I am an atheist. That’s the next worst thing you can say in this world after I am gay. Neither is wrong, if you really consider it to be ones personal choice. But telling your religious parents that you find the whole idea about religions funny, doesn’t give you a funny result. How dare you think logically and reason huh? Younger ones more or less accept it without much fuss. But some still think - It’s the new in thing among some metal heads like satanic worship and devil cults. They don’t understand that atheists don’t believe in that either. Satan sure sounds cool and seems to be thinking more on our terms, but it’s still a myth. It’s the God believers who believe in satan and hell and all those cool names American pubs have.
So with my enlightened self, I thought its good to have conversation with religious people regarding religion. I thought it was educational to have debates with them. I thought they would listen to my point of view, just like I listen to theirs. I thought they would consider it to be fair to hear my case. So, I was wrong. Sue me.
I was wrong because of religious people and their strong faith. Its quiet interesting what happens to their strong faith when you even say anything remotely negative about their religion. The faith that’s not supposed to waver, that’s not supposed to be doubted, that’s not supposed to be affected by anything, just vanishes and is replaced by anger or irritation. They all take it personally. Well faith is a personal matter you might say. People hold it very close and it’s like insulting their mother or likes. But that doesn’t mean that others can’t question them. I mean, if I tell a person, your mother actually doesn’t exist and that she’s a myth, the person would at worst laugh at me. Because that person knows for sure it is not true. But when I say hey your god doesn’t exist, they go crazy fucking wild. Because they are not sure if its true and don’t want it to be questioned?
It’s not normal to be an atheist in this world. But like Richard Dawkins said, everyone is an atheist. As far as a muslim is concerned, a Christian or a hindu is an atheist, because he doesn’t believe in allah. Atheist just goes one god further. Anyway. The point is, I had people come and ask me what made me an atheist. And I answer them. With all the reasons I have for it. Starting from how rubbish the idea sounds to me. Whoa! That’s blasphemy, that’s murder. Come on. I don’t expect people to listen to me and convert to atheism. I don’t expect them to believe or even understand what I believe in. But at the least, let me be. I can drink and smoke myself to death, and they wont care. But I don’t go to temples and hey I am wasting my life away. I will pay for it in hell. I guess I would have to pay anyway. So how much is a beer for?
I personally think religion is the root of many evils and that god is a mythical super hero. But that’s my perspective. I will stick to it. I don’t want any ones support, and I can very well handle people ridiculing me. Because I believe in atheism. I don’t fool myself and the rest of the world that I believe it. I just do. So it doesn’t matter to me what they say about how I think, I will continue being myself and I won’t take any of it personally. So for people who get insulted every time I say Mahabharatha is an entertaining story or that I think Jesus Christ is a fictional character, I guess I cant do much about it. Hold on to your faith, if you really have one. Cheers!
10 comments:
For those of us who knw u, ths is nythin but shocking!!i jus had a knowing smile on my face throut d time i read ths one..n well, wht do i say??!funny, smart n rational(whoa, i actually said dat!!)..its just ur heart out n its perfect!!luv ya!!
I think what you meant to say was you are not religious. Being the spoiled kid it is quite natural from you :P . nothing unexpected :D
religion is most often a way of life..to live ur live..wid all d negative energy around a person..its jus a way a person derives strength to go thru difficult times..and also to believe dat dere is sumthin far greater dan d trivialities of life so dat u keep ur feet on earth even ven u fly high...
but then again...d interpretation of religion is different 4 each individual..our circumstances n our interpretation of reality colours our ideas...
i hav lot of atheist friends..i hav had lot of discussions regardin this too..it never bothered me dat dey r atheist nor did them bein an atheist come as a shock to me..
JUST AS WE RELIGIOUS PPL THINK DERE IS A POWER MUCH BIGGER ABOVE US...ATHEIST BELEIVE IN D POWER WITHIN THEMSELVES... HENCE IN INDIAN CONTEXT...BEYOND RELIGION.. V SAY NAMASTE BY WHICH V ACKNOWLEDGE D POWER OF D SOUL IN ANOTHER PERSON(A PART OF WHICH LIES IN US).......
Let me give a case.
You have TV, Washing Machine and a lot of other electrical items. How do they work ?
A power has to be given explicitly. It is a fact even a small kid knows well.
If you can create a power other than electricity for running ur machines, I will turn to ur way.
How does a baby form in his/her mother's womb ?
How does it get the first breath ?
How does heart beat ?
Can science prevent earth quakes and other natural disasters ?
If we go for the answers of these questions, we can surely understand that there is a driving force behind the existence of the earth and the whole thing.
Sometimes, that force may be magnetic, electric, electromagnetic and some other type of force which is to be yet named.
We, the creatures who need a group and a saviour to survive, has named that force GOD for their own sake.
If electricity could have been discovered during the stone age itself, we would have got another god like ELECTRIC GOD or GODESS !
As for the comment rite above mine, my friend you are not arguing against me, you are arguing with me. God as a collective name for all the forces might very well be your definition, it certainly doesnt belong to any religions. And for the questions you have asked. How a baby is formed in a mothers womb, how the baby gets its first breath(first breath! really?) and how heart beats, you might want to refer to biology texts. High school level.its not any invisible force, as you might find out. And for science preventing natural disasters....i never claimed it would. and that is not the purpose of science either. you are either really ignorant, or you are arguing with out facts. Your comparison of god to electicity supplied to washing machine was hilarious. And am sorry electric machines are made to run in electricity, why do i need to find another energy for that. And its quite ironic that you use inventions of science to argue against science. And towards the end you hit it right. If we had chanced upon electricity duing stone ages, we might have had an electricity god. Tells you how fallible the rest of the gods are. like how sun, wind, ocean etc were all once god. even rain and lightning. magnetic or electromagnetic force are just that. Not a divine power. This is where you refer to physics text books. Again High school level. And just to ponder on your own point. Given natural disasters cant be prevented with science. But can yur so called saviour do it ? and by the way. you know what an earth quake is or a lightning is coz not everyone was dumb enough to sit and thank an invisible sky daddy for everything. they thought. they studied. and they worked. Thats why you are even using this internet. You want to insult your own intelligence and reasoning, be free to. Spare me. Your arguments are really silly, illogical and pure non sense. Read your stuff before you decide to argue on some thing, you poncy school boy.
പ്രിയപ്പെട്ട മനു, എന്റേതും അത്ര polished ആയ ഭാഷ ഒന്നും അല്ല. എന്റെ കണ്ണില് താന് മുല കുടി മാറാത്ത ഒരു കൊച്ചു പയ്യന് മാത്രമാണ്. താടിയും മുടിയും നീട്ടി വളര്ത്തി കഞ്ചാവും അടിച്ച് വല്ലവനും പണ്ടേ എഴുതി വച്ച വിവരക്കേടും വായിച്ചു കാണാതെ പഠിച്ചാല് ബുദ്ധിജീവി ആകില്ലാ. നിരീശ്വരവാദികള് എന്ന് അവകാശപ്പെടുന്ന നിന്നെ പോലുള്ളവര് ആദ്യം ചെയ്യേണ്ടത് മനുഷ്യന് മനസ്സിലാകുന്ന രീതിയില് കാര്യങ്ങള് അവതരിപ്പിക്കണം. അങ്ങനെ ചെയ്യാന് മാത്രം മോന് വളര്ന്നിട്ടില്ലാ, നീ അങ്ങനെ കരുതുന്നുണ്ടെങ്കിലും. ശാസ്ത്രത്തിനു എന്ത് പറഞ്ഞാലും പറയാന് ഒരു കാര്യമുണ്ട്. ബലം. ഈ ബലത്തിന് പിന്നിലെ ബലത്തെ കുറിച്ചു മോന് ശാന്തമായി ഒന്നു ചിന്തിക്കു. അല്ലെങ്കില്, പ്രസവിച്ച അമ്മയോടും ജന്മം തന്ന അപ്പനോടും , മറ്റുള്ള ആളുകളോട് ഉള്ളതിലും സ്നേഹവവും കരുതലും എങ്ങനെ ഉണ്ടായി, എന്ന് . (അങ്ങനെ വല്ല സ്നേഹം നിനക്കുണ്ടെങ്കില്) . പിന്നെ, ഹൈസ്കൂള് സയന്സിന്റെ പിന്ബലം ഒന്നും ഇതു മനസ്സിലാക്കാന് വേണ്ട. സാമാന്യ ബുദ്ധി മാത്രം മതി. ഒരുകാര്യം കൂടി, എന്റീശ്വരാ എന്ന് നീ വിളിക്കുന്ന ഒരു കാലം ഉണ്ടാവും. അന്ന് വരെ ഈ കുറിപ്പൊന്നു സൂക്ഷിച്ചു വയ്ക്കണം. ഫിലിപ്പ് എം പ്രസാദും വെള്ളത്തൂവല് സ്റ്റീഫന് ഉം പോലുള്ള വലിയ നിരീശ്വര വാദികള് നമ്മള്ക്ക് മുന്നേ നടന്നു പോയിട്ടുണ്ട്. നിന്നെ ഈശ്വരന് രക്ഷിക്കട്ടെ.
Shabu(the one above again)
I would have loved to reply in mallu back too. To start with, i dont care what u think abt me. Or how old or mature in your eyes i might be. If you think i am a smoke head whith long hair, fine again. It doesnt matter at all.
Now to the matter in hand. Even if i am a baby like u said, and/or if u r this old wise guy, that wouldnt in any way mean that u know more or i know less. and i wudnt claim that either. You might even know a lot of things i dont. But now that we are talking abt religion, lets talk abt that only. Ive been studying religions, not as a hobby, but as a serious subject for abt 8 years now. I dont claim to know the truth neither do i say i am right. But when i do make a statement, i am pretty sure i am logical and not mystical.
So about some nonsense somebody wrote long back, which apparently you think i read. Tell me if you know these names- they are my fav authors on atheism- Marx, Darwin, Stuart Mill, Hume, Dawkins, Twain, Einstein, Sagan, Bertrand Russel, Freud etc. I am not trying to say they are always right. But you said somebody, so had to take a few names. If u havent heard, they include nobel winners, father of psychology, Father of space science and so on.
As for science and the energy argument. You really dont know what you are talking abt again. ever heard of e=mc^2. thats where u shud start from. Energy behind the energy ?? are u nuts? Ignorant idiot. Seriously. Your indoctrinated views of religion and god isnt smthing i want to argue with. Coz u want to argue with intangible values in the most unreasonable way. As for asking my mom n dad or anybody else, done all that. I am not an atheist because i think its cool. Neither because i think i am always right. I have read almost every holy bok you could find, studied it. I have read hundreds of books on this matter, coz it fascinated me. it still does. thats exactly how i became an atheist.
And to explain to you in simple understandable terms like you said, i am sorry. I dont talk using washing machine as a symbolism. And you just cant simplify things about science like tat. Read up, might help you.
And for ur polished langauge, you didnt have to say it. The first post was proof enough. Illogical and pathetic. You just continued on the same line. and for the day that u say i turn an atheist, dont worry i will def let u know. i know that stephen and philip did. so many others have done so. But yet many more dont. Just keep in your mind that about 65% of the entire population of Europe are non believers. They die so too. Im so seriously tired of others claims about the day i will start believing again. Dont give me hypothetical claims. So you continue your mystical way, i will live free of it. And iam not calling you a school boy this time. that wud be an insult. To school boys.
came to see ur post very late.. really very late. why do some ppl want to thrust their opinion on others?? what u said s ur thoughts.. even if i agree with it or not.. just take it or leave it!
n i see u hvent posted anything for more than a year... WHY???? we'd like to see more f ur writings! someone came up to my blog some day n asked why u r not writing anymore!!
Hey neenu,
Long time indeed. I just was not writing for a long time. I dont know why. But since you made me think about it, ive published two new posts. Both are poems, pretty amatuerish. Read and let me know. :) Thank you.
PS- who was the some one, i would love to know.
well.. it was by a Mr/Ms Anonymous!!! ;)
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