Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur,

Chhattisgarh

A Project Report In Sociology

RELIGION : AN ATHEIST
PERSPECTIVE

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Dr. Ayan Hazra Atul Kumar Agrawal
Assistant Professor, Socio
Sociology Sem. III{sec-A}
III
HNLU, Raipur Roll no. – 37

Date of submission – 16th August, 2018

 RELIGION: AN ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this research work titled “Religion: An Atheist Perspective” is my own
work and represents my own ideas, and where others’ ideas or words have been included, I
have adequately cited and referenced the original sources. I also declare that I have adhered to
all principles of academic honesty and integrity and have not misrepresented or fabricated or
falsified any idea/data/fact/source in my submission.

Atul Kumar Agrawal

Sem. III {sec-A}
Roll no. – 37

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 RELIGION: AN ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I feel highly elated to work on the topic “Religion: An Atheist Perspective”. The practical
realization of this project has obligated the assistance of many persons. I express my deepest
regard and gratitude for Dr. Ayan Hazra. His consistent supervision, constant inspiration and
invaluable guidance have been of immense help in understanding and carrying out the
nuances of the project report. I would like to thank my family and friends without whose
support and encouragement, this project would not have been a reality. I take this opportunity
to also thank the University and the Vice Chancellor for providing extensive database
resources in the Library and through Internet. I would be grateful to receive comments and
suggestions to further improve this project report.

Preface
It is a matter of great pleasure for me to present this project entitled “Religion: An Atheist
Perspective”. This project provided me with an opportunity to study different forms of atheist
view of religion. The project is written in simple and lucid style. I’ve given additional
explanation wherever possible, in the form of footnotes. Lastly I would like to express my
gratitude to all those who helped me out completing my project.

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 RELIGION: AN ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE

CONTENTS

I. Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5

II. Review Of Literature --------------------------------------------------------- 6

III. Research Methodology ------------------------------------------------------- 7

IV. Objectives ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 7

V. Chapter -1 : Origin of Religion ---------------------------------------------- 8

VI. Chapter -2 : Meaning of Atheism ------------------------------------------- 10

VII. Chapter -3 :Atheism in India ------------------------------------------------- 11

VIII. Chapter -4 : Certain facts about Atheism ------------------------------------ 13

IX. Chapter -5 : Legal Status, Rights -------------------------------------------- 14

X. Chapter -6 : Some Famous Atheist in India -------------------------------- 15

XI. Findings ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16

XII. Conclusion --------------------------------------------------------------------- 18

XIII. Reference ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 19

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 RELIGION: AN ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE

INTRODUCTION
“Don’t know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn’t”
- Jules Renard

From the earliest times, humans have looked around and above them and wondered about the
world, the universe and the meaning of life. Unlike animals, humans have a built-in desire to
understand how we got here, why we are here and what happens after we die. Adam and Eve
knew God personally and spoke of Him. Their children brought sacrifices to the Lord And
during the time of their grandchildren, “men began to call on the name of the LORD” in
corporate worship

In all of history and in every culture, people have felt a need to worship what they perceive to
be the source of life. The Bible explains why—we are created in God’s image and God has set
eternity in our hearts We were created to be in relationship with our Creator. The rituals and
practices of religion began as an expression of the creature’s desire to worship theCreator.

Biologist Julian Huxley dismissed the existence of religion as a vestige of past ignorance and
superstition: “Gods are peripheral phenomena produced by evolution.” In other words,
primitive man invented the idea of God in an ancient, superstitious time, and theism has no
relevance in today’s society. Theories based on an evolutionary premise imagine that man’s
belief in God was first expressed in animism, ghost-worship, totemism, and magic. Not all
scholars have reached this conclusion, however. The Rev. Wilhelm Schmidt presents evidence
of a monotheistic faith being the first religion practiced by men and offers many powerful
arguments in support. For more information, see here. Man began with a belief in one God,
and then his theology degenerated into a belief in multiple gods.

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 RELIGION: AN ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Gupta, Giri Raj, 1

International Journal of Sociology of the Family.

He was of the view that Religion is considered as a sacrament which is ordained and is imperative
for every man and women. According to him all Hindus are expected to marry. According to him
the age of marriage of a girl customarily is arranged before she reaches puberty.

S.C. Triparthy, 2

Indian Sociological Society.

According to him The status of woman is defined here by considering the privileges enjoyed by the
husband and the obligations imposed upon the wife in their marital relationships. The husband's
privilege refers to the desertion of wife at his pleasure, marriage with another wife on the desertion or
the death of the first wife and bigamy.

CHAKRABARTI3,

Tridib. K. C A Different Look on Religion

According to him life is a flux. In his study intends to find out whether modernization has had any
impact on the Hindu Marriage system as followed by the urban people. True it is that even now Hindu
women experience some difficulty in finding suitable partners once the marriageable age has passed
(28 years is now considered as the limit).

1
International Journal of Sociology of the Family, Vol. 2, No. 1 (MARCH, 1972), pp.43-53
2
Indian Sociological Society. Sociological Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 2 (September 1954), pp. 131-157
3
Tridib. K. C A Different Look on Religion, Vol. 9, No. 3 (AUTUMN 1978), pp. 367-372.

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 RELIGION: AN ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The Research conducted is Descriptive and Analytical in nature. It provides a deep approach
into the topic of Structural Dynamics of Hindu Marriage and further scrutinizes all the aspects
of the same. Books & other references (including various websites) as guided by faculty of
Sociology were primarily helpful for the completion of this project. Footnotes have been
provided wherever necessary.

OBJECTIVES

The Project seeks to answer the following questions-

1. To understand what religion is ?

2. To understand what Atheism ?
3. What is the position of Atheism in India ?
4. Legal Status of Atheists.

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 RELIGION: AN ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE

Chapter – 1
Origin Of Religion

Origin of Religion - Ancient Foundations

The origin of religion can generally be traced to the ancient Near East and classified in three
basic categories: polytheistic, pantheistic and monotheistic. Atheism is really a modern belief
that resulted from the "Enlightenment" period of the 18th century.

Origin of Religion - Polytheism

The origin of religion and polytheistic systems: Polytheism (a belief in many gods) is thought
to have originated with Hinduism in about 2500 BC. Hindu beliefs were recorded in the
Bhagavad Gita, which revealed that many gods were subject to a supreme Brahman
god. Polytheism was also the religion of many other ancient cultures, including Assyria,
Babylonia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. The ancient polytheistic belief systems viewed gods as
being in control of all natural events such as rainfall, harvests and fertility. Generally,
polytheistic cultures believed in sacrifices to appease their gods. For instance, the Canaanites
sacrificed to the male god, Baal, and his female counterpart, Ashteroth. Baal controlled the
rain and the harvest, while Ashteroth controlled fertility and reproduction. The Greeks and
Romans developed polytheism to a highly structured pantheon of gods and goddesses.

Origin of Religion - Pantheism

The origin of religions and pantheistic systems: Pantheism (a belief that all is God) prevailed
in numerous ancient cultures. The belief that the universe itself was divine was typified in the
Animism beliefs of the African and American Indian cultures, the later Egyptian religion
under the Pharoahs, and Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism in the cultures of the Far East.
Pantheistic beliefs are also finding resurgence among various New Age movements.
Generally, pantheism is the principle that god is everything, and everything is god. Therefore,
nature is also part of god. We must be in harmony with nature. We must nurture it and be
nurtured by it. Mankind is no different than any other animal. We must live in harmony with

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them, understand them, and learn from them, focusing on the relationship between mankind
and the elements of nature.

Origin of Religion - Monotheism

The origin of religion and monotheistic systems: Monotheism (a belief in one God) is the
foundation of the Judeo-christian-muslim line of religions, which began with a man named
Abraham in about 2000 BC. From this point in history, God began revealing Himself to the
world through the nation of Israel. The Jewish Scriptures record the journey of the Israelites
from slaves in Egypt to the "promised land" in Canaan under the leadership of Moses. During
a period of about 1500 years, God revealed what became the Old Testament of the Bible,
relating the history of Israel with the character and laws of God. During the period of the
Roman Empire, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem as the long-awaited Messiah. The
ministry of Jesus ended in about 32 AD with His crucifixion and resurrection. After Christ's
ascension into heaven, the Christian church grew in His name and the New Testament was
written. About 600 years later, Muhammad began preaching in Mecca. Muhammad believed
he was the ultimate prophet of God, and his teachings became the precepts of Islam as
recorded in the Qur'an.

Origin of Religion - Important Dates in History:

 c. 2000 BC: Time of Abraham, the patriarch of Israel.

 c. 1200 BC: Time of Moses, the Hebrew leader of the Exodus.
 c. 1100 - 500 BC: Hindus compile their holy texts, the Vedas.
 c. 563 - 483 BC: Time of Buddha, founder of Buddhism.
 c. 551 - 479 BC: Time of Confucius, founder of Confucianism.
 c. 200 BC: The Hindu book, Bhagavad Gita, is written.
 c. 2 to 4 BC - 32 AD: Time of Jesus Christ, the Messiah and founder of Christianity.
 c. 32 AD: The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
 c. 40 - 90 AD: The New Testament is written by the followers of Jesus Christ.
 c. 570 - 632 AD: Time of Muhammad, who records the Qur'an as the basis of Islam.

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Chapter – 2
Meaning of Atheism

Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less
broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist.In an even narrower sense,
atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism,
which, in its most general form, is the belief that at least one deity exists.

Atheism is one thing: A lack of belief in gods.

Atheism is not an affirmative belief that there is no god nor does it answer any other question
about what a person believes. It is simply a rejection of the assertion that there are gods.
Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a belief system.

To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods.
Older dictionaries define atheism as “a belief that there is no God.” Clearly, theistic influence
taints these definitions. The fact that dictionaries define Atheism as “there is no God” betrays
the (mono)theistic influence. Without the (mono)theistic influence, the definition would at
least read “there are no gods.”

Atheism is not a belief system nor is it a religion.

While there are some religions that are atheistic (certain sects of Buddhism, for example), that
does not mean that atheism is a religion. To put it in a more humorous way: If atheism is a
religion, then not collecting stamps is a hobby.
Despite the fact that atheism is not a religion, atheism is protected by many of the same
Constitutional rights that protect religion. That, however, does not mean that atheism is itself a
religion, only that our sincerely held (lack of) beliefs are protected in the same way as the
religious beliefs of others. Similarly, many “interfaith” groups will include atheists. This,
again, does not mean that atheism is a religious belief.

Some groups will use words like Agnostic, Humanist, Secular, Bright, Freethinker, or any
number of other terms to self identify. Those words are perfectly fine as a self-identifier, but
we strongly advocate using the word that people understand: Atheist. Don’t use those other
terms to disguise your atheism or to shy away from a word that some think has a negative
connotation. We should be using the terminology that is most accurate and that answers the
question that is actually being asked. We should use the term that binds all of us together.

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Chapter – 3
Atheists in India – Do They Exist?

Worldwide, people who follow thousands of religions, who have different ideas about God,
exist. This includes atheists. Atheism came from the Greek word Aethos, meaning ‘without
God’. People, who don’t believe in the existence of some supreme power or specifically, a
religious deity, are of the atheistic kind.

India has been entirely different in its approach to atheism. With its citizens being extremely
dedicated to appeasing their deities, India supports a vast variety of religions and cultures
simultaneously. Religious events are celebrated with much enthusiasm and dedication to the
gods, that it is hard to find something similar in other parts of the world. So, it is really hard to
believe that atheistic Indians exist.

With film stars releasing movies on religious holidays, and people spending lot of money for
religious ‘daan’, charity and religious celebrations, it is hard to see that atheists exist in the
Indian society. While some people have doubts about the existence of the Almighty, they still
continue to worship and visit temples as advised by society. On the other hand, there are some
who openly admit their atheistic stance. There is abundant atheistic literature available where
writers adopt a critical stand against the most-practiced Indian religions. Bertrand Russell‘s
‘Why I’m Not a Christian’ inspired Ramendra Nath’s ‘Why I’m Not a Hindu’.

In the past, many notable politicians and social reformers have been atheists. To this date, we
have had people in notable professions and positions, joining the list. Prof. Amartya Sen, an
Indian economist, philosopher and noble laureate, is an atheist. He also admits to it by
associating with one of the atheist schools in Hinduism, the Lokayata.. The actor John
Abraham is a well known atheist, who admits to being a spiritual but agnostic person. The
famous director and producer, Anurag Kashyap, clearly shows his atheistic stance with the
words, “I am an atheist. Cinema is the only religion I believe in.” Even the first Prime
Minister of the country, Jawaharlal Nehrustated:”What the mysterious is I do not know. I do
not call it God because God has come to mean much that I do not believe in” giving proof of
his atheist viewpoint. With that, we can clearly agree that atheists very much exist in our
society.

Some other notable mentions are Meghnad Saha an Astrophysicist, Motilal Nehru, an activist
of the Indian National Movement and father of Jawaharlal Nehru, P. Chidambaram,
politician and former Finance Minister, Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born British Booker
Prize-winning novelist knighted by Queen Elizabeth I, Suhasini Maniratnam, an actress,

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Meera Nanda, writer and histori

historian,
an, film director Ram Gopal Varma and Goparaju
Ramachandra Rao, a social reformer, anti anti-caste
caste activist and atheist, who expounded his
philosophy of positive atheism as a way of life and wrote a book on the same. In fact, this list
is quite long.

The ‘Global
bal Index of Religiosity and Atheism’, a survey conducted in May 2013, revealed
that ‘the number of non-religious
religious people in India has risen.’ While in the same survey in
2005, 87% participants declared themselves religious, the percentage fell to 81 % in 2013, a
drop by 6 % in seven years. There are even Indian websites and organisations supporting
atheism and its followers.

In 2008, the website Nirmukta was founded. It later became an organisation aiming to
promote free thought and secular humanism in India. ia. A random survey of Indian metros states
that about 30 percent of the people ‘DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD’. Moreover, 17% have
admitted publicly of their adherence to this philosophy. Among those who do believe in God,
an indefinable superpower is seen as a bbetter
etter approach than belief in an isolated religious
concept.

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Chapter – 4
Certain facts about atheists

 According to the 2006 World Values Survey, conducted by the Dentsu

Communication Institute Inc, Japan Research Center (2006), 6.6% of Indians stated
that they had no religion4.

 According to the 2005 Global Index of Religion and Atheism report from WIN-
Gallup, 87% of Indians were religious and 4% called themselves atheists. According
to the 2012 report by the same organisation, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were
not religious, 3% were convinced atheists and 3% were unsure or did not respond. 5

 The religion data from 2011 Census of India was released in August 2015. It revealed
that about 2,870,000 people had stated no religion in their response, about 0.27% of
the nation's population. 6

 The share of Americans who identify as atheists has roughly doubled in the past
several years. Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study found
that 3.1% of American adults say they are atheists when asked about their
religious identity7.

 Atheists, in general, are more likely to be male and younger than the overall
population; 68% are men, and the median age of atheist adults in the U.S. is
34 (compared with 46 for all U.S. adults). Atheists also are more likely to be white
(78% are Caucasian vs. 66% for the general public) and highly educated: About four-
in-ten atheists (43%) have a college degree, compared with 27% of the general public.

 Although the literal definition of “atheist” is “a person who does not believe in the
existence of a god or any gods,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, 8% of
those who call themselves atheists also say they believe in God or a universal
spirit.

4
"World Values Survey (2006) English source requested" (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 September2013.
5
"Global Index Of Religion And Atheism" (PDF). WIN-Gallup. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2013
6
"2.87 million Indians have no faith, census reveals for first time". The Times of India. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
7
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/01/10-facts-about-atheists/

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Chapter – 5

Legal status, rights and laws

Atheism and irreligion are not officially recognised in India. Apostasy is allowed under the
right to freedom of religion in the Constitution, and the Special Marriage Act, 1954 allows the
marriage of people with no religious beliefs, as well as non-religious and non-ritualistic
marriages. However, there are no specific laws catering to atheists and they are considered as
belonging to the religion of their birth for administrative purposes.

Notable verdicts

 On 29 October 2013, the Bombay High Court judged in favour of an atheist school
teacher from Nashik. Sanjay Salve had been employed by the state-funded Savitribai
Phule Secondary School since 1996. In June 2007, during a prayer session, Salve
didn't fold his hands during the pledge or prayer. The school management called this
indiscipline and refused him a higher pay grade in 2008 when Salve became eligible
for it. Salve sought legal recourse citing the Section 28 (a) of the Constitution which
states "no person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or
receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious
instruction that may be imparted in such institution or to attend any religious worship
that may be conducted in such institution". The court ruled in Salve's favour and
directed the school to release his dues by 31 January 2013.

 On 23 September 2014, the Bombay High Court declared that the government cannot
force a person to state a religion on any document or form. The court also stated any
citizen has the right to declare that he/she doesn't belong to any religion. The decision
came in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Ranjit Mohite, Kishore
Nazare and Subhash Ranware, representing an organisation called Full Gospel Church
of God, after the Maharashtra state printing press refused to issue them a gazette
notification stating that they belonged to no religion. The petitioners stated that the
organisation had 4000 members, and that they believe in Jesus Christ but they do not
follow Christianity or any religion. Responding to the petition, the Maharashtra and
the central governments had stated that "no religion" cannot be treated as a religion on
official forms. The court cited the Article 25 of the Constitution, which guarantees
right to freedom of conscience, while passing the verdict.

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Chapter – 6
Some famous Atheist in India & their View

Jawaharlal Nehru

He was the first prime minister of India and a prominent leader of Indian Independence
Movement, was described as Hindu Agnostic.

Kamal Hassan

Even though he born and brought up in a traditional religious Tamil Brahmin family he
refused follow typical idol worshiping in Hindu religion. Rationalist and an atheist in his
personal life. But he mastered all religious epics in early stage of life itself and in his movies
religion and god comes most often to discuss. “Religion should be treated as personal as sex.
People should consider the question ‘What religion do you follow?’ as awkward as ‘How well
did you fuck your wife last night?’

Ram Gopal

“Ever since I realized I was an atheist, I never went to a temple, and even when there was
Ganpati puja at home my only interest was in the sweets and that I could keep the textbooks
away for three days,”

Javad Akhtar

Since I am an atheist, I have no concept of any life before or after this life. I believe that
human society is a club and I have been give temporary membership, with lot of privileges.
So, before quitting, it becomes my moral duty, as a decent member of club, to contribute
something towards the club. To me, that is life and that is the purpose of the life.

Anurag Kashyap

When asked about his religious worldview in an IAmA he did on the front page of the
internet, Anurag replied, “I am an atheist. Cinema is the only religion I believe in”

Rajat Kapoor

Actor and director Rajat Kapoor, in a different interview by the newspaper, had said, I think
God is a totally man-made concept that has been more harmful than beneficial to mankind.
Man has waged war and hurt and killed each other for thousands of years in the name of a
God he created. I believe there is no God, no heaven and no hell.

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Findings

How is it possible, atheists ask, to name one religion as the True Religion and one god as the
True God when there have been so many throughout human history? Why Christianity and
not Judaism? Why Islam and not Hinduism? Why monotheism and not polytheism? Every
position has had its defenders, all as ardent as those in other traditions. They can't all be right,
but, say, atheists, they can all be wrong.

Contradictory Characteristics

Theists often claim that their gods are perfect beings; they describe gods, however, in
contradictory and incoherent ways. Numerous characteristics are attributed to their gods, some
of which are impossible if you consider them rationally. How, for instance, is God at once the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (whatever that is), as asserted by Catholics? Described in
such a contradictory manner, it's impossible for these gods to exist.

The Idea of Religion Itself is Contradictory

Every non-religious ideology, philosophy, and cultural tradition contains certain

inconsistencies and contradictions. That's the nature of human thought. But these ideologies
and traditions aren't alleged to be divinely created or divinely sanctioned systems for
following the wishes of a god. So how are adherents to know what they truly should and
should not do, believe and not believe, when supposedly infallible religions are rife
with contradictions?

Gods Are Too Similar to Believers

In some cultures, like Ancient Greece and Rome, the gods are nearly indistinguishable from
human beings. Yet, at the same time, they are supposed to be supernatural, fundamentally
different from human beings or anything on earth. One has to wonder, then, if certain gods
share so many characteristics with humans, perhaps they were created by human beings in the
image of human beings, products of our vanity and not of the world's supposed sanctity.

Gods and Believers Behave Immorally

In most religions, gods are the source of all morality, meting out a set of divine laws that we
mere mortals are supposed to follow if we do not wish to either be miserable here on Earth or
in the afterlife. In reality, though, many horrors have been and continue to be perpetrated in
the name of God or a specific religion or spiritual practice. And the behaviors of some gods,
those of Ancient Greece and Rome, for instance, are downright criminal, running the gamut
from deception and theft to kidnapping and murder.

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Evil in the World

It's a question that has puzzled believers and non-believers alike throughout the ages: If God is
truly good—or if "the gods" have humanity's best interests in mind—why does evil still exist
in the world? The absence of substantive action against evil would be consistent with the
existence of evil, or at least indifferent, gods. This is certainly not impossible, but few people
believe in such gods. Most claim that their gods are loving. But to atheists, the suffering on
Earth makes their existence implausible.

Faith Is Unreliable

All religions or other theist-based systems are predicated upon the concept of faith, defined as
the belief in a concept that cannot otherwise be defended by logic, reason, evidence, or
science. No concrete evidence is necessary to believe in God or gods. Instead, people are
supposed to simply have faith—a position they wouldn’t consciously adopt with just about
any other issue. For instance, try standing in front of a speeding bus with nothing but "faith"
to keep it from hitting you.

Science Points to Life as Material, Not Supernatural

Most religions assert that there is more to life than the matter we see around us. In addition,
there is supposed to be some sort of spiritual or supernatural realm behind it all, and that our
"true selves" are spiritual, not material. All evidence, though, points to life being a purely
natural phenomenon, and who we really are is material and dependent upon the workings of
the brain.

There Is No Good Reason to Believe

Perhaps the most basic reason for not believing in the absence of good reasons for doing so.
Just because a group of people isn't religious doesn't mean they still can't live moral lives. And
just because they don't believe a "divine hand" lies behind all of life's actions doesn't mean
they can't appreciate the intricate web of relationships that underlies life on Earth. Being
religious does not guarantee happiness or success, and, in fact, might work against an
individual in the long run. Leave your life in God's or the Fates' hands for too long, say
atheists, and soon it's out of yours.

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Conclusion

Atheists believe that there is no proof or evidence for the existence of gods, and they see no
need for, or use for, gods. They generally believe that the universe, the Earth and life on Earth
evolved by perfectly natural processes, and see no evidence of intervention or guidance by a
supernatural entity. In fact, most atheists consider any paranormal belief systems (such as
astrology, clairvoyance, spiritualism, etc) as at best useless, and at times positively dangerous.
They might further argue that religions have often shown themselves to be intolerant and
bigoted, have impeded scientific and social progress, have caused significant strife and
bloodshed, and have never served mankind in a good way.

Atheists tend instead towards secular philosophies such as humanism, rationalism and
naturalism. Atheism is generally based on a philosophy of naturalism, which holds that only
natural phenomena exist and that there are no supernatural forces, or materialism (also known
as physicalism), which holds that the world and the universe contain only material or physical
objects, such as can be described by the physical sciences of physics, chemistry and biology.
Very few, however, would take this to the philosophical extreme of “eliminative materialism”
and deny the existence of minds, thoughts, ideas, etc.

Many atheists think that the question “what is the meaning of life?” is just as silly as “what is
the meaning of a cup of coffee”, and do not believe that life has any meaning or purpose, nor
that it requires one: it simply is. Others find meaning in the choices they make in life (whether
it be political reform, charitable work, relationships, etc) rather than in the promise of a
hypothetical life after death. To an atheist, the knowledge that we have only one life makes it
all the more precious and ensures a life-affirming, life-enhancing attitude, untainted with
wishful thinking, self-delusion or self-pity.

“Atheism is more than just the knowledge that gods do not exist, and that
religion is either a mistake or a fraud. Atheism is an attitude, a frame of mind
that looks at the world objectively, fearlessly, always trying to understand all
things as a part of nature.”
- Emmett F. Fields (1980)

“All thinking men are atheists”.

- Ernest Hemingway (1929)

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Religion for Atheist, Alain de Botton
2. Society in India, Ram Ahuja
3. Principles of Sociology with an introduction to Social Thought, C.N Shankar Rao
4. Indian Social Structure and Change, K.L. Sharma
5. Indian Social System, Ram Ahuja
6. Sociology of Indian Society, C.N Shankar Rao
7. Changing Indian Society, Yogesh Atul

WEBLIOGRAPHY

 www.jstor.org
 www.stanfordsocialreview.org
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 www.hinduwebsite.com
 Scholar.google.co.in
 Scitation.aip.org
 www.ncbi.nlm.nih.com
 www.quora.com
 www.indiabix.com
 www.culturalindia.net
 www.mapsofindia.com
 www.indiansabroad.com

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