I’m glad I Became an Atheist- Here’s Why
“God, Please Help me pass the exam!”
“God, Please help me get a new job!”
“God, Please help me get married to the love of my life.”
Every religious Person has said these exact words at some point in their life.
For some, these wishes come true making their God even more divine and great.
And for the unlucky others, their hatred for “God” increases which possibly stays for some time till their good luck strikes again and God becomes miraculous again.
Apparently, God works in mysterious ways.
I too have had this experience.
I did not write my tests well but my parents expected me to get good marks.
“Let’s pray to God to help you get a good result” – they said. I didn’t study for the tests but the test was important.
“Let’s pray to God to help you give an easy question paper.” There is a power cut at home but my favorite show is going to be aired.
“Let’s pray to God so that he fixes it soon.” (I actually did this). At that time I didn’t even know the meaning of the term atheist.
According to Wikipedia,
Atheism is in the broadest sense an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.
In 1930, there was a man who wrote a famous essay from Lahore Central Jail entitled “Why I Am an Atheist” in response to his religious friends who thought he became an atheist because of vanity.
This man was none other than the charismatic Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh.
Hold on before you jump to conclusions.
Neither is the following narrative reconstructed from Bhagat Singh’s essay nor is it based on John W. Loftus’ book “Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity.”
I penned the following piece a few years ago as part of my journal.
Why I Became An Atheist!
Everything went on like this for some point but this had become monotonous and had stopped making sense.
Whom was I kidding? This blame game was about to end soon.
Blaming God for not performing and praising him for performing great had become lame.
Either way, you are actually depriving yourself of the praise you actually deserve or just passing on the blame for the things you could have done better.
Thanks to Google and some close friends, I could discuss anything that seemed “godly”.
Luckily, I got most of the answers but some unanswered questions didn’t prove the existence of God either.
And hence began my transition into Atheism.
Logic had overruled the existing belief I had. I now knew that the result I get only corresponded to my actions.
It has nothing to do with me praying to God or not.
I had become a free spirit now.
I knew I had the power inside me to do what I want, achieve what I deserve, make rational decisions, and not attach myself to false hope, which I don’t deserve.
I knew I was responsible for my actions and hence whatever be the result, I just kept on getting better.
Since there is no blame game involved now, you just can’t pass the reason for your failure to someone else.
You understand that and you cease to work better for it.
You can now praise yourself for the great work you have put into that astonishing result and not God. You don’t wait for one of those God’s miracles to happen but you work for it.
Yes, God gives you faith to cling on when you are down and have no one else in your life.
Yes, it makes you feel good about being under some guidance and shadow.
But, It also strives you the opportunity to think you have that power inside you to get whatever you want, be what you want.
And when you are down, you just cling on to another lie about being with someone when you could work on your failures and get even better.
God is not going to help you pass your exams. Work hard next time. You have the power to do that.
God is not going to get you a new job. Make some fierce decisions, build a great path and you will land your dream job.
God is not going to help you get married to your girlfriend. If you truly love her, go for her.
Only you can make it happen. No one else can. You are the one who can help. Always remember that.
How I Lost Faith in God
My grandfather was very spiritual and used to perform a lot of puja and rituals. When I was very young, I used to perform a lot of puja and rituals too.
Over time, I felt that even though I was performing a lot of pujas, I wasn’t changing as a person. I was still the same angry, stubborn, and self-centered person I was. The real purpose of praying to God every day started fading as I grew up.
I’ve seen people around me who pray to God every day, read religious books but never work to imbibe those teachings in their lives.
They were not following the teachings in real life but liked to recite them over and over.
I mean, what’s the point? We are a country full of religious people but continue to look down on people we think are inferior, disrespect them, reject them or even deceive them, then what good is reading those highly sacred teachings?
If Why I Became An Atheist had a definite answer, it would be these “double standards”.
We are attracted to honest people, but not all of us aspire to be honest.
I was tired of the bargaining system we have with God:
“I will offer 11 coconuts if I pass with flying colors.”
“I will walk to the temple barefoot if my marriage takes place.”
“I will offer a lot of Prasad when this problem ends.”
We pray or keep conditions in order to fulfill our prayers from God.
If God was there, wouldn’t he be giving his blessing equally to all those who are praying to him? Our lives would have been similar. Why is there so much disparity?
I focus on the principles of the life philosophy I read and apply them to become the best version of a human being I can be.
. . .
This is based on a personal story about my journey to Atheism.
After so many years, I still find it relevant when many people with who I’ve interacted often feel the need to tell me why they believe in God.
Often, it’s a way to justify their beliefs and beliefs of others and convince themselves they’re not alone in their beliefs. It’s also a way for them to convince me that I am not correct.
I think this post has a bit more to offer than “I don’t believe in God” alone, and if you’re an atheist, I hope you’ll find it interesting.
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