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Atheists do not believe in existence of God mainly on
the following grounds---
1.
Most of the religions that have faith in God often carry with
them mythical stories. These mythological references cannot be accepted
by a person of scientific temper.
2.
A person born in ambience of Christianity may turn into an
atheist because he thinks Jesus Christ cannot be the son of God and his
contention that all power is given to him in heaven and in earth by God
does not have any rational basis. As the father and son relationship is
false, God is not supposed to have given all the things in his hand to
Jesus Christ. It is wrong to say that those who have faith in Jesus will
have life and those who have no faith in him shall not see life and they
will have to face wrath of God. There is no Kingdom of heaven as told by
Jesus. The story of allurement by the devil offering Jesus all the
kingdom of the world cannot be believed because the devil was never the
ruler of the earth. The sermons of Jesus Christ were his own preaching
and God had nothing to do with them. There is no existence of the Holy
Ghost, angels and heaven. Similarly any particular person cannot be a
son of God. Astrology was never regarded as perfect science; most of the
astrologers make conjectural statements. They spread falsehood to earn
more money. Their unreliable forecast fills suspicion in the mind. This
disbelief in contents of the New Testament drives a person to disbelief
in existence of God.
3.
It is often said by the priests of churches or temples that God
favours those who worship Him with great offerings and disfavours those
who do not fulfill avaricious or lustful desires of priests or clerics.
They also supported divine theory of kingship in which every order of
the king was supposed to be a divine order and subjects were forced to
bear all atrocities of the king. Tyrannical behaviour of the king and of
the clergy forced the masses to revolt. Political, religious and social
revolutions weakened not only the authority of kings and clerics but
also faith in God. This paved the way for advent of secularism.
4.
Religious texts often carrying the revelations or preaching of
individuals give different descriptions of creation, different
conceptions of God and prescribe different ways of living. Some of the
persons, who have studied various religious texts, conclude that all the
theories of creation are conjectural. Religions originating from west
Asia proclaim that God created Adam out of dust of earth. Then he caused
Adam to go into sound sleep and took out his one rib. From this rib of
Adam he procreated Eve and gave her to Adam. Adam and Eve were asked not
to touch or eat forbidden fruits of a tree or plant. At the instigation
of the devil Eve convinced Adam that there was no harm in eating the
forbidden fruit. For this crime they were thrown out of heavenly abode
and mankind being the progeny of them became the sinner. On the basis of
this theory, priests of the churches, clergymen and caretakers of
temples or mosques preached that women were cause of degeneration of
men. Most of the religions contained slanderous remarks against women.
Women were downgraded in religious ceremonies. Women organizations
fighting against gender inequality blame religious texts and their
interpreters for their predicament. As religious texts speak in the name
of God, so God becomes a synonym of terror for them.
5.
Propagators of theism often take recourse to miracles to prove
existence of God and necessity to take refuge in Him. Now science and
technology have reached to such an advanced stage that old stories of
miracles appear false and unconvincing to any prudent person
6.
Some religious sects cause the people to believe in the
theory of Avataravad which tells that whenever righteousness is on the
decline, whenever demons and terrorists are on the rise and whenever the
virtuous, the noble or saintly persons are exposed to terror God comes
on the earth in human or some other form to rescue the oppressed and to
establish a reign of righteousness. Any prudent person who has studied
history knows that God did not come to the rescue of innocent people who
suffered heavily during first world war and second world war nor He is
visible anywhere even today when demons in the form of terrorists are
killing arbitrarily innocent people. Taking benefits from this theory,
petty preachers, petty leaders and hypocrites claim themselves to be
avatar of God or any deity. How can any prudent person tolerate this
nonsense?
7.
Some religious sects such as Buddhism and Jainism directly or
indirectly deny the existence of God. The followers of these religions
or religious sects become atheists because of their faith in those
religions.
8.
Growth and development of capitalism have propagated
materialistic thought to promote consumerism and expansion of markets.
9.
Rising affluence in society has generated charm in sensual
enjoyment among youth and they have no time to discuss whether God
exists or not.
10.
Most of the people worship or remember God for fulfillment of
worldly desires such as attainment of wealth and property, conception
and child-birth especially the birth of male child, downfall of enemies,
getting employment, mitigation of disease, restoration of health,
promotion in service, rise in profit of business, escaping from
punishment or imprisonment or something else. When their wish or
ambition is not fulfilled, they begin to talk like an atheist and their
faith in God is grossly shaken.
In brief unscientific and irrational explanation
about existence of God or about His authority creates more and more
doubts and contradictions. Atheists are right when they say that there
is no heaven or hell. They are again right when they say that there is
no mechanism to evaluate good or bad deeds of human beings after their
death. The comprehension of atheists is most commendable that any human
being even after being highly respected or adored by a vast majority of
peoples it cannot be a prophet or son of God. Their repudiation of the
theory of incarnation is also praiseworthy for God need not take a human
form to kill someone or destroy something or to reward someone for his
devotion. The argument of an atheist carries weight that sermon of Jesus
Christ that the Kingdom of Heaven is imminent is still unfulfilled even
after a lapse of two thousand years.
Hinduism contains the truth that is amenable to
scientific temper. It can answer the queries of atheists and dispel
their doubts about the existence of God. But a great labour is required
in digging out the treasure of truth because it has been buried deep by
the hypocrites. On the outer surface also the particles of golden truth
are scattered everywhere mixed with exuberance of coppery plates of
falsehood. At first one should make one’s mind free from delusion and
blind faith. One should know that the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the
Ram Charit Manas are epics only and they cannot be our guide to
Spiritualism. Similarly Puranas containing false stories and divergent
views often confuse the common man. Hypocrites have succeeded in
spreading too much untruth through their Puranas and Smritis.
Actually the scripture of the Hindus is the Veda
divided into four parts. There is perfect democracy in the Vedas because
they contain revelations of various Rishis (seers). There is diversity
of views because they contain passages of preliminary research as well
as fundamentals of highest degree of truth. The Vedas say that this
universe or cosmos is the body of God Supreme. So every thing in the
universe is filled with divinity (The word used in Vedas is ‘devata’
which means ‘dev’ + ‘ta’ or divinity). People in India and abroad often
get confused that Vedas believe in polytheism. According to Vedas,
virtually there is not much difference between monotheism and
polytheism. It is our perception of the things that divides one entity
into several entities. To understand the things very clearly, let us
take an example. We know that the earth, the planet on which we live, is
one. We adore it when we say, ‘Victory to Mother Earth’. An astronaut
looking at the earth from space has an overwhelming experience because
he sees no borders that divide the earth into countries. The beauty of
the earth without borders supports the Hindu thought that the earth is a
family (Vasudhaiva kutumbakam). But we also know that due to political,
economic, social and other reasons the earth is divided into several
countries. If we belong to India we say, ‘Victory to Mother India’. Thus
it is our outlook that divides one into many. One may compose a song in
praise of the earth and another song in the praise of one’s own country.
Similarly Vedic hymns not only adore one God Supreme but also praise or
adore the sun, the moon the earth etc. being part of the body of
Brahma(God Supreme) or Nature. While studying geography we divide the
earth into seas and oceans, provinces and countries, hills and planes,
fertile lands and deserts, equator and poles, soils and waters; so Vedas
divide the nature (the body of Brahma) into fire, water, air, earth, and
other describable aspects and praise them. If a poet wants to describe
the beauty of a damsel he describes her pretty eyes, ears, lips, mouth,
nose and cheeks. He looks minutely at her bulging breasts and hips, her
tender hands and feet, her slender waist, her sweet tongue and melodious
voice. In the same way description of material form of God Supreme is
impossible if we ignore Nature. Nirgun Brahma is beyond description. So
Vedic hymns, if they describe or praise various forms or qualities of
the Nature, cannot be quoted in support of the argument that Vedas
believe in polytheism. Vedic seers give various names to one God Supreme
such as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni or Yama but one Vedic hymn itself
explains very clearly that these names refer to one God Supreme.
Now one thing is clear that an atheist also believes
in Nature or material form of Brahma. We can say that it is composed of
matter and energy for which Vedas use the word ‘Sat or Bhooh (Being).
For space Vedas use the word ‘Antariksha or Bhuvah’. And how can one
deny consciousness for it is the character of a living being. The Vedas
call it ‘chit’. Chit or consciousness is also called Self or Atma or
Svah or the Spirit but it does not occupy space and also it does not
carry weight. So no attribute can be imposed on this spiritual form of
Brahma. Science says that anything that does not occupy space and does
not carry weight goes to infinity. Vedas say that Consciousness or Chit
is one and all pervading. It is also called Paramatma (Supreme Self).
This subtle form of Brahma cannot be seen directly. The self is known
through one’s body and the body is known through the Self. The Supreme
Being manifests the universe and the universe is projected form of It.
God Supreme cannot be confined to any gender. The Supreme Being is both
the Doer and the deed. It is noun and it is verb. God Supreme is not
only Creator but also Creation. If Supreme Being is the ocean, we are
molecules of water. In other words we are part and parcel of the Supreme
Being. God does not have any separate existence. God does not have any
separate abode.
One
may believe or disbelieve but it is a fact that everyone is an integral
part of Supreme Spirit and a participant in Its fun and frolic. |
