Atheism as part of Hinduism: Related

Atheism as part of Hinduism: Related

I dwell upon three seemingly interrelated yet exclusive elements that must have intrigued us all no less at some time in our lives viz. Religion, Hinduism and Atheism. According to many, (and it has become a fashion with many to use this clichéd phrase, namely) ‘Hinduism is not a religion, but is a way of life’ and Atheism has a place in this ‘way of life’. So then which religion do the Hindus (religious or otherwise) of this sub continent (like me) and elsewhere who practise this certain ‘way of life’ belong to? Once this is answered everything else may fall in place.
Every religion no matter what, is a ‘way of life’. Every religion, at its core, advises on the best way to live, but in the end it’s a choice we make only for ourselves. We may choose to feed the starving or kill the innocent, but no matter what our earthly rewards or punishments may be, every action we take makes us who we are. And what, at last, could be more precious than the quality of our own character, and the integrity of our soul?
Since none of us is an expert on the creation of the universe, because none of us created it, and none of us was alive for the past billions of years to witness it, then we can safely say that we are all just trying to make sense of it (let us for a moment, however reluctantly set aside the ‘Maya’ theory). We believe in philosophies, truths, dogmas, faiths, or sometimes the lack thereof that have been passed down to us through myriads of ways of telling. Somehow we are at a better stage compared to our ancestors in answering the mysteries of Universe. We can explain comets, planets, their orbits, the birth and death of stars, the mechanics of atoms and so many more in the areas of biology, geology, & mathematics. It does not however mean that we know all. This tends to a discussion wherein one would like to know whether we can ever know 'All'. We cannot answer that with confidence.
[Knowing 'All' is the ability to explain every phenomenon that happened or shall happen with the tools of man i.e. science]
Science may answer with some degree of accuracy questions like:
HOW? How did earth form? How did man evolve? How do the planets move? How do the atoms collide? How does a plant grow? How do we see colours?
WHEN? When did the Universe come into existence? When do atoms decay? When will an eclipse occur? When will the next sun-rise occur?
WHAT? What happens when stars explode? What brought an end to dinosaurs? What made man move to different continents? What happens when we get fever?
But it fails miserably trying to answer 'Why?' [And that's the reason why our lives still embrace theology].
Why did Universe come into existence? Why are we the way we are? Why can't we be something else? There are so many Why’s that science cannot answer. And most probably it can never answer them. But a theologian had always answered these. He attributed everything to God. His explanations include the creation of the Universe, the Man, the stars and almost everything. This is one area science may never dominate. And hence there is always room for theology in Mankind (no matter what ‘way of life’ he follows) thanks to ever elusive WHY! You may call him a theist.
On the other hand, hear what atheists have to say:
“There seem to be many misconceptions about what an atheist is and is not, and what atheists do and do not believe. Although the following will not apply to all atheists, a general overview of atheism is as follows: An atheist, quite simply, has no belief in any deity. ("A-Theist" = "Without Theism") Atheists do not hate God; they simply do not believe in the existence of God or the divinity of God (or anyone else, for that matter).Disbelieving or disagreeing is not the same as hating. "Atheism" only tell you what a person does not believe. Atheists among themselves have wildly different views on many topics, and may only agree with each other when it comes to the subject of religion. Atheists are not servants of Satan. Atheists consider Satan (and similar beings) to be just another mythical entity. Also, many atheists devote a lot of their time to doing good in the world - recognising that there is no help "from above", it is up to humans to solve our own problems. Occasionally atheists will refer to themselves as agnostics - Agnostics (it means "without knowledge") consider the question of God to be unanswerable - there may be a God, or there may not, but we have no way of ever determining the truth of the matter”, they say.
“Is Atheism Wrong? Atheism, the idea that there is no God or Creator, is a conception of the human mind which occurs at various stages of mental and spiritual development. It appears in undeveloped minds who are unable to perceive any deeper reality than what is evident through the physical senses. Atheism also appears in more developed minds who see through the limitations of organized religion and its dogmas and can no longer accept them as true. It is wrong to say that atheists are bad, whereas those who believe in God are good. The important thing is the inquiry into Truth. If this inquiry is more alive in an atheist than in the dogmatic follower of a particular religion, such an atheist is a better seeker of Truth and therefore closer to God who is Truth than the so-called religious person. Going by this, many are atheists, including those who regard themselves as religious. What some believe in is not spiritual reality but in money, power, and ideologies, all of which are material. Seeing reality as other than Divine seems the root of all of problems.”
So if some one says that ‘ATHEISM IS A SUBCLASS OF HINDUISM.’ he is stating the obvious-because atheism is a subclass of every ‘ism’, not only Hinduism, because every religion has its fair share of atheists and theists and ever so many pairs of opposites.
So what is the big deal?
The bottom line in my humble opinion is (and hope sincerely that I am not wrong) “To have a right to do a thing (in this case to profess atheism and yet belong to Hinduism) is not at all the same thing as to be right in doing so”

V V R
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