Atheism

I I am not sure what the discussions are about. Here are some of the problems that have surfaced. Do (did) people in India believe that Ramayana is (was) a narration of ‘what really happened’? Even without specifying the ‘when’ and the ‘where’, the answer is obvious: some (did) do; some (did) do not; some are agnostic. The question, however, is: What is the question about? What problem is it meant …

(a) It appears to me that in these discussions, a very vital issue (if we want to talk about Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and their ‘problems’ with ‘Hinduism’, etc) is not being recognized. and that is this: religious ‘beliefs’ are not accorded their place, and are talked about as though they are merely a subset of the class of ‘beliefs’. (b) ‘Being a believer’ (I will confine myself to …

1: Atheism is a phenomenon that came into being in the western culture at around the time of the so-called Enlightenment. The West claims that it liberated itself from the dogmas of the Christian religion in this Enlightenment, and those who call themselves atheists mean by this that they belong to the enlightened people who “have escaped from the dogmatic illusions of religion.” Now, as it has …