Atheists want to make this world a more rational and conflict-free place to live in
By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
04 February 2023
When some brain-dead fanatic in Pakistan urges his
fellow Muslims to hold Quran in one hand, and atom bomb in the other, should an
atheist keep mum?
...
"Atheists are ok as long as they mind their
own business but if they turn against religion, and then they are generally
speaking, beyond reasoning. They have burnt their boats and cannot look back
but at the same time, they are not at peace with themselves. They have a need
to continually run down religion to suppress their lack of conviction in their
position. Atheists who attack religion are fighting their own demons. Enemies
of religion will meet a bad end in the Hereafter after ruining their lives in
this world also by waging a constant war against religion. They stand to lose
in both worlds."
Once Turan Dursun, a celebrated Turkish ex-Muslim
and an avowed atheist got a letter from an Imam, who wrote almost the same
things which I've quoted above. By the way, Turan Dursun (1934 – September 4th,
1990) was a Turkish Shia Islamic scholar and writer. His work, which is
influenced by the 9th-century Persian sceptic philosopher Ibn al-Rawandi,
heavily criticizes Islam and the founders of its major branches.
Turan Dursun, originally a Ja'fari Muslim,
first worked as an Islamic cleric before becoming an atheist during his study
of the history of monotheistic religions. Turan Dursun wrote a number of books
about religion, which included interpretations of Islamic texts. He was an open
critic of religion and was frequently threatened by Islamic fundamentalists.
He was eventually assassinated on September 4th,
1990; outside his home in Istanbul. After this event, his books sold tens of
thousands of copies in Turkey.
Dursun gave a classic reply to that Imam. I've
translated that from Turkish: 'An atheist's perception of the world, esp. of
the spiritual world, is unimpeded by religion and god. He sees the world in its
stark nakedness and is not influenced by any esoteric belief. His atheism is a
cerebral decision which he considers a triumph of reason over brainless
servility. When he's able to see through the nefarious designs of all religions
and understand the futility of faith, he makes it the mission of his life to
fighting against religions, not just Islam, and their dogmas. It, therefore,
must be his lifetime goal to purge this world of religions, scriptures and
their fictional gods. I'm doing this for mankind which is in a state of deep
slumber. I'm jolting it out of its stupor.' That he was eventually killed by
Muslim zealots doesn't mitigate the impact of his words.
When some brain-dead fanatic in Pakistan urges his
fellow Muslims to hold Quran in one hand, and atom bomb in the other, should an
atheist keep mum? An atheist is an indefatigable crusader who debunks all
religious shibboleths and declares fearlessly like Josh Malihabadi, "Bashar
ke zehan pe qarnon se jo musallat hain / Badal raha hoon gumanon mein un
yaqeenon ko” (I'm turning those blind beliefs into doubts that have
engulfed mankind for aeons).
There's no dilemma of decision an atheist suffers
from. Here I'm not talking about fashionable schoolboy atheism. That's a fad
and a neo-intellectual idiosyncrasy. I'm talking about the 11th-century Arab
atheist Al-Ma'ari's non-belief who famously said, " The human race is
divided into two: One, man intelligent without religion, the second, religious
without intellect." Atheists don't fight their own demons.
They aren’t beset by nagging doubts. They militate
against the demons, dogmas and obscurantism religions are saddled with. They're
not indolent lotus-eaters to dwell upon Hereafter, Thereafter and all that
putrid bilge. Atheists and apatheists believe in this life, in this world and
in this existence. Nonbelievers don't require crutches of faith and god. They
believe in themselves and exhort people to use their brains. To encapsulate,
atheists want to make this world a more rational, righteous and conflict-free
place to live in.
..
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