Atheism or the absence of belief in deities has seen resurgence in recent times. It is most common is Western and Northern Europe where according to the 2010 Eurostat Eurobarometer Poll, only 51% of Europeans believed there was a God, while another 26% believed there was some sort of spirit or life force. 20% respondents claimed they neither believed in God or other spirits and forces. Individual countries had more extreme results with 40% of French citizens and 37% of Czech Republic residents claiming to be atheists or religiously unaffiliated.

Atheism and disaffection with organised religion is also evidenced in India these days where some people are renouncing organised religion and self- identifying either as outright atheists or non-religious. In fact, as per the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were not religious and 3% were convinced atheists while the remaining 3% were unsure how to respond.

Bangalore based author and educator Ketan Vaidya has been an atheist for over 20 years. I realized religion evolved in the early civilizations of hunter-gatherers as a shield against fear of natural vagaries and bigger beasts.

Later Abrahamic religions fostered a sense of brotherhood and belonging. But I started feeling disconnected from organized religion around the time I was in 12th standard. Vaidya belongs to the very traditional Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu community and it was very difficult for his family to accept his new life as a 'non-believer'. However, with the passage of time they got used to it. Its probably because my atheism is not the vitriolic kind. I dont judge or shame others for believing. Infact, when my children are old enough, I will introduce them to atheist thinking and let them decide for themselves, says Vaidya.

Mumbai based writer Fairy Dharawat who is also an atheist, concurs, I think atheism gets a bad rap due to some very aggressive atheists who try to drown out the arguments of believers. I believe in a live and let live approach. Infact, I sometimes participate in small rituals and ceremonies to keep peace in the family. Fairy moved away from religion because she was disturbed by the bloodshed caused in the name of God. She also finds several religious practices rather inexplicable. Why should I fast? Why would God want me to go hungry? If there is a God, shouldnt he be more concerned about solving bigger problems like global warming, hunger and poverty, she wonders.

Psychologist Deepak Kashya explains, A lot of educated Indians are beginning to see through the tactics of so called Godmen who use religion to control peoples lifestyles. This ability to identify religious hypocrisy makes people question their own belief systems. Freedom of thought and expression is important to modern educated Indians and often this manifests in their departure from ritualism and religious practices that they dont find relevant anymore, says Kashyap.

But there are many other Indians who havent completely disconnected from religion and yet understand why atheism is becoming popular. There are so many wars being fought in the name of religion. While there are terror groups and religious extremists killing and beheading people in the name of religion, closer home in India, we have seen political parties use religion as a trump card during elections to cultivate and sustain their vote banks.

Its no wonder people start feeling disconnected. Young people today dont want to be associated with something that is the reason for so much misery, explains 28 year old film exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi. However, Rathi is a believer and feels that if religion inspires people to become the best version of themselves, perhaps it still has relevance in the world. Im not overtly religious. I just have a small shrine in my house. Every morning I stand in front of it and express gratitude to my maker for giving me such a blessed and privileged life, he says.

Meanwhile, as per the Pew Research foundations Global Study 2012 spanning 230 countries, 16% of the world population is not affiliated with any religion. This was corroborated to an extent by the findings of the subsequent Gallup International poll of 2015 that covered 65 countries where 11% of respondents were convinced atheists.

Read this article:

The belief in atheism - Daily News & Analysis