Atheists identify themselves as non-believers of God. As a non-believer myself, I completely support their view. But I should point out that whether you belive in some concept strongly depends on how you interpret it. Needless to say, almost all the paradoxes and contradictions are resolved by correcting the interperetations and the premises assumed. I would like to quote Ayn rand in this context: "Condratictions do not exist. If you face one, check your premises".
The main questions I am trying to answer is this: What does the concept of God got to do with religion? Why do atheists tend to renounce religion? It is of my view that being an atheist does not mean renouncing one's religion. Saying this raises an important question. What does renouncing one's religion mean or more fundamentally, what does it mean to belong to a particular religion? Does belonging to a particular religion mean believing in the God that religion claims to exist?
If you think carefully, there is an easy explanation. The concept of "God" is never a premise of any religion or at least, it was not intended to be. Every religion has at its core, an anthropological philosophy and more than worth studying about. Each religion tries to explain the human nature, how we behave or should behave with each other, how to build our character, what are moral values and so on.
Now, I will try to answer some of the raised questions.
What does the concept of God got to do with religion?
God has nothing to do with religion. Is the concept of God really needed to explain the philosophy? well, to explain, we don't. But, "God" serves some crucial purposes when it comes to making people believe and follow the religion (philosophy). To keep this post brief, I stop here. See my posts following this to see further explanations.
Why do atheists tend to renounce religion?
The main problem that atheists have is that they think religions are based on the incredible premise of God which of course can be viewed in many ways as irrational. It is God that they don't believe in and extrapolate that disbelief to disregard the philosophy of the religion as a whole. This brings me to the next question..
What does it mean to belong to a religion?
The answer is simple. It means that you form your values, behavior, and your social customs based on the philosophy that religion stands for.
1 comment:
I agree with u. But why does one need to follow a religion anyway ? What do u mean by renouncing one's religion ? I am an atheist too, but I am not doing anything out of my way to renounce my religion. And most people are like me. I give a damn about my religion anyway, although if someone asks me, I will say I am a hindu.
So, if you say I am renouncing my religion based on this, then your argument is seriously flawed.. :)
Happy B'day Harish !!
P.S : I never read any religious book in my life. And I don't credit my religion for any moral I may have at this point of time :P :)
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