Historically, over the last several centuries and across the world, there have been people who are not inclined to believe in religious doctrines espousing the concept of God. Such atheists are often decried as rebels and negative thinkers. However, the fact is that these atheists have been deep thinkers who have pondered throughout their lives the question of human origins—where humans have come from and what their destination is after they inevitably pass away.
In the past, millions of people have wondered about the processes of birth and death, and they have often struggled to find convincing explanations for these events. However, most people have reached a dead end in this line of thought and have therefore focused on day-to-day life, even while knowing that death is inevitable sooner or later.
At the same time, several religions have emerged over the past thousands of years, developing thoughts about origins and endings, and advocating the belief that there must be a creator (God), without whom the world would not have come into existence. As people are unable to obtain rational explanations that fully satisfy the human mind regarding these processes, religions have asked individuals to unequivocally accept the concept of God and surrender to Him, with the aim of attaining God’s feet after life ends. In addition, religions have laid down firm guidelines on how best to live life. Most people have accepted such religious ideas as the best way to lead a peaceful life and have readily surrendered themselves to the concept of God, whatever He may be and wherever He may be.
While several religions speak of heaven and hell as possible destinations after life, Hinduism speaks of rebirth and states emphatically that one continues to be reborn until a blissful state is attained. Hindu philosophy explains the concepts of jīvatma (the individual soul) and paramatma (the supreme soul or God), and teaches that sustained meditation with complete mental detachment enables the jīvatma to merge fully with the paramatma, reaching a state of bliss (ānanda in Sanskrit). This, it holds, is both the end goal and the ultimate purpose of human life.
On the other hand, atheists who strive for rational explanations of life view scientific developments and advancements over the years—such as cloning and robotics—as sources of hope that such explanations may one day be possible. They believe one should look forward to that day rather than accept the concept of God as articulated by religions.
All things considered, while religions provide certain guidelines and concepts to help humans lead meaningful lives, atheism does not offer comparable frameworks. Unlike religions, atheism often moves towards a blind spot in its search for “truth”.
Ultimately, as life progresses and the human body begins to wither with age, in many cases atheists become restless when their thought processes yield no definitive answers. They may eventually conclude that they have no alternative but to reconcile themselves to the idea that “there is a force beyond”.
It is not uncommon for atheists to acknowledge, at one time or another, that their search for explanations about origins and endings has led them nowhere, and that it may be preferable to surrender to a “force”, even if it remains undefined in their view.
The question therefore remains: which is better—atheism or theism—and who is better, non-believers or believers? In such a scenario, when nothing is entirely clear, theism appears to be a more comforting option than atheism, as it provides a sense of direction, whereas atheism may remain clouded by uncertainty and lack of clarity.
At the same time, it is necessary to caution against decrying atheism or criticising atheists, as they are often honest and rigorous thinkers in search of truth regarding human origins and destiny. Atheism should not be dismissed as a product of egoism. Atheists are not egoists but sincere seekers of truth.
