In the defence of Atheism

*Sighs*

Forgive them, Father. They know not what they do.

These words, spoken by a man who was not the Son of God, are the only things that redeem him, in my eyes. It is a good principle to live by - forgive those that harm you through ignorance, through unintentional action. For a lot of these things are motivated by fear, and fear makes humankind act in a manner not entirely 'human'.

So, I got my response from the Ex-atheist. I think I'll call him 'The Ex', from now on. It'll make matters simpler. So, The Ex messages today, and begins by complimenting me on my blog. Thank you, I work on it occasionally. I'm glad to know it bore some fruit. He then went on to say that one must have 'trusted sources' of information. Also, agreed. However, trust is an issue, because I do not trust the Koran one whit.

He stated that his method of research was as follows -
1. Does God exist?
2. If yes, then which religion is the true one? He says he went through their authentic sources.
3. If the source had some scientific error, then it couldn't be the word of God. Since the Koran stated many 'scientific facts' that have only recently come to 'light', it must be the word of God.

Hence proved, he says. Of course, he follows this up with the scientific facts, and substantiations. He mails me some text that I am sure is taken off some website or the other, proving the perfect nature of the Koran.

This particular part of the message speaks first of the theory of probability, of which I am sure anyone reading this will be familiar with, and states that the Koran predicts, primarily, 3 scientific facts, before they were discovered or realised -
1. The Earth is round.
2. The Moon reflects light.
3. The human body is made of water.

He states that there are some 30 conceivable shapes of the Earth, hence odds of the Koran guessing that are 1 in 30. The odds of the moon reflecting light are 1/2. And the odds of the human body being made of water are 1 in 10,000, assuming 10,000 other possible substances. If one multiplies these three odds, there is a .00017% chance that this has been arrived at through guesswork. Hence, this being so overwhelmingly likely that God wrote this since it is right, and so unlikely that this is guesswork, this is the word of God.

There are two parts to the logic above - one, that these can be likened to guesses, and hence probability applies; and second, that such overwhelming odds would create a definite tendency to believe that God wrote the Koran. There is a third part to my defence of atheism, but I shall come to that at the very end.

Guesswork
These three statements by the Koran are called 'guesswork' on the basis that the 'prevailing viewpoint' at the time was to the contrary - the World was supposed to be flat, the moon was thought to be auto-luminous, etc. However, these are the prevailing viewpoints only in a certain part of the world - in Europe. It is a testament to the westernization of education that we truly believe that the world was conceived to be round only when, during the Renaissance, it was shown to be so.

This is ridiculous in the extreme. The Koran is estimated to have been written in the 8th Century AD in Arabia. In the 6th and 7th Centuries AD, there was an Indian philosopher by the name of Aryabhatta, who had come to these two conclusions already. Also, given that trade between the Western coast of India and Arabia was common at the time, such ideas were easily communicated to Arabia, and in fact the Renaissance was borne out of these ancient thoughts being transported to Europe through the interaction between Europe and Arabia many centuries later.

To the credit of the Europeans, though, they came up with this even before Aryabhatta - the Ancient Greek Astronomer Anaxagoras, from the 5th Century BC, had already thought of this, too - more than a thousand years before the Koran was written. So much for 'guesswork', really.

There is, of course, the 'guess' of the Koran with relation to the composition of the Human Body. It is stated in the Koran that the human body is made of water - well, this is a gross misunderstanding of biology, as far as I know it. While the cells of the human body are composed of 65-70% of water, it does not mean that the human body is 'made' of water. There are no components, the arbitrary 10,000 number besides. It is a ridiculous statement to make, and if God exists and did write the Koran, it must be something that causes him merriment.

Odds and Proof
Even if one assumes that the last four paragraphs have not been written, and that the Koran does make these statements against prevailing thought at the time, I think it's more than a bit of a stretch, to use probability to prove something. Probability gives odds. There is no proof in saying there's a .00017% chance of something being false, hence it is true. To mandate that millions lead their lives the way you want them to, to make them bend, bow, and scrape to an idea which may or may not be true, given that these are odds, is a crazy one. To prove something scientifically, it is not enough to prove that it is likely - a single exception would prove a scientific theory false. Hence, the mere chance that the Koran is guesswork is enough to disprove the definite existence of God. His existence might be likely, even overwhelmingly probable, but that is not enough. That is not proof. Proof, in science, is beyond any doubt.

God Existing v. Atheism
The final, little bit. Assume Atheism is wrong. Assume that God exists. Assume that the Koran is his word. What, truly, binds me to follow his word? Nothing, really. Merely the threat of punishment in the afterlife. If, in his infinite wisdom, he gives us will to do as we choose, and to follow or not follow his words, than clearly it is a decision for us to make. We can choose to take the paradise and the houris (I always wondered what faithful women got - forced lesbianism?) or we can choose hell.

I choose hell, honestly. I'd rather suffer that torment than force myself to do things that don't agree with my conscience. Islam means to 'submit' - your morals, for someone else's. I won't do that. I do not submit.

I thank you for you patience in reading this horribly long thing. If anyone is interested, I shall be glad to forward you the Ex's message, and/or send you links from Wikipedia dealing with Aryabhatta, etc. Also, if someone could find out what the real prevailing notion in Arabia was with regard to human body composition, I'd be much obliged.

Atheism, and Why There is (Fortunately) No Heaven For Atheists.

My mother has always been concerned about my immortal soul, to be honest. I displayed a disturbing tendency, in my youth, to concentrate on the wrong parts of the holy lessons I was meant to be learning. Being brought up in a 'good' Hindu household, I learnt a lot about Lord Krishna. I would pointedly ask my mother why he was allowed to steal butter, but I was not. Not to mention, the clothes of women (I never understood why till much later). This, perhaps, set the stage for my subsequent lack of belief in God - he was permitted to mess around, but I was damned if I did anything of the sort.

Atheism came very naturally to me, even while young. Show me God, I would say, to my perplexed teachers in the Christian school I went to as a child, where under the guise of Moral and Remedial classes I learnt a good portion of Biblical tales and fables. While I found these stories interesting, I always questioned their veracity. To date, I am fascinated with religion as a way of life, but continue to stand against anyone who wishes that I believe in something I have no evidence to suggest exists.

My belief, if it may be so called, in the non existence of God or heavenly beings at all was further reinforced when I read the excellent book The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. He looks at the 'God hypothesis', as he refers to it, and summarily rejects it. He considers all the things God has done, and proves that since these cannot be proven, there is no reason to believe that God exists. And being the healthy pessimist that he is, he states that he will not believe in something unless there is proof.

What is the proof most often given by the religious? They speak of the miracles that their texts claim to have witnessed. They speak of the resurrection of Christ, or the ascension of Muhammad. They speak of Christ turning water into wine, and of Gabriel speaking to Muhammad. And all the antics of the Hindu pantheon - don't even get me started. Nonetheless, I have continued to be absorbed in religion, which confidently refuting my faith in a so-called Higher Power.

I made a friend when I went to Pune, notwithstanding the fact that she was primarily responsible for me wearing shocking pink lipstick due to a dare. I recall that at some point while sitting down, I noticed a small bracelet, which I picked up, looked at, and then asked who it might belong to. It was a beautiful little thing, with a verse in (I'm assuming) Arabic/Persian/Urdu inscribed upon it. It is likely to have been a verse from the Holy Quran (or Kuran/Koran/Corran), and I handed it back without issue to the person whom it belonged.

I thought it'd be the last of anything religious I'd see for a while, from her or from anyone related to her. I had no reason to believe that religion would ever be something that I would discuss with her, or her kin, considering that I knew very little and next to nothing about her. That was before this message from her brother found its way into my inbox:

DUDE I WAS WANTED 2 SAY THT I WAS AN EX-ATHEIST BUT NOW AFTER MUCH RESEARCH I CAME 2 KNW THT THERES NO GOD BUT ALLAH N PROPHET MUHAMAD WAS LAST N FINAL MESSENGER!!!!
DUDE FIRST I WAS OFF DE OPINION THT PLP WHO BELEIVE IN GOD JUS HVE BLIND FAITH N THT GOD WAS JUS IN THEIR MIND BUT DUDE I GOT A SHOCK WHEN I STARTED RESEARCHING ON DE TOPIC!!!!!!
1 CAN PROVE SCENTIFICALLY N LOGICALLY DE XSITENCE OF GOD!!!!!
N KNW ALHAMDULLILA IKNW THT ALLAH XSIST ....
SO DUDE IAM SURE U MUSNT HVE RESEARED ON DE TOPIC CAUSE IF U WUD U WUD DEFINELY KNW DE TRUTH WITHOUT A DOUBT!!!!!1
SOO DUDE BEING N X-ATHEIST IKW XACTLY HOW IT FEELS BUT JUS WANTED 2 TELL U THT START RESEARCHING BEFORE ITZ 2 LATE!!!!!
IF U HVE NE DOUBT OR NE INQUIRIES 2 MAKE ILL B GLAD 2 HLP U!!!!!
GIV ME A CHANCE N ILL PROVE IT 2 U SCIENTIFICALLY N LOGICALLY THT THERES NO GOD BUT ALLAH N PRIFET MUMAMMAD IS HIS MESSENGER!!!!

I spent quite a bit of time staring at the screen, trying to reply in some fashion in my head that I thought would make sense. None came. None, at least, that I could send back as a personal missive to him. Unlike many others, he is trying to do 'good'. Given such sentiments, my normal vitriol is best avoided. I shall attempt, as far as possible, to understand what has been written.

Let's look at this, then, through kindly eyes - or at least as kindly as we can make them. The first thing stated is essentially a declaration of sorts. I was an ex-atheist, he says. I researched, and found that Allah was the only God, and the Prophet his last and final messenger. Now, I would like to respond by simply stating that I am an atheist, and have done enough research of my own to determine for my own purposes that there is no higher power of any sort.

The question, of course, now becomes what research did he undertake to thus turn him around? I cannot fathom this from the message, and anyone who can, I'd like to know what it is, so I can respond to it. All I know is, and continue to know, is that I know more about religion(s) than the average individual, because of my avid interest in mythology and religion. This stretches from the Ancient Greek and Egypt to Scientology, and I know quite a bit about Islam. While I agree that I am not a scholar, I find certain parts of the Quran to be so completely alien to my morals and my principles that I cannot stand by that text. There are several examples I could cite; however, I know that my morals are not something that I can expect others to adhere to, nor are my standards. Since these are, in essence, beliefs of mine (in the mould of "I should not do this"), I do not want to compare Islam to them, for that would be inappropriate as well as unnecessary. But the texts of Islam often condone or encourage behaviour that would be bizarre by the standards of most This is one such example: http://www.islam-watch.org/MuminSalih/Breast-Feeding-Man-Islam.htm
*NOTE: The above site is an anti-Islamic site. It's views are not mine - but the episode it alludes to in the life of the Prophet is accurate, according to the Koran. Nonetheless, it's not very intelligently written. Please read with caution.*

Let's see, shall we? I don't need saving. I don't need paradise. I don't need belief in anything but myself. Those things might be good, they might help others when they need sustenance, but I need myself in those times, and I really can't have so much to deal with in one go. I don't believe in things - they exist, or they don't. I exist. I believe in that.

If the existence of God can be proven to me, I shall believe. But I shall still not follow his precepts (if they are indeed, his) nor his rules, for I am me, and I have rules of my own.