Friday, June 1, 2012

Atheism is also only a belief


Too often have I heard atheists proclaiming that Theism is unscientific and irrational. It seems to me that Atheism being an, as yet, unproven concept anyone who believes it should not be throwing stones at other people’s beliefs. The only rational belief, as yet, is Agnosticism. We do not yet know what is true.
Let me first clarify what I mean by Theism. We talk of the existence of God as the Creator of the universe. There is a great deal of other attributes associated with God in our minds – ranging from the Brahman of Advaita, the granter of boons in the practice of Hinduism, the varied attributes given to God in Christianity and to Allah in Islam. I am, here, restricting myself to the Creation part and, thus, all the charges of irrationality thrown at the various other attributes of God are irrelevant here.
Even when it comes to Creation, let me clarify that I am not opposing Darwin. If a scientist cultures bacteria in a Petri dish, it does not mean that he is actively intervening in every step of the way. Thus, if a bacterium can find the logical means by which it came into being, it does not negate the existence of the scientist. Thus, I am not discussing the modus operandi of the Scientist but whether the Scientist has been proven not to exist.
Any conclusive proof of the absence of God in the scheme of things can come only when Man has unraveled all the secrets of the Universe. This means that we should know how the Universe came into being; what life is and how it came into being; all the processes by which the Universe became what it is today; and what would happen to the Universe going forth. As long as there is something unknown about the process one cannot conclusively say that God had no role to play in that unknown area.
Science has evolved innumerable theories only to find them deficient in the context of either observed reality or by anomalous results in experimentation. Thus, the mere postulation of a theory explaining everything would still not be conclusive proof. Only when the theory is applied and a Universe created and observed to work as predicted by the theory could we scientifically conclude that there is no God.
Or can we? If we manage to create a Universe ourselves, then we would be Gods! How could we then say that there is no God?

24 comments:

  1. Nice take...
    loved this perspective on atheists...

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    1. Thanks, Agonist! I intended it as a general perspective on how we think our beliefs are facts and others' beliefs are irrational. Of course, I used Atheism as the vehicle of the thought.

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  2. ...a non-believer is also a 'believer' in another way is so true. A seeker will always be candid about their ignorance and quest to know. A superb post, Suresh, thanks a lot!

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    1. Thanks Amit! Despite the limitations of my communication skills you have understood the exact essence of what I wanted to say.

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    2. ...an accomplished writer that you are, you're being too modest by saying that:)

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    3. Thanks for saying that Amit! But I find that quite often what I write seems to mean something else to the reader than I intended it to mean..lots of scope for improvement.

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  3. A very thought provoking post Suresh. As you said, the fact that we dont know is the truth and better acknowledge it rather than baselessly arguing. Most athesits look at God with someone having a form superior to us human beings with some powers etc. They basically argue against this. The thoughts and beliefs about that formless supreme power or energy that manifests the entire universe is something too vast and complex. Thats something even theists fail to see. Wonderful writing!

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    1. Hi Jaish! The bulk of the contempt Atheists heap on Theism is on the 'boon-giving' aspect or 'God-will-punish' attitudes or 'miracles', which are believed to be attributes of God. Even disproving these beliefs would still not disprove the existence of God. The best of it is that even people - whose knowledge of physics is limited to knowing that objects fall down and whose knowledge of biology limits itself to terms like bacteria and virus - talk grandiosely of Science having disproved the existence of God when scientists make no pretence of having done so!

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  4. Faith is sensitive topic and you done good job here
    very nice post
    and Thought provoking

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    1. Thanks Shashi! I try not to take sides when I deal with such topics and try to restrict myself to the logic of the situation.

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  5. well, i am not qualified enough to comment on a subject like this. i like it when i visit some of the temples where everything is serene and peaceful. for me, life is too short to dwell on things which wouldn't yield anything for us. probably we just need to do what makes us happy and ensure that we understand everyone around us yearns for the same i.e. happiness; and hence, we shouldn't hurt anyone's feelings or beliefs.

    beautifully written as always.

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    1. Hi Debajyothi! You have encapsulated in your comment what I hold as my own idea of ideal life. Lovely comment to read, as always!

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  6. Being an atheist, I find nothing wrong in the analysis you have presented here. I respect theism and support everybody's right to follow the religion of their choice or to not follow one, if they're comfortable with that. Similarly, I expect people to be tolerant of my views and not judge me on the basis of theirs. I think that is the central idea of your post: letting people decide for themselves without any unnecessary name-calling and tagging.

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    1. Comes to these matters, all of us operate based on beliefs. So, I really find it strange that people will act as though the others are being irrational while they are the only rational beings around :)

      In fact, even when it comes to matters of science we are only believers - we believe what the scientists say since we neither have the knowledge nor the time to verify it for ourselves :)

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  7. I wish there was a 'like' button here. Accepting serenity and peace, live and let live and just be a good human being is all there is for me. I don't know where I stand on the concept of God - I keep vacillating, so I won't comment to that effect. I don't like to downplay others beliefs but I don't like it if/when people force me to pray/visit temples/offer puja/participate in rituals which I feel are wasteful and such either. I have my own way of connecting to (Mother Nature/God/Supreme Power) whoever. On another note, I do know that I definitely do not believe in godmen.

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    1. I share your disbeliefs too - about rituals and all - but, again, my disbelief is again only a matter of opinion :)

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  8. Believing in God is a personal aspect...Nevertheless , a person who isnt a believer would definitely depend on someone mightier at times of crisis...The mightier fellow might be God , Might be a tough muscle-man , Might be a technologically superior individual....The escense is in the Believe we all have trapped within our subconcious self...

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    1. Hmm! True that! There are always times in life when you want to lean on someone strong.

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  9. As the Believer said to the Atheist - Just the fact that you don't believe in God proves that God put you to it to test my faith!
    I like your idea that the existence of God can be proven or debunked only after all of the Universe's truths have been unraveled. Tall order, that!

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    1. That's the inherent difficulty in proving the absence of God :)

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  10. For me the problem has always been with religion not the Supreme power per se! Certainly not everything in life can be proved. I believe in choice -- live and let live.

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    1. As for me Rachna! This post, however, was to indicate that Atheism can turn to fundamentalism as much as Theism - in refusing to allow rational space to alternative beliefs :)

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  11. I have no problem believing in God (there have been times when I have felt like one too LOL) but do have problem with people perceiving him/her in certain way and then forcing others to accept their perception..

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    1. The inability to disassociate the idea of God from the perceptions people have about God is the problem with most people - Theists and Atheists!

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