Responding to an atheist - Part I

Sometime ago, someone I respect wrote a note blaming religion for all evils of the world and championing atheism. I wrote him a letter in response, picking out some of the arguments. Here are parts of that letter. I welcome you to read and provide your own comments.

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Right from childhood, I have been intensely private when it comes to my personal beliefs – which is as it should be, since religion is as personal as sex. Also, religion is an ocean, where does one even begin?! Any attempt to explain would be like bringing a teaspoon to carry the ocean. In any case, god/universe/creative principle etc. does not need me to defend it. So my first reaction to most discussions on religion is to either not respond or to respond with a few generalities. I’m making an exception now, not to convince you – no one can really change anyone else’s mind – but only to present the other side objectively.

The Veda says, “ekam sat viprah bahudA vadanti” – the truth is one, the learned call it by different names. You can find this echoed in every religion. It is only the dark heart of man that corrupts. I can understand how a gentle soul with a razor sharp intellect would react to the violence perpetrated in the name of religion – condemn the apparent source of the evil which seems to be religion. But much of the evil you condemn and lay at the door of religion and hence the human idea of god, is really the result of man’s greed for land, money and power.

Not only is there no essential dichotomy between religion and good living, but also a dangerous counter productivity in creating one which doesn’t exist. Once again, shastraya ca sukhaya ca – shastra is that which works for your well-being.

Let’s look at some of your arguments.

Religion does not encourage questioning:            Far from it. Questioning – like you yourself mentioned – is not new to religion. Every messiah worth his altar has first questioned everything else that came before him. Swami Vivekananda was almost an atheist, he went around asking godmen if they had really seen god. It is only when Swami Ramakrishna answered him, “Yes, I have seen god, just as I see you now in front of me,” that he was drawn to him. Real religion is a process of deconstructing and creating over and over again. The Upanishads keep admonishing the seeker to question everything. Jesus questioned the god of the jews. The problem is people are lazy. They want moksha in 12 easy modules, just like they want a Mercedes in easy EMIs and if someone promises them that, oh it’s time to cash in, they aren’t going to mess with their luck.

Proof of God:    There is a Tamil saying – kandavar vindilar, vindavar kandilar – those who have seen, do not talk about it and those who talk about it, have not seen it. There are numerous people through history who have claimed to have seen god. As recent as the last century, there are holy saints who have claimed to have had visions of god. Much of the atheist-theist argument I think is centred around nomenclature. You say love nature, they say love god in nature.  If you traveled to the 4th century and talked about mobile connectivity, they'll call you mad! Show us these waves, they'll thunder. But you can't see the waves, they exist, you'll tell them. Ah you're cheating people, they'll say. Lets us build towers to transmit these waves, and let us make small devices that can receive and send these waves, you'll say. All rubbish, you're trying to take our gold, they'll say. Some people who believe you actually try this stuff out - and magic! They can talk to each other over miles. Others think you are practicing black magic. Others copy you and cheat people off their gold in turn bringing you a bad name. Others go ahead and build their own networks. Er... the point is, you can only experience god. Those who need proof can remain needing proof all their lives. It's what the Oracle said in the Matrix - you hear only what you need to hear. Similarly people believe what they need to at that point of time in their lives, including the belief of not-believing.

The ancient gods like Zeus, etc. are no more: And what is wrong with that? Ancient English is no more, language has evolved. So does that mean English doesn’t exist? Or that language is an illusion? Human expression of the divine – language, imagery, rituals and so on – has evolved along with human evolution. Which is as it should be. Who said God had to wear rudraksha and vibhuti? Or a beard and flowing white robes? Or be formless with just a booming voice? One of the great gurus of the west and an avid Siva worshipper recorded his vision of Siva in flowing white robes – that was his conception of god. Man can only attempt to give form to the divine, he cannot bottle and label the divine in plaster.

Religion deceives the gullible:    So does science. There are ample quacks selling remedies for everything from acne to balding – even modern ones with multistoreyed hospitals. Do we ask to shut down all hospitals? There are financial quacks who promise get-rich-quick schemes, you know the infamous ones here and abroad. Do we ask to shut down the stock market? The truth is: gullible people will be cheated by quacks of all kinds. As usual, man lays his faults at the feet of someone else, in this case god is a convenient scapegoat.

Anyone who claims to represent god is a fraud:                 If you are filled with compassion for the world, and you found a way out of the world’s misery, would you get out and help yourself or would you come back and help your fellow man? Real people of god are filled with compassion, they only want to help. They want you to see what they can see so clearly. You say you are hungry, they want to lead you to a feast. But as in all fields, there are quacks – buyer beware! The student has to test the master.

Religion is not absolute like science. It says, True for me – may not be true for you:      That’s right. It is so because no two people are at the same stage of evolution. Science cannot measure the location and velocity of an electron with any precision, right? The smallest subatomic particles are not really particles but strings. The tennis ball is really a macrocosmic universe to the atoms in it. Everything is relative. Nothing is an absolute truth – in fact, science is still searching for that unified truth. Religion is more honest and practical. Everybody needs a different pill. My headache cannot be cured by your antacids. Even within a particular religion there are countless paths. Some people need to serve and work out their energy. Some need to meditate and quieten their minds. Some need to just integrate good practices in their daily life, some need to get away from it all. Arjuna cannot be prescribed ahimsa, he had war in his heart. Mother Theresa cannot be prescribed atheism – she helped thousands of children through her faith.  To each his own.

Science is the new God:                That’s exactly the fanaticism atheists could be prone to – only their god has a new name called science. But religion in fact has aided science – much astronomy and mathematics of ancient India, much botany of medieval Europe were due to religion. In a vibrant society, religion and science are two sides of the same coin. Many practices that you call superstitious are actually quite brilliant – the only pity is that those who practice them do not attempt to understand them deep enough. Making rangoli early in the morning translates to investing in good health, practicing kindness to the ants (offer them rice powder) and starting the day with a burst of creativity (an intricate kolam can really kickstart your brain, better than coffee!). But people stick kolam stickers outside their homes and call it tradition! Is that the fault of religion? I can give several examples of so-called superstition which is actually phenomenally scientific but that would need a separate book.

If there is any lack, it is that the people who really understand, do not speak of it much. And those who have half-baked info, start hawking amulets on TV.

Children shouldn’t be taught religion:     Far from it! They shouldn’t be taught greed, materialism, vanity, superficiality, hatred, racism, sexism. Religion puts the world in perspective. The best preparation for a child is a strong grounding of Religion –including a view of all the religions of the world as they get older. You know I don’t mean the dinning of scriptures, or the fear of god. But showing them the wonder of creation, the beauty of the world, the sacredness of all life, the ephemeral nature of existence, the value of truth, love, honesty, the meaninglessness of money, power, greed – real religion does a beautiful job of building character. I can vouch for it, because I had just such a wonderful childhood. I also know traumatic childhoods filled with fear of god – that is not religion I am afraid.

Atheism is the answer to the world’s problems:                                First, atheism is not new to the world. Richard Dawkins has but scratched the surface. The ancient atheist philosophers were called charuvaka (charu – beautiful , vak – speech) – those who spoke beautifully. And really, the arguments for atheism are quite attractive, only they aren’t true. The problem is, they throw the baby out with the bathwater. We didn’t ban electricity because the Nazis misused it. We didn’t ban nuclear science because America bombed Japan. Don’t ban god because man misused the word. In any case, whether man believes or not in electricity, it exists. Likewise god. Or the principle of creation. Or the beautiful symmetry of the world. Or the wondrous laws that hold up the cosmos. In whatever way you dress your idea of the spiritual – it is equivalent to the believer’s god.

Yes, many evils are perpetrated in the name of religion. Children are bullied and scarred for life, adults kill each other. But let us assume for a moment that are no religions in the world as of this moment. Collective human memory of religion has been wiped out. Do you think people will not fight? That there won’t be racism, sexism, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination? They will be perpetrated in the name of a new identity – language, country, skin colour etc. Humans gather in groups and subgroups, the instinct of group supremacy is ancient, tribal and goes back to the time the monkeys came down and settled in small groups and fought each other for resources. The real problem of man is his quest for identity.

In conclusion:    I love your ideas of spirituality, love, truth, poetry, justice. My heart fills with dread when I see mindless violence on little babies committed in the name of religion. But all evil perpetrated in the name of religion is actually because of atheism. You know why? The Jews were Christian-atheists, so they crucified Jesus. The Christians are Islamic-atheists, hence the crusades. The Muslims are Hindu-atheists, so they destroyed magnificent temples and sculptures. And so on. Real religion is inclusive, vast, as expansive as the whole universe. If you want to change politics, you have to get in it. Similarly, if you want to change religion, you have to get into it. I wish we could start conversations around the real meaning of our religions so they can be open for interpretation and questioning for the next generation, so that religion can be rescued from the hardliners who now claim it as if it is their property.

You say the problem with the world is there isn’t enough love. I say the problem with the world is there isn’t enough god. But we are both saying the same thing because my god is equal to your love.

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Update (16 August 2014): Part II of this letter is now up on the blog.