My journey to atheism - part I

“Asto Ma Sadgamay!”

“From the darkness of ignorance, lead me to the illuminated world of knowledge” - a sentence from an ancient Sanskrit Shloka (prayer). It’s an irony that I should be using it to signify my journey from theism to atheism.

I have started feeling that I am a natural born atheist. I’ve been through the darkness of theism, true, and have also had the experience of what it’s like to be a fanatic Hindu, however, I feel that I am an atheist at heart. So much so, that I’ll go as far as claiming that Gita, if read with a proper perspective is the best handguide to atheism. No, not because it’s ridiculous - it’s not! But, because it emphasizes so much on karma and gives so little relevance to the existence of god. Go a little further, give no relevance to the question that whether god exists, and there you are - an atheist.

However, why would one want to associate no relevance with this question? Is it not avoiding the question that whether there’s a god? Is it not shrugging shoulders to avoid answering what you don’t know – avoid admitting what you don’t want to – something theists are so acquainted with doing when faced with the witty question asked by atheists? Well, perhaps yes, perhaps no! Look at it this way. Ask yourself this question – “Is there a unicorn?” Well, how would I know? I have never seen one, but that doesn’t mean there doesn’t exist one. Suppose I were on a yacht right in the middle of Atlantic with no shores in sight. If in such circumstances, I were to conclude that there is no land on earth, I would most certainly be wrong. Going by similar logic, if I conclude that there are no unicorns I could be wrong – note “could”, not “would”! And similarly, if I were to claim that there is no god – I could be wrong. Carry on in this manner and you might end up believing in an elephant that flies, an ant which exists and doesn’t exist at the same time, college professors who don’t follow any laws of Physics and disappear out of existence the moment you turn away your face from them – ridiculous isn’t it? How far are you willing to go?

Now consider this – the various notions of god you have ever encountered have come from many different sources, but there’s one thing common to all. There’s a set of belief system underlying all these notion – a belief system describing what god is, why we are here and some going as far as telling us what we should eat and what we should wear. We call these belief systems religion. Now, ask yourself, if you were living in a society where there is no religion – would there still be a concept of god? Perhaps yes, but not without answering why we are here. This brings us to another food for thought – science is taking over the role of religion as far answering temporal questions are concerned. How long would religion survive if suppose, science perfects itself? And if Psychology answers every subjective question you have? In other words, try to see how religion evolved over time, how it was needed to quench the thirst of a never-ending human curiosity. Also, try to read the Bible, the Old Testament particularly in context of the happenings taking place during that period. Read the Quran and Hadiths in context of Muhammad’s life and ask yourself if these books are really divine – or at least, are they outstandingly excellent in their perspective of describing the purpose of life?

Finally, ask yourself if ethics are absolute. While incest may be a sin in Christianity, some tribes in Africa may be practicing it quite frequently (ofcourse, it’s not good for the resultant offspring is another issue). Are you a European and you think that blowing your nose in public is absolutely normal – try doing that in an Indian crowd. Are you from Uttar Pradesh and take pride in spitting on roads – try doing that in Kerela. Are you an American and you think that staying in New York making good money for yourself but away from your sick-old parents in Pittsburg is an absolutely normal thing to do? Again, try doing that in India. Morals are as relative as culture is.

So, ask yourself the above questions and then choose the path of theism and atheism. Ofcourse, you still have to choose! In the end it boils down to belief – I “believe in” atheism, like some of you do in Jesus!

These were some of the questions I asked myself over a period of more than 2 years when I gradually changed from a believer to atheist. I do not intend to write about the whole journey, which was much longer, right now.

We'll miss ya Steve Irwin

"We'll miss ya Steve Irwin," is what 10 years old Matthew Cheek from Kissimmee, Florida, drew to pay his tribute to Irwin, who had a huge world wide fan following - many of which were children. Simple and yet apt, this drawing (taken without Matthew's permission - my apologies to Matthew for the same) conveys the exact message that underlines every big and snmall tribute paid to Steve.

Though, I never much read or knew much about Irwin, I felt a desire to pay my tribute to this outstanding, exuberantly enthusiastic wildlife conservator. With a population of 6 billion, and still growing we humans have certainly claimed more than what is reasonably ours from Gaia. In such times when we need many more Steves, losing the one we had is sure a tragic loss.

I enjoyed his shows a lot. His careless maneuvers while working with Snakes and Crocs, and other "dangerous" species inspired awe and admiration. While browsing through hundreds of channels they have on television these days, I would always get anchored to NGC or Discovery showing a Steven's show. I'll miss him, his shows and shall remain aware of this great loss to the programme of wildlife conservation. One only good thing that strikes me at the moment is that "Steve died doing what he liked best," to borrow from one his friends.