The "Godless" Stigma

A few days ago, I came at the forefront of a very harsh line of questioning by a student. It was hardly relevant and I don't really know how the subject even arose, as we were in a maths class. Nonetheless, we started discussing religious beliefs - or lack thereof - and I was surprised by her scrutiny. I feel like I didn't answer to the best of my ability, so I intend to do so here. I feel like not enough people openly discuss what they think or believe because it might be unfavourable or uncommon - and, in a free-thinking environment, I find that absurd. No-one should should be ashamed, let alone afraid, of what they hold as their beliefs.

So, firstly:

"Are you Muslim?"

Again, I don't know where this question came from, but the asker was, herself, a Muslim and I guess she took a stab in the dark and assumed I was as well. I simply replied that my family were Muslims - of a Sunni school of thought, to be exact - and tried to focus her on the lesson at hand. But she insisted by saying, "So, you're not then?" and "What are you?" I again tried to simply answer that I was non-religious, but it wasn't a good enough answer.

"So, you're an atheist?"

To this I remember sighing, because she didn't let me clarify my stance. I don't really identify as an atheist, though I stand by scientific explanations for the world. I describe myself as non-religious on purpose, even though the two terms have very little difference. "Atheism", apparently, carries a stigma - a stigma that I find strange. It's as if there's people in the world that are in denial that some people don't want to believe in a God or follow a tedious, lacklustre doctrine. It's frankly quite strange. Anyway, I describe myself as non-religious because I accept that there is a possibility for a 'god' somewhere in the universe - I just don't really care about him or her or it.

In addition to this, in some Muslim understandings of faith - apostates are extremely frowned upon, to the extent that some Islamic manuscripts issue executions for anyone who leaves the faith. And understanding this, I could understand why the look on the student's face was almost disgusted. Though I'm sure she wasn't mentally calling for my blood - I like to think that most people are above that - she certainly seemed to think that I was some sort of degenerate.

"Why don't you believe in god?"

I don't deny there's one. I just don't believe in a benevolent, fair, all-loving, merciful, caring and nurturing god. Look around you, there isn't one. I'm tried of people attributing the beautiful sunset as a sign of god's beauty in nature, or newborn, cuddly animals as a sign of his gift to the world. If he's there, he's a sadist. What about cancer? What about child molestation? What about bugs that only survive by burrowing into the eyes of living things? What about the huge, huge, magnanimous gap between the wealthy and the destitute worldwide? If religious people can thank god for everything they consider "good" and "beautiful", why can't I blame him for all the shit and piss in the world? Religious people agree that all was "created by him" - and I'm tired of hearing that he works in mysterious ways.

"What's the purpose of your life?"

I'm not lying, she really did pull out the big guns here. She kept asking and asking, until she was so confused that she had to stop. The purpose of my life? To be happy. To see everything the world had to offer before the light fades from my eyes. And to be remembered for something. That's my purpose. That's my definition of a whole life. And it sounds a damn sight better to me than sticking to ancient, out-dated tomes that have no bearing for me.

I studied religion immensely as a child and teenager. I was put into a Muslim school (terrible idea, whether your religious or not), but I always wanted to know about what other people believed. I found myths. I found legends. I found wars and massacres and blood. I found contradictions. I found very rigid social structures that favoured men greatly, but weren't so favourable for women or homosexuals or even children sometimes. I found the makings, the guidelines for a dictatorship. That's what you find in dusty old religious books - tremendous reads, but people believe them.

"So, what created us? Do you think we came from monkeys?"

I'm no scientist. And I don't claim to be. But I tried to explain natural selection and evolution as best as I could. It seems odd to me that a 16-year-old student hadn't already learnt about it. I basically explained that life occurred gradually, and natural selection caused more favourable traits to continue while the less favourable ones died out. I tried to explain how bacteria might adapt to resist anti-biotics if a person with the infection doesn't finish or misuses their course. Or how some people are now born without wisdom teeth, because we don't really use them anymore.
It just didn't seem to make sense to her.

And I mean, it don't understand why. It's not like religion explains the origin of life more comprehensively. Created from clay? Sure! God created Adam and Eve and then their offspring incestuously mated with each other to further the human race? Brilliant! Brahma creates Brahmans from his head and Sudra from his feet, thereby creating clear social discrimination in Hinduism? Sounds amazing!

But evolution, natural selection and adaptation? Malarkey!

"So, who holds up the Earth? Who holds up the Moon?"

In a word: Gravity. The gravity of the Sun "holds" the Earth, and the gravity of the Earth "holds" the moon. You're 16 years old, you should know this. Demonstrable proof of this? Pluto. Pluto floated away and stopped being a part of our solar system because it moved too far away for the Sun's gravity to "hold" it.

Closing statements: No, I'm not religious. But at least I know what I believe.

~

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