Atheism and other arguments against religion

Religion has had different interpretations over the ages, and in the modern times those who were not satisfied with their religious beliefs tried to get peace by rejecting existence of God. We call it atheism. There are different types of people who reject religion, and sometimes they share the characteristics of one another. I will try to categorize them below:

Against any organized religion: They will say, Yes there is a God, who controls my life. I am accountable to Him. I am thankful to Him, and probably whatever religion anybody is practicing is leading to the same path, which is The God. In essence, these people are monotheists, because they will not refer to My Gods, but My God. The moment you say My Gods, you are part of an organized religion which has basis on polytheism. Even in such religions, you have the choice of picking up one God whom you will call My God.

No commitments: These people worry the obligations that the religion will put on them, so they prefer to remain free. They might have a sense that they do not have a full control of their lives, but they prefer not to delve into this question. They might also argue that religion has always been cause of wars and destruction throughout history. In facts, no commitment is the wild instinct in human beings. If men could live without committing through marriage, they would do so. If people could earn their livelihood without committing to a routine job, they would do so. But, in reality no commitment, along with independence, brings insecurity and anarchy. 

There is no God, Darwin told us how we became human beings: They have blind faith in science and believe that it to be the solution of everything. While in reality, we human beings are driven by emotions. Science has certain cause and effect, for example, if you boil water to this temperature, it will turn into steam. But, emotions have no guaranteed patterns of cause and effect. You might try to please your wife, and she may still be upset. Here comes the philosophy, psychology, and so much other learning, which will teach you the ‘laws’ of conversation, success, leadership, and what not. We live our lives for the goals which will give us emotional satisfaction, such as, taking care of the family, living in the community and following customs and traditions which give us the sense of identity. We go to wars for emotional reasons, and make peace for emotional reasons. 

Science and nature is no our master: Science is our slave; we are not slave to science. We use science to make life comfortable for us, to come up with the technologies so that we can talk convenient to our distant friends and relatives, and to make the future more secure for us. The same way money is also our slave, we are not slave to money. We spend it and buy peace and happiness. Can’t these people see that everything around us is serving us? The stars, the moon, the sun, the bio-diversity, the environment, the clouds, the streams, all are working in harmony as if ordered to serve us. We know how calamitous it is when they break loose and shatter all our developments in matter of hours. What did human beings do to earn this mastery? The only answer can be that someone, the Master of all science and nature, honored us this mastery, powered us with wisdom and knowledge to use it to their benefit.

Evolution vs religion: I think there are several arguments against it. Some people say, if the ancestors of human beings were monkeys, while do we still have monkeys around, those who did not even learn to cook their food yet. Some say, why did the nipples on the man’s body not vanish, like the tail did, which are not in practical use. We still have mosquitoes in many parts of the world, and perhaps men in those regions would love to have tails to protect themselves against mosquitoes. I would have loved to jump from one tree to another and slap a tiger, like this one does. You can refer to this link on wikipedia, for a more systematic and scientific criticism of the theory of evolution. 

Rise and fall of nations: If the only path before human beings was evolution and dominance, through history we have seen that there were mighty empires like those of Romans, and developed civilizations like that of Egyptians, and if evolution was the way of life, we would not see these civilizations vanishing. Who causes the destruction of civilizations? Today's most power nation doesn't have much of a history beyond 300 years, while some of the countries which had achieved significant cultural development thousands of years ago, such as India or China, are still struggling to be as part of the developed world. Dominance is an instinct, but ‘survival of the fittest’ it not a law that will govern the world. If it were so, we would not have seen an end to colonialism, and we would see countries with nuclear power dictating terms to those who do not have this power.

Adaptability of animals: Some birds can swim while others can’t. Some animals can live in the snow, while others can’t. Is it possible to train an animal to live in the snow, when he is not designed for it? Could human beings who have lived in snowy areas for centuries live without warm clothes, like animals do? Why don’t they have hair on their faces, like a polar bear? Why did man not leave the unfriendly weather and terrain, such as extreme heat and snow, and move to friendlier places, rather than trying to survive in such hostile environment? A donkey and mare can produce a mule; can a lion and tigress produce a tigron?

Harmony in chaos, method in the madness: The world is full of conflicting interests that collide with one another. The conflict starts at home given the different nature and inclinations of men and women. Nations, political parties, form of governance, distribution and demand of natural resources, economic ideologies, all clash with one another, but the world goes on. There must be some method in the madness. If you look at a place where there are lots of wires, but they do not mix up causing short circuits, you will say that someone has designed them craftily so that all are functioning well. The same way with so many conflicts in the world, life goes on, this means that someone designed this system wisely, and controls it very effectively.

Probability theory: The rejecters of the religion also have a scientific explanation for the absurdity that exists in the world. Once I had discussion with an atheist, who was very well qualified in terms of worldly education, and argued that there is no God. I said to him, ‘We need religion so that we can be at peace. You are so qualified, and when you see someone who doesn’t have even school education having earned millions and you, with so much intelligence and qualification, work for a salary, how you would explain it to yourself? If you will hunt only for a scientific explanation, you will be miserable. The only way you can be peaceful is that there is Someone who determined how each of us should get.’ He said, ‘There is probability theory. A less education person has fewer chances, but there is still probability that he will make a fortune.’

I showed him a video, which I am copying here. This video shows how some people were saved from death only by moments. These are the videotaped incidents, but there must be many more like this which happen every day. After having seeing the video, he said, ‘Probability theory.’ After a few days something interesting happened. He was trying to get loan against his bonus from his company but they refused him. Then by mistake, the finance department transferred money to his account, which was double of what he was seeking as advance. They came to him saying it was a mistake and you should transfer the money back. It was on 31^st December. He went with them and tried all the means, net-banking, ATM and visit to the branch, but could not transfer the money due to some technical problem. The day ended and the finance team realised it is better to pass on this amount as loan against his bonus, so they gave him a form to sign up accepting that he has received the bonus. He was amused at the outcome, and said, ‘See, I ran after them for advance but they did not give. And, now I have double of that, with no effort of mine to get it, and with every effort to return it back.’ I said, ‘God wanted to give you this money.’ At that moment, he did not say, ‘Probability theory.’ Probably, at heart, he was thankful to God. 

The problem with probability theory is that it will explain you the process, but not the cause. One person who was born poor becomes a millionaire is probable, but, why did he become millionaire and why did I not become one will not be answered by the probability theory.

Science cannot explain death: I am sure when destruction strikes a person, for example, a serious injury to his child, he would not say, ‘Probability theory.’ But would say, ‘God, please save him (or her).’ When a person loses his father or mother, or even a child; how can he get peace, it is not upon reflection of God’s plan and will. Whenever calamity strikes in any culture or region, we all say such was God’s will.

A limit and the One who determines the limit:

What is the probability that I who was born as Indian will completely change my characteristics and look like a Chinese or European? What is the probability that I can change my father and mother? What is the probability that I can change the date of my birth and date of my death? Ali ibn Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) once said, ‘You do not have control over your birth, how can you claim a control on your life.’

I read the statement quoted above some months ago, so it might not have exact words, but such was the gist of it. Another statement of Ali ibn Talib is: “Man comes from a drop of semen and leaves as a piece of dust. He doesn’t know when he came and he doesn’t know when he’s leaving, yet he goes around thinking he knows everything.”   

The answer is that there is room for me to play, to lose or gain my weight, to study what I like, or to change the skin of my colour like Michael Jackson did, but I am slave to the limits in which I am put. Michael Jackson was born with talent to sing, but he could not have become equally good philosopher, if he tried harder, or a film actor. He could adopt children from Africa, but he could not become a son of a white. And, he could not have changed the time of his death, which was just before a grand come-back that he planned. We are at peace when we realise our limits, and we are miserable when we believe that we CAN do everything. Even a hugely popular leadership theory of Strength Finder rejects the traditional wisdom of 'If you can dream it, you can do it' and concluded after detailed scientific research that we are born with some talents and we can only excel in those talents, but every one of us is not designed to do everything as effectively as some of us will do.  

Allah says: 

[054:049]Verily, We have created all things in proportion and measure.    

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