response from me on the subject. You may call me a sinner if you do not see me patronizing with your beliefs, but I am OK with it. I just do not wish to bark attack on idiotic view of religion and god. And yes, I think it is idiotic!

If you are making assumptions that something really miserable or ill-fated must have happened to me, similar to Amitabh Bacchan's life in the movie Nastik, then you will be disappointed to know that my life is not that dramatic. Sorry! The reason for my beliefs leans heavily on science. The interrelation between various branches of science, from astronomy to evolution to human psychology etc. For me faith or any faith does not need respect as I have come to believe that the ideas preached by these books should be scrutinized and when found illogical or in many case demeaning to humankind, should even be attacked. I am not just talking about one religion, I am talking about any monotheistic or polytheistic religion or any other form or concept of god. Honestly, if you give it a little thought it is not too hard to realize that the false myths spread by religion were nothing but ignorant stories and wisdom which tried to explain mysteries that had no answers at the time of origin of those religions. 

Mysteries that we don't know and the ones that we may know in future are far more profound, far more uplifting than anything you will ever find in Vedas, Upanishads, Bible, Qur'an or any other religious texts.

I have been asked, What is wrong in having belief in God or existence of a God?

I think it is false and it is matter of belief without evidence. As an engineer, a citizen of scientific era and avid admirer of science and its progress, I like the idea that we should believe in things because there is evidence verifiable through repetitive experimentation and observations. 

In spite of tremendous amount of evidence from the beginning of the 21^st century regarding evolution, climate change and the universe that it is, rather, a matter of shame that people still base their lives on something for which there is no evidence or never was any evidence. I find this realization depressing because the truth, stored in form of scientific knowledge and observations all around us, is so beautiful and mystical without any pretensions of faith.

I have also been confronted with the argument that, "it is absurd that is why it is faith, because if it was evidential then you would not require a faith and you will be missing the point about religion." But from my point of view, it is not a point in it favor, is it? 

For me what matters is the truth! And here I am referring to the scientific truth. I can't see any other form of truth when we are discussing the universe and the nature of life on this planet. There is arguably another form of truth, truth that you may call as ethical or moral truth. But from my point of view, the so called moral or ethical truths are nothing but outcome of common sense and I would rather not consider them scientific at all unless we completely understand the working of human brain. When pondering over the question of definition of truth, I will be only referring to the scientific truth which are verifiable through rigorous experimentation and are based on years of accumulated scientific knowledge.

The reason why these questions have crossed my mind are due to the rigid immovable shackles religion and its medieval customs have presented before us even after 400 years of enlightenment. Somehow it seems to me that there is a noticeable growth pseudosciences thanks to the media where a substantial group gives focus on astrology or conspiracy theories but never do we see TV series on Indian television on science and development of science. 

We have a whole generation growing up on crap shown on Aaj Tak and India Channel. 

As I said before, I find that there is so much available to us in terms of scientific knowledge and understanding of universe and life on this planet, that I consider it a tragedy that people have been actively led astray into believing illogical nonsense and superstitions of old ignorant world.

Where did the need to replace these superstitious ideas with science come from?

The answer is in human inquisitiveness to understand. Before science process was fully developed and understood, people filled the "need to understand" with superstitions or religions which were based on inspirational wisdom but not facts. 

There is also a need for consolation and religion gives consolation to its followers, which probably is mixed blessing. Anyway, we need to realize that anything that is consoling is not necessarily true. Nevertheless it probably is a human need and it is easy enough to think of reasons why religion has persisted.

One thing people since childhood are taught that people who do not believe in religion are wicked and generally negative. But all the way through the growing years and understanding of world and nature around me I have come to realize that there are negative aspect of blind faith. What blind faith in absence of evidence does, is that it predisposes you to do evil things that you otherwise wouldn't do.  

Does blind faith have to be negative thing? My parents are religious, they can never think of hurting someone, where as, many positive aspects of their personalities can be attributed to their belief in God. So, what is the problem in having such innocuous belief?

I don't necessarily think that it is negative for every instance, but the very idea that it is blind, that is without evidence, is negative. With beliefs people keep telling each other that,“if you feel it is right or if something is true for you then its true to you, after all everything is relative.” 

However, I think there is something far more absolute about the truth than those meaningless mystical sentences. The truth that earth is not flat cannot be disproved, also the truth that demons don't eat the sun and moon during eclipses cannot be treated as relative truth. In no relativistic reference frame of Einstein's will a demon eat sun or the moon, unless Einstein was kind enough to define a “Reference frame of insanity”!

One needs to acknowledge the innumerable proofs that disproves the old world notion of nature and with it also disproves the related pseudosciences and belief system. I don't wish or assume the right to impose truth or the new world's rationality on people if people are not ready to accept the truth. But I want these people to give themselves an opportunity to look at the truths discovered about nature and universe in recent years of development of science. 

The truth of human evolution and the laws which accurately explain the universe and nature are much better and satisfying than the cryptic book of wisdom. I wouldn't want the children of future to grow up sheltered from the truth, protected by the wall erected by tradition, superstition and culture.

Finally, it is a common cultural trait among Indians that atheists have two horns and a tail. It is this perception that stops many of us to look into the direction of logic. This is the very reason that I believe most atheists in this country are forced to remain in the closet of anonymity or wear masks to hide their actual beliefs. It is ironical when you realize that one of the largest treatise on atheism from the old world has been developed in India. Cārvāka is a system of Indian philosophy which is also one of the oldest atheist school of philosophy. Many of its proponents have had professed the concept that there is no life after death and religion is invented by man. One of the Cārvāka texts says,

... That the pleasure arising to man

from contact with sensible objects,

is to be relinquished because accompanied by pain—

such is the reasoning of fools.

The kernels of the paddy, rich with finest white grains,

What man, seeking his own true interest,

would fling them away

because of a covering of husk and dust?

While life remains, let a man live happily,

let him feed on butter though he runs in debt;

When once the body becomes ashes,

how can it ever return again?

So, my appeal to fellow Indians is that the idea of questioning faith and tradition is not something new to this country. 

This is the only life you have and if you are going to run your life based on beliefs that your actions will take you to hell or to a lowly life form in the next birth then you will be wasting your life in these beliefs of absurdities. And it definitely isn't a better way of living.