THE NON-PROPHET ORGANISATION

My father had refused to believe it; he may still be in denial. I was about fifteen years old when I finally gathered up the courage to tell my father that I'm an atheist, that I don't believe in God or idol worship or after-life and the like. That was the only time I ever tried. I lowered my head and apologised for being myself, “I’m sorry, Dad, but it’s true.” He just stood there for a second, then smiled and said, "Beta, don't lie, you know that's a sin." His response muffled my voice once and for all. In many countries, being a 'non-believer' is highly stigmatized or even illegal, so people tend to hide their lack of faith; like I used to. Sometimes, it's just easier (saves you from being "that child", becoming a reason for your "failed" parents' embarrassment) and sometimes it's safer that way (atheists in some Muslim-majority countries face persecution, severe penalties or even capital punishments – commonly called death). Two years ago, a Saudi Arabia citizen was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for expressing atheistic sentiment; last year a man was 'sentenced to death' for about the same. India is, obviously, not far behind in this Anti-tolerant behaviour. In March 2017, 31-year-old H. Farook, scrap dealer and a self-professed atheist, was hacked to death in Coimbatore because he refused to take down a WhatsApp group on atheism that had 400 members from several districts.

Despite the possible negative consequences, more and more Millennials, when questioned about religious faiths, said, "---Thank you, next!" According to sociologist Phil Zuckerman, broad estimates of those who have an absence of belief in a deity range from 500 - 750 million people worldwide. Religion is losing its stream and shifting to Spirituality, or rather Mindfulness - as practiced through meditation, empathy, kindness, yoga, etc. That's right, the "opium of the people" is on its way to fold up and retire. We can all just be good for goodness sake; we do not need a fear of the ‘otherwise’ consequences.

Throughout history, religion has been a force for control, oppression and authoritarianism from the 15th century forced conversion and repression of Jews to the on-going "re-education" of China's Muslim Uighur minority. Religion has been correctly analysed as another political tool utilized by the oppressing, ruling class. ‘They will have the lower strata believe their current suffering will lead to eventual happiness, so that they will not attempt to make any genuine efforts to rise in socio-economic class' and the rich will easily be able to rule.’ Women as well as homosexuals have always gotten special treatment by the religious groups; the women were kept ignorant and submissive, the homosexuals were treated with outright hostility, and both these groups were abused - physically and emotionally. Jainism, considered one of the most peaceful non-violent religions in the world, crushed my soul and spirit when it taught me that only men could attain 'Moksha' or Enlightenment.
"Do good deeds", said our Gurus, "and you'll be born a man in your next life." 

“Great! But I'll pass."

According to the 2018 UN World Happiness Report, the most religious countries (which happen to be those in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa) are the unhappiest, while the most atheistic countries (those in Scandinavia and Northern Europe, as well as Australia and Canada) are the happiest. Now, I'm not saying that worshiping makes you unhappy or that religion is the root cause of most wars; it probably isn't. But one would have to be rationally blind to not see a co-relation. You could argue that co-relation is not proof of causation. Fair enough. But do me a favour and try to picture the Sabrimala Temple issue without religion and people trying to prove and protect their deity's rules, guidelines and conditions – or the Gujarat communal riots of 1969 or the Anti-Sikh Riots of 1984. Sure, religious faiths have their pros but they end up doing more harm than good.

So many people, mainly the Hindus (who believe in reincarnation), refrain from donating organs because they strongly believe that they will be born without the donated organs in their next life. This misbelief is among the chief reasons why organ donation rates in India are so low. Atheism, on the other hand, has many studied healthy psychological correlations. Atheists tend to have an internal locus of control, i.e., they believe they have control over their lives, ergo, they do not expect a deity to solve their problems and address them personally and directly. If you believe that God must exist because someone must have made this world, because a creator must always exist, then who made God?

Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher once said, “Is man merely a mistake of God's? Or God merely a mistake of man?”