Why I am an atheist !!

It is a matter of debate whether my lack of belief in the existence of an Omnipresent, Omniscient (अंतर्यामी) God is due to my arrogant pride and vanity (दिखावा).  It never occurred to me that sometime in the future I would be involved in polemics (तर्कपूर्ण लेखन) of this kind. As a result of some discussions with my friends, (if my claim to friendship is not uncalled for) I have realized that after having known me for a little time only, some of them have reached a kind of hasty conclusion about me that my atheism is my foolishness and that it is the outcome of my vanity. 

I do not boast of being above these human follies (मूर्खता). I am, after all, a human being and nothing more. And no one can claim to be more than that. I have a weakness in my personality, for pride is one of the human traits that I do possess. I am known as a boaster among my friends. Some have always been complaining that I am bossy and I force others to accept my opinion. Yes, it is true to some extent. I do not deny this charge.

As far as the contemptible (घृणित), obsolete (अप्रचलित), rotten (सड़ा हुआ) values of our society are concerned, I am an extreme sceptic (अविश्वासी) and I am proud of my ideas, my thoughts. It cannot be called empty pride. Pride, or you may use the word, vanity, both are an exaggerated assessment of one’s personality. Is my atheism because of unnecessary pride, or have I ceased believing in God after thinking long and deep on the matter? I wish to put my ideas before you.

As far as the first question is concerned, I think I have made it clear that I did not turn atheist because of vanity, coz turning atheist out of pride or vanity hold no grounds. Only my readers, not I, can decide whether my arguments carry weight.  I am a realistic man. I want to overpower this tendency in me with the help of Reason. I am not always successful in such attempts. But it is man’s duty to try and make efforts.


Now we come to the second question: if it is not vanity, there ought to be some sound reason for rejection of age-old belief in God. I think that any man who has some reasoning power always tries to understand the life and people around him with the help of this faculty. 

Where concrete proofs are lacking, philosophy creeps in. Our ancestors had the leisure to solve the mysteries of the world, its past, its present and its future, its whys and its wherefores, but having been terribly short of direct proofs, every one of them tried to solve the problem in his own way. And to convince masses to accept what they believe, they took help of philosophy. Hence we find wide differences in the fundamentals of various religious creeds (धर्म मत/स्वीकृत मत).


Like, my mother has hardly any reasonable argument for any of my queries related to religion or faith. All our arguments ends with her rattled response - "Don't question God, else he'll be upset." Really? Is God so fragile (नाज़ुक) ?

Even the most learned person I've met fails to reason the ongoing beliefs. To state some-

1 - "We should wash our feet after urinating." 

Why? Why did our ancestors made any such rule. Lets look at the reasoning. Reason was - Due to improper sanitation facilities, legs used to get wet by the urine while urinating. With the invent of modern sanitation facilities, the reason no longer exists. But, the ritual persists. And we are following it without understanding the need.

2 - "Woman should not perform daily activities, can't enter the kitchen while in mensuration."

Now why such a rule was imposed? Is it because woman was considered dirty during this period? Not at all. Our ancestors were not that inhumane !! Actually, due to improper facilities for woman in ancient times, they were bound to go into the fields during mensuration to perform the needs of the period. Since it was so tiring period for woman, they were exhausted to come back to homes and repeat all these up and forth for 3-4 days. Hence, in the wake of their comfort, wise men of the rule-makers of those times, made a rule for woman to stay in the fields for those 3-4 days and no need to travel to and fro to their homes to avoid tiredness. In the process, they are automatically freed to daily household chores. Now, with the advent of proper home facilities for woman, the requirement to continue with the need of abstaining woman from household chores no longer exists. But, again, requirement vanishes, ritual haven't. Societies, without understanding the real need to such a ritual, interpreted it wrong and made it a rule and expect woman to abstain from certain activities during mensuration. 

3 - "We should touch the feet of our elders"

I asked this question to my mother, again, now since she had understood that I am a rebellious  (विद्रोही) kid and will not go away without some proper reasonable answer. After various unreasonable attempts, she answered something which I can't out-rightly discard. "This is to see if your body is flexible enough to bend and touch the ground." Hmm. Good one. But then why are we asked to touch the feet of tens/hundreds of elders in a marriage or a party. Doesn't touching one's feet ensures that we are still flexible. Reason Discarded.

She tried again. This time she brought science into the game. "Everything that is in motion, produces energy. Hence, we touch the feet to get some energy from others." Well tried. But, does that mean that in the wake of this argument, elder who is bedridden is disqualified from this 'self made' respect giving act?

'Respect' and 'Regard' are two different things, which is often used interchangeably. But they are, different. Regard is more of 'rule based' and Respect is more of  'feeling based'. We are bound to regard our elders, our seniors et al (और अन्य) to maintain a societal decorum (सामाजिक मर्यादा). But respect comes for choosen few, whom we get inspired from, whose success path we intend to follow,  who teaches us some valuable lessons of life, whose principles and behaviour we try to imitate, et al. They may be your parents, your teacher, a writer or anyone irrespective of his/her age.

When I say a person should be respected only based on what he achieves, what he says and what he does, that includes parents as well. But 'Parents', by default, qualifies the 'Respect' criteria, as per our  societal norms, which I disagree. Now, some of my emotional friends may condemn me for this thought, but I stand by my opinion. Even parents can fall under the either category of Regard or Respect.

And now coming back to the ritual of touching feet, I feel, 'touch the feet' whom we regard and 'talk at length'  to whom we respect. Coz, "talking an hour with a genius is worth more than reading book for a month."


4 - "Don't touch anything by foot, its considered dis-respectful"
Then why do we touch mother Earth by feet. Doesn't she deserve our respect?
Touching someone's feet is respectful, and touching someone by foot is dis-respectful -- What a classic hypocroisy (दोगलापन) !!




5. "In our Indian culture, its recommended to eat by hand"
Why? Does food taste better when eaten by hand? Maybe? Some may strongly put this point forward. But was it the reason it was recommended by our fore-fathers. No !! When we eat by hand, we are bound to wash our hands. And when we wash our hands, out of reflex, we tend to gargle our mouth. And gargling mouth after every meal is very much required to avoid tooth-decay. Whereas, if we eat by cutlery, we miss the opportunity to gargle as washing hands after meal is on discretion of the individual then. Make sense !! Right? But are we following this ritual due to the reason for which this recommendation was made?




All these, and many more questions were always there, but since our parents haven't asked their parents and elders about the reasoning of why to do what they are asked to do out of Acquiescence (बिना विरोध के स्वीकार करना), have left our queries unanswered and left us in darkness.


It is necessary for every person who stands for progress to criticize every tenet (सिद्धान्त) of old beliefs. Item by item he has to challenge the efficacy (प्रभाविता) of old faith. He has to analyze and understand all the details. If after rigorous reasoning, one is led to believe in any theory of philosophy, his faith is appreciated. His reasoning may be mistaken and even fallacious (भ्रम में डालने वाला). But there is chance that he will be corrected because Reason is the guiding principle of his life. But belief, I should say 'blind belief' is disastrous. It deprives a man of his understanding power and makes him reactionary.


If faith cannot withstand the onslaught of reason, it collapses. 


My friends, it is not my vanity; it is my mode of thinking that has made me an atheist. I don’t think that by strengthening my belief in God and by offering prayers to Him every day, I can bring improvement in my situation, nor can I further deteriorate it.

Spider, one of the most maverick (अपरंपरागत) species I consider, gives genuinty to my maverick thoughts. Why do spiders build their own web to walk even when there are man-made walls, racks and many more ladders that he can use to cross the bridge. Is it because he has this, undying spirit to look and feel different by discarding man-made walls? No, I guess. Its just that, by its make, its not comfortable to walk on any thing other than his own web. Its just compatibility issue !! Non-compatibility of my thoughts & my way of life with the prevalent ways and norms of society is my compatibility issue.


Pray, don’t say it is His law. If He is bound by any law, He is not Omnipotent (सर्व शक्ति मान).

Let us see how steadfast (कट्टर) I am. One of my friends asked me to pray. When informed of my atheism, he said, “When your last days come, you will begin to believe.” I said, “No, dear sir, Never shall it happen. I consider it to be an act of degradation and demoralisation. For such petty selfish motives, I shall never pray.” Reader and friends, is it vanity? If it is, I stand for it.

The Shekhar

                                                                                                                                                
-- inspired by the writings of Bhagat Singh (an atheist), APJ Abdul Kalam (an atheist),  Marx (an atheist),  Lenin (an atheist) on similar topic !!