A Sincere Note To Whoever's Listening

The most humorous part about telling people that I’m an atheist is their reaction. They look at me as if I had robbed one of their kidneys when they were sleeping and had left a note of apology next to their bed. They go on to ask me questions such as – “How can you live without God?” or “How can you not believe in God?” or “Why did you turn into an atheist?” or “If not Jesus then who do you believe in?”… These questions make me think as well as they make me feel sorry for the people who ask me such questions. Either those questions are posed because they believe that they cannot lead a normal life without some religious propaganda pushing their wheels or because they want to break free from the religious dogmas that were shoved down their throats before they could even speak and crawl. Their curiosity is a reminder of how I've managed to set myself free… in a little way but still I’m free in most ways others can never be.

Charity in the name of religion tells you that these people are trying to buy their way into paradise. It’s not goodwill or the kindness of their hearts; it’s like bargaining with a superpower for access into a comfortable afterlife. Human actions throughout history and our own daily struggle tell us that we live only to make our lives more comfortable. This thought of comfort and carrying it on in the afterlife is what drives people into doing “good”. It’s not a sense of judgment or a sense of morality but fear… fear of eternal damnation. It is the very reason why they fast for 40 days or give up eating meat or kneel before an alter and beg for forgiveness… It’s all so vague. Even if there was an afterlife, I highly doubt that the kind of sick desperation with which people carry out their sense of their so called “goodwill” will ever land them in what they call paradise. They expect it to be like one of those sales where you exchange an old cooker for a new one. Why do people believe that the illusion of a god is necessary for carrying out a good deed? Why do they believe that “good” cannot exist without the image of god? Their lives are in such tangles that bind them into a circle of prayer backed by countless hours spent in a place of worship when they could use that time to actually go out there and do something that actually matters… something that would actually help the people in need. Then again, that is outside their comfort zone. It makes me believe that people fear freedom more than anything else in the world.

Doing something good and not expecting anything in return justifies the term ‘selflessness’. It is the highest of all virtues. We are so used to this system of exchange that stems down from the ‘barter system’ that we forget we cannot put a price on everything that exists around us. A warm hug from someone you love or a smile of relief and happiness from someone in need that you just help is worth more than anything else in the world. Why am I an atheist? Because I wanted to break the shackles that chain most people today… in doing so, I've set myself free, a kind of freedom that flies away from control. My actions aren't driven by some divine and holy beckoning but by the morals and values that I established for myself.

Most people are bound by religion because that is what they were taught from the time they could perceive and speak. From the time they were conscious they well spoon-fed the concept of the religion that their respective families followed. They don’t understand why they do certain things; most of them do not have a deep understanding of their own religion but prophesy it. They literally sell or push their ideas on other people in an attempt to increase their numbers thinking they are carrying out some god’s holy will. They talk about which religion is the best or the most pious and they pray multiple times a day and fast to prove their point. It’s like a race that they want to win but who exactly is keeping score? It’s pointless… in all their pointlessness they forget what they actually should be doing and misplace the true sense of why the concept of religion exists – which is morality - a code, a way of life that is long forgotten and left behind in this race for supremacy and cheap bargaining for ‘eternal peace’ or should I say ‘eternal comfort’.

I end this note by simply saying that whether you believe in a god or don’t, it doesn’t concern me but when you do carry out an act of goodwill make sure your actions are purely heartfelt and sincere rather than some foolish struggle of blind faith and a misplaced sense of judgment.