Things Atheists Didn’t Do
By Dave Hitt on Oct 24, 2008 in Atheism, Featured, Religion
Here’s a list of things atheists didn’t do over the past month or so.
An Atheist did not set fire to his 11 year old niece for wearing lipstick. She has burns over 90% of her body and is not expected to survive.
No atheist decreed it was OK to kill the owners of Satellite TV stations that broadcast “immoral” content. That was a Islamic Cleric who also said Mickey Mouse should be killed. Atheists know that Mickey Mouse isn’t real either.
Atheists did not vandalize the homes of a half dozen politicians in Minnesota. They didn’t spray paint threats and a reference to Psalms 2 on homes.
Atheists didn’t rape a nun in India. That was Hindus, who have also killed 30 people and left thousands homeless in their attacks on Christians.
Atheists did not gun down an aid worker in Afghanistan. That was, of course, Muslims. But hell, she was a woman, so they probably only consider it half a murder (which means they’ll have to work harder to fill their monthly quota.)
No atheist announced that women should now be limited to a one-eyed veil. That as an Islamic holy man.
It wasn’t an atheist court who sentenced a man to death for asking about woman’s rights in class. That was, of course, a Muslim court. But they changed their mind, and now he’s only sentenced to twenty years in prison. Allah is merciful.
Atheists don’t punish women for being raped. But if you’re an Islamic rape victim who can’t find four men to testify they witnessed the crime, you’ll be beaten if you’re single and stoned to death if you’re married. Imagine how nasty the punishment would be if Islam wasn’t the religion of peace.
No atheist teacher burned crosses into his students arms. And I’ll bet you a fine cigar or the refreshing beverage of your choice that the students that rallied to support him weren’t atheists either.
Meanwhile, what do you get from atheists? Tasty, tasty bacon!
Bacon’s the reason I’m not a vegetarian anymore … mmm … bacon …
Derek | Oct 25, 2008 | Reply
Atheism also gave that little girl the power to levitate, even though she has no legs.
Rumpledforeskin | Oct 26, 2008 | Reply
Hooray for atheism and it’s magical science!
Derek | Oct 26, 2008 | Reply
Yeah, it’s not like an atheist has ever done anything morally reprehensible. Only people who happen to claim a religion do anything evil.
Benguin | Oct 26, 2008 | Reply
exactly
oboe | Oct 26, 2008 | Reply
True there are reprehensible atheist, but I rarely see reprehensible actions based on the lack of belief in god. If I’m wrong (and I won’t deny it is a possibility) I would like to know.
Simon | Oct 26, 2008 | Reply
I LOL’d
Aubrey | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
Benguin, if a Baptist robs a car, or a Muslim steals a can of tuna, it won’t make this list (or subsequent lists - I’m thinking of making this a regular feature). This is only crimes and atrocities based on religous belief.
And it’s a very shortened list, culled from about 60 stories I had saved over the past month or so.
Hittman | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
You need to do this every month!
Jack | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for creating this list.
As a new unbeliever, I’m interested in donating my time/money to an atheist based community organization. Can you list some off the top of your head? I think many people look down on atheists because they don’t see atheist community organizations like ones for other religious groups.
Anonymous | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
um excuse me mister anonymous atheist, thats because you dont have a religious group…
if you make yourself a separate community you’ll be the same as these religious groups you so hate. there will be atheist extremists trying to hurt christians like these Christians youre pointing out are trying to hurt atheists
i know you dont believe in a god and all, i respect that, im not trying to convert. but dont hate the faith because some people out there are idiots. the bible, whether you view it as fact or fiction is actually a very good moral basis to live your life by. the problem is nobody reads the whole thing.
even pastors, like that crazy baptist fellow going around saying god hates fags, get it wrong.
the fact is, these people, the christians at least, are deviants from the real faith. most people are deviants from the real faith, because nobody wants to listen to the whole bible. but thats no reason to condemn us all
an atheist friend and i were talking one day, and we decided that the personification of moral standards was a good idea. with a god telling you waht to do you suddenly have incentive to not do bad things. long story short, its a good way to teach morals, whether you believe or not. i beleive that even an unbeliever should allow the bible to continue existence for solely that reason. if more of us allowed ourselves to see the big picture we would understand how to do this
meh | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
You need to do this every month!
Considering the response and traffic it generated, I think I will.
As a new unbeliever, I’m interested in donating my time/money to an atheist based community organization. Can you list some off the top of your head?
I don’t know of any. Why not start one?
On a side note, I’m laughing at the google ads being generated here - for Muslim dating sites. Nothing like a good “setting kids on fire” or “killing rape victims” story to encourage finding a Muslim mate!
Dave Hitt | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
What I don’t like about this article is that it DOES NOT point out that these were individuals, not the WHOLE organization. I really hate it when people think like this….honestly. Just because ONE person does something assinined doesn’t mean they ALL act like that. Personally, I’m Pagan, but some of the nicest people I have ever met are Christian. ONE is not representative of the whole.
Other wise, yes, those people were a number of cuss words I am not going to type out. Burn crosses into the students arms? Honestly, wth?
Zhire | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
People will kill over ideology, no matter whether that ideology is called “religion” or not, and usually, it will go against the beliefs in the mainstream of that ideology.
pubbie | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
the above “believer” who claims he and his “atheist friend” decided and agreed that having “incentive to not do bad things” in the form of the bible (as a moral compass) was a good or even necessary thing….
Either you’re a liar or your “atheist friend” is a moron. Seriously. If i needed a fiction novel to tell me how to behave, to know right from wrong, I don’t believe I could be considered a being of strong character in any way, shape, or form. I’d simply be another moron, aka sheep in the flock.
I’d rather not be another sheep in the flock. Keep your “incentive to not do bad things” the rest of us will use logic and reason. Thanks.
Hey while you’re at it, make sure when you follow your “incentive to not do bad things” you actually read it, and swallow exactly what it tells you are punishments for violating and ignoring the “incentives to not do bad things” because those incentives include all sorts of neato heinous acts like stoning and murder.
Great moral guide, really. Incentive to not do bad things…
kry | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
Funny thing is, there’s a word for these people. “Fundies”. They’re the few, extreme individuals who’ve taken their warped and corrupted views of their religion and just happen to be louder and more obnoxious then the many other religious people who are smart enough to realize that, for example, setting your child on fire for wearing lipstick is insane.
People really need to back off and stop accusing those of us who are genuinely good people of being the same as these extremists because we share a religion.
Lark | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
an atheist friend and i were talking one day, and we decided that the personification of moral standards was a good idea. with a god telling you what to do you suddenly have incentive to not do bad things
Then he’s a pretty unique atheist, quite unlike any I’ve ever met. Atheists derive their morals from reason and logic, with no need of “personification” to guide them.
What I don’t like about this article is that it DOES NOT point out that these were individuals, not the WHOLE organization.
That should be rather obvious. But the point is these people are driven to this behavior by religion. Religion inspires them to act this way. It doesn’t inspire everyone to act this way, obviously.
In the case of Christians it’s a small minority. In the case of Hindus it’s a small minority. In the case of Muslims it’s a HUGE minority. Depending on where you do the survey, anywhere between 25%-40% support violence in the service of Allah. And those were surveys in non-muslum countries.
Good people will do good things. Bad people will do bad things. But if you want good people to do bad things, nothing works quite as well as religion.
BTW, every pagan I’ve known has been very nice, very friendly, and very peaceful. Hope I don’t get taken to task for that generalization.
I don’t remember where I first found the picture of the kid, but I googled the phrase “Reject Christ, Receive Bacon” and found several variations of it. In all of them, the girl had legs. I have no idea why anyone would photopshop her legs out - I guess they liked the hovering effect.
Dave Hitt | Oct 27, 2008 | Reply
Only a complete dumb ass would argue that the actions of the individual condemns the entire group. Allow me to give you an example: A cop beats the crap out of some guy so you disband the entire force? Who are you gonna call? Ghost busters? You would be the first to call the cops as soon as someone looks sideways at you so leave out the “I’m the great individualist” and go back to your comic books. OK, so you don’t believe in the day of judgement. What, are you trying to make a career out of it? You conveniently forget about all the lives that have been saved by the charity work of religious groups. But then you are so dumb that you read a piece of journalism and accept it word for word as Truth and then pass it on as your own original thought, just like the vanishing weapons of mass-destruction. Have a good look at the society you live in and ask yourself if it could be improved. And if the answer is yes then accept that people like you will never be involved in that improvement.
Mohammad Salim | Oct 28, 2008 | Reply
@Simon
The Khmer Rouge (see: killing fields) sought and killed believers under a mistaken notion that those who believed in a god were somehow responsible for causing evil. An ironic and scary historical memory, especially in light of the accusations modern-day atheists throw at believers these days.
Totally Consumed | Oct 28, 2008 | Reply
Mohammad – rather than address the issue presented you’ve chosen to create a fictional version of me (a complete straw man) and then attacked it. How very Islamic of you.
Totally Consumed– The Khmer Rouge’s motivation was communism, not atheism. Religions were just one of their targets. They also killed intellectuals (basically anyone with an education, and if you were multi-lingual, you were doomed), business people, anyone with ties to the outside world – hell, they executed people who picked wild berries to fight off starvation (they considered that capitalism). Cool blog, BTW.
Hittman | Oct 28, 2008 | Reply
Hittman-Strawman, Looks like I hit a nerve there. Allow me to point out a couple of things to you. This is how it works: You say something with which I don’t agree. I give the reasons why I don’t agree with you. You then debunk my argument and shout YEEHAW and look for high fives. But how do you deal with the points I made? Like some kid who takes his football home. You say that I haven’t addressed the issue presented but I would guess that everyone who reads this, Athiest or otherwise would disagree with you. You can bury your head in the sand and pretend that I never challenged your beliefs but this is not a private conversation. There are people out there genuinely interested in the state of the world and in the direction it seems to be moving. We can’t build jails quickly enough. Even children have to be put behind bars. Whose fault is that? Believers or non-believers? You make the point that it’s better to be an Athiest than a believer. You think that by saying “because I’m an Athiest I have no religious affiliation”, it makes you some sort of an individualist. Like the punk rockers who hated to be stereotyped and didn’t see that they had created themselves as a new stereotype. All I’m saying is that I don’t agree with your religious beliefs Hittman-Strawman. You say that I created a fictional version of you. You think that you can have a pop at my beliefs and then whine when I come back at you with a hay-maker. And then as your get-out you hope for support by using the phrase “how very Islamic of you”. If I had used the name ‘Gabriel’ or ‘Samuel’ or ‘Moses’ or even ‘Shitforbrains’ instead of ‘Mohammad Salim’ would your response have been any different? Come on, tell your readers. Would you have described my comments as very Christian? I stand by what I said. I think you’re a bullshitter who is not content to wallow in his own dung but who advertises for others to join him. And when you’re an old man I bet you’ll sit rocking on your porch and complain about the state of the world, and you’ll offer up your suggestions about how to improve it. Maybe then you’ll remember the phrase “you’re a fucking hypocrite”.
Mohammad Salim | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
The whole world would be much better off, not having any religion, then believing is not knowing. The problem with any religion is that it claims to have the one and only truth and thus inevitably have, due to the inner doubt of self-believing, making them fanatic and fascistic to impose their believe to all others, regardless which religion it is. They can feel and know, that believing is not knowledge. This schizophrenic fact makes them even more dangerous.
We already have so much junk science infected by religious interpretations that even a severe smoking ban is spreading as the New World Religion of the New World Order (NWO) around the world.
(US-)Governmental action and judgements are infected with religion, a fact which paves the way to dictatorship and civil wars. We thus are regressing to middle age standards, where clerical power was fully mingled with political power and at some times even were war faring each other.
Carolus Magnus | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
You could go to secular.org and donate to their cause. They fund the ONLY group who lobbies for non-believer rights on the hill out in Washington D.C. to make sure that all those overly ‘god’ minded folks in politics don’t let it get out of hand.
Obviously they need help, by looking at the past 8 or so years.
Derek Colanduno | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
Mohamed - I didn’t address your fantasies point by point because you didn’t address anything in the original post, and blog comments should be short and pithy. But I’ll indulge you just this once and address a few of them.
You would be the first to call the cops as soon as someone looks sideways at you so leave out the “I’m the great individualist” and go back to your comic books.
If you click on the Police State category, in the column on your right, you’ll see just how wrong you are. Note that one of the posts is titled “Whatever You Do, Don’t Call The Cops.” The police are not your friends. They on the side of Big Brother, not the citizens.
You won’t find “I’m the great individualist” anywhere on this rather large site, which makes your claim a classic strawman argument.
Have a good look at the society you live in and ask yourself if it could be improved. And if the answer is yes then accept that people like you will never be involved in that improvement.
Many years ago I estimated the time I’ve spent personally working for charitable organizations, and it came to several thousand hours. It was mostly for performing arts organizations, including one that would not exist today if it weren’t for considerable work put in by myself and a few other people. I’m especially proud of that one.
BTW, by some people’s standards I am and old man, and I do enjoy sitting on the porch bitching while enjoying a fine cigar. But I can also look back at all the good I’ve done, and be happy. And I didn’t need a sky-daddy to do good (and occasionally great) things for my community. In fact, it wasn’t until after I abandoned religion that I really started contributing.
You conveniently forget about all the lives that have been saved by the charity work of religious groups.
I wonder if you compare “lives saved” with “lives destroyed” which would be greater? I’m guessing “destroyed.” That is, however, a project that would take more time than I have to undertake.
You make the point that it’s better to be an Atheist than a believer.
Really? Where, exactly, did I make that claim?
I’m looking forward to the day when a person’s religious belief doesn’t matter. I consider atheism rather trivial – no more important than a disbelief in Santa or the Easter Bunny. I don’t care what people believe, and don’t want to have to care. The only reason atheism is considered important is because so many religious people consider it important. I cover this rather extensively in episode # 76 of the Quick Hitts Podcast. You might want to give it a listen. (http://www.davehitt.com/podcasts/) But whatever you do, don’t listen to episode # 71 – it might make your head explode.
If I had used the name ‘Gabriel’ or ‘Samuel’ or ‘Moses’ or even ‘Shitforbrains’ instead of ‘Mohammad Salim’ would your response have been any different?
Only a little. You self-identified as a Muslim, and currently Muslims are more responsible, vastly more responsible, for religious atrocities, than other sects. You ignored this undeniable fact.
However, if you had signed the post as “Shitforbrains” I might have complemented you on your advanced self-awareness.
We can’t build jails quickly enough. Even children have to be put behind bars. Whose fault is that? Believers or non-believers?
Atheists make up 10-15% of the US population, and .02% of the prison population, which answers your question rather nicely, don’t you think?
Now, if you can offer an explanation of why Islam is so racist, homophobic, intolerant of other beliefs, tolerant of pedophilia, misogynist, and horribly, horribly violent, I’m sure we’d all appreciate it. Otherwise, I’m done with you.
Dave Hitt | Oct 29, 2008 | Reply
Hitman-Strawman,You must have overlooked the opening line in my first message to you. The line about condemning the entire group because of the actions of an individual. You think that by highlighting these individuals and publishing their actions gives you the right to take the piss out of the entire group. So if one member of that group does something which you don’t like then,according to you, all the members of that group are up for the same attack. Is that a fair analysis of the reason for your list in the first place? In other words, you didn’t publish your list so that the general public would feel some sympathy for the religious community. You did it either so that you could be identified as being removed from these groups, (individualist), or because your readers might nod in agreement and award you some kudos for compiling the list. I don’t think your list is funny. I genuinely believe that it’s dangerous. Hitler’s thugs used exactly the same propaganda methods in the 1930s. So what do you gain now by repeating this kind of stuff. I mean you personally, what’s your angle? How can you defend yourself by talking about the good you have done with your charity work, and then point the finger at people whose beliefs encourage them to do the same as you? I applaud your charity work. The performing arts are very important and are a great solace to many people and only an idiot would poke fun at those who are involved in that particular profession. But it wouldn’t be difficult. After all, the Internet is packed with performing artists getting their kit off. Look Hitman-Strawman, we live in different worlds. You sit behind locked doors with a gun-rack close to hand and tell your readers how dangerous it is out there. You don’t need the cops because your society hasn’t really advanced much since the mid 1800s. But I swear to you, whether you believe it or not, there is another world out there where life’s not like that. Here in Ireland where I live even the cops don’t have guns. My keys are in the front door lock right now and the streets belong to me. My neighbours wouldn’t think that it was hip or cool to criticise each other. Over here we’re into support, not division. We tolerate, not destroy. I’ll finish by addressing your final paragraph. If you take out the word ‘Islam’, you can insert many other words which will fill the same space quite nicely.’Society’ for example, or ‘America’ or ‘We’. Do you get my point Hitman-Strawman? Instead of educating people out of the mess we’re all in you are making the problem worse by your ignorance. Your bar-stool knowledge of Islam is so far removed from the truth that it’s beyond laughable. Let me ask you something. If you wanted to buy a new car would you ask a Ford salesman if Toyota were any good? What I’m suggesting might surprise you but I think you should seek out a Mosque near you and visit for an hour or so. Is that too much to ask? Then you can come back to us with your thoughts and instead of dismissing you for your ignorance we can judge what you say based on research. On my part if you suggest my visiting someplace that you feel might expand my knowledge I promise you that I’ll go and I’ll report back honestly. Lets see where this takes us. Assalamu Alikum and regards from Mohammad Salim.
Mohammad Salim | Oct 30, 2008 | Reply
Awesome list, somebody posted it on Craigslist Atheism forum, a bunch of us saw it. you should think about talking in the forum, its just a bunch of slighty sadistic, sex obsessed atheists passing time lol.
Oh, and the person who posted this list in the Atheism Forum made sure to put a link to your blog, so you can rest easy knowing credit was given where it was deserved.
AJ | Oct 30, 2008 | Reply
You fools In India Hindu never raped a nun. that is all Indian media bias initiated by Sonia maino the widow of the former Indian Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi… Christian terrorist killed Swami Lakshmanananda 84 year old a sage committed to non-violence. that is the truth. stop converting people you morons
Martin | Nov 3, 2008 | Reply
Well said Martin. These people don’t care what lies they publish just so long as it stirs up hatred. I remember not so long ago a children’s cartoon appeared which showed Muslim kids becoming suicide bombers. It later transpired that the funding for this cartoon came from one of these HATE groups. We all know how they operate. If you throw enough shit at the wall some of it will stick. And when anyone challenges them and exposes their aims they have the resources to just close up and move to another site. Anyone who believes any of the crap here is obviously as ignorant as the pricks who invent it so they are all in good company. Regards, Mohammad Salim.
Mohammad Salim | Nov 5, 2008 | Reply
I hadn’t heard of Swami Lakshmanananda before, so I looked him up. Turns out no one is really sure who murdered him, but people are blaming Maoists and Christians. If it turns out to be Christians, that would be a good addition to a future “things atheists didn’t do” article.
Mohammad, I’d be a little cautious when it comes to cartoons. Was it atheists whose riots resulted in over 100 deaths and millions in property damage over cartoons, or was it some other group? And just who was that group, Mohammad?
Hittman | Nov 5, 2008 | Reply
Ok, so with the rise of atheism comes the rise of rapes, murders, suicides and crime…. Research this before going on about how wonderful you are as an atheist. There are bad people everywhere. I don’t say your evil because your cousin raped someone. Just because your related doesn’t mean you believe the same things. Also your throwing in several different religions together. So that’s the equivalent of finding someone in your town that’s bad and blaming the whole town for it… But you’ve already made up your mind to what you’ll believe. A true follower of Christ wouldn’t do these things. There is evil everywhere what’s wrong with following the morals outlined in the Bible?
Don’t kill, steal, lie. Respect others and believe in God. You decided that God wasn’t real or perhaps something he said you didn’t agree with… Committing adultery? Yeah you know what people are happier with one person for their whole lives. Imagine a world where no one would be hurt and have their hearts ripped out by ruthless players and bitches. That sounds like a great world to me. Share some love, and work to get over hatred.
Evolution hasn’t been proven. There is substantial proof of a God using science that disproves the big band and evolution… It is easy for someone ignorant to mock. Read what this site has to say then come and talk to me.
http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/21/65/
I love you and wish you the best of luck.
Ross | Dec 18, 2008 | Reply
Ok, so with the rise of atheism comes the rise of rapes, murders, suicides and crime…. Research this before going on about how wonderful you are as an atheist.
Better check your stats again Ross. Violent crime has been steadily decreasing for the past two decades. Using your logic the rise of atheism is leading to a more peaceful society.
I don’t use your logic, though, and don’t attribute the dramatic drop to the rise in atheism. Unfortunately, atheism isn’t rising enough to make the difference. Atheists are just being more vocal and coming out of the closet now, which is why some people think there are suddenly a lot more of them. We were always here, you’re just noticing us more now.
Depending on how you ask survey questions, about 10% of the US population is atheist. If atheists were more violent than the general public there would be more than 10% of them in the general prison population. If they were less violent you’d see less than 10%.
Atheists make up about .2% of the prison population. A tiny fraction of a percent!
Also your throwing in several different religions together.
All religions should be thrown in together, as they are all based on unverifiable superstition. That being said, it’s obvious that some are more evil than others.
There is evil everywhere what’s wrong with following the morals outlined in the Bible?
Genocide, slavery and incest are wrong, even though the Bible approves of them. I don’t want to stone my kids for being disrespectful. I don’t want to be forced to marry my brother’s wife if he dies before they have children. I don’t hate homosexuals. I don’t want to kill unbelievers, as Deuteronomy commands. And I don’t see anything wrong with eating tasty tasty bacon. The bible, as a source of morals, really sucks.
Don’t kill, steal, lie. Respect others and believe in God.
We’re in complete agreement on four out of five. The difference is I don’t need a god to be good. I can give you perfectly logical, rational, God free reasons not to lie, steal, cheat, murder or commit adultery. I’m honest and peaceful because that’s the best way to have a happy and prosperous life. I’m good for goodness sake (even though I don’t believe in Santa either). And while I’m glad that people who need the fear of eternal torment to be good subscribe to that superstition, I would be happier (and they would be too) if they’d subscribe to the logical reasons to behave. When morals are based on the whims of an imaginary friend, the only thing needed to make good people bad is to convince them it’s what God wants.
I would suggest learning the gruesome details of the Inquisition. For five hundred years, with the blessing of God, innocent people were subjected to the most gruesome, painful tortures imaginable. And today the biggest threat to civilization is an organized group of violent, racist, misogynist barbarians whose core belief is killing everyone who doesn’t believe in their god.
You decided that God wasn’t real or perhaps something he said you didn’t agree with… Committing adultery?
I decided God wasn’t real when I earnestly sought evidence for his existence and found none. None at all.
BTW, the highest rates of divorce, adultery, and illegitimate births are in the Bible belt, which would seem to indicate that godliness causes sexual immorality.
Yeah you know what people are happier with one person for their whole lives.
Some people are. I am. I’ve been with the same woman for thirty years. But it’s not up to me to tell other people how to live. I know of some very successful open marriages. Nor will I condemn someone who loves someone of the same gender. Or someone who prefers to sleep around. It’s none of my business. It’s none of yours either. 90% of the problems in the world are caused by people minding other people’s business, usually at the behest of their religion.
Imagine a world where no one would be hurt and have their hearts ripped out by ruthless players and bitches. That sounds like a great world to me. Share some love, and work to get over hatred.
John Lennon said it more succinctly: “Imagine no religion.”
I used to be a creationist. Then I grew up and embraced reality. Evolution is a solid, established fact. I used to debate creationists, just for fun, but I’m too busy now, and consider it a waste of my time. It’s like debating the geocentric model of the universe.
Dave Hitt | Dec 22, 2008 | Reply
Hi Dave,
The Shankaracharya school of thought of Hinduism(started at 5 century AD), is a dangerous offshoot of hinduism.It is as dangerous as jihadi islam and crusading christianity.The Adi Shankaracharya on the pretex of reviving hinduism made many nasty thinghs
1)The buddisth monks were called to debate and when they lost debate,they had to commit suicide in boiling oil.
2)Introduction and authorization of caste system in hinduism
Here is a clip depicting it:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXrGq_yS0B8
You should also add the above thinghs in your list.
Since Gandhi believed and encouraged the shankaracharya off shoot of hinduism,my views of Gandhi are not so positive.
What made Gandhi to overlook the heinious acts committed by Shankaracharya.
Why did Gandhi not try to remove caste system?
Instead he opposed B.R.Ambedkar who wanted to remove caste system and untouchability.
Also he allowed Nehru (Who comes from “so called higher caste” Brahmin) to be a 1st prime minister of India,at the cost of India’s partition and loss of millions of lives, and nehru’s children Indira and Rajiv Gandhi were ruling India as if its monarchy.Is this a real democracy.
There was a concept called as Sanyas (separation of Church and state) in ancient India, the kings had to bequeath his kingdom if he wanted to practice religion. And our ancient rulers strictly adhered to it. Until Emperor Ashoka practiced Buddhism while he was king. It was Gandhi advocated Ashoka’s concept of Hinduism in Governence. And many intellects even Hindu intellectuals like Aurgobindo had opposed the introduction of merger of state and church by Gandhi. But Gandhi used example of Ashoka to twart the efforts of separation of Church and state. Is this naivety or hypocrisy on part of Gandhi.
Hinduism was a word loosely coined to people who were staying on the Indian side of Hindukush mountains. The IndianNobel Prize-winnerAmartya Sen, in an interview with Pranab Bardhan for the California Magazine published in the July-August 2006 edition by the University of California, Berkeley states
“In some ways people had got used to the idea that India was spiritual and religion-oriented. That gave a leg up to the religious interpretation of India, despite the fact that Sanskrit had a larger atheistic literature than exists in any other classical language. Even within the Hindu tradition, there are many people who were atheist. Madhava Acharya, the remarkable 14th century philosopher, wrote this rather great book called Sarvadarshansamgraha, which discussed all the religious schools of thought . The first chapter is “Atheism” - a very strong presentation of the argument in favor of atheism and materialism.”
“Sanskrit has a larger atheistic literature than exists in any other classical language. Speaking of India as a Hindu civilization may be comforting to the Hindu fundamentalist, but it is an odd reading of India.”
Ancient India and also in pre independence India there were atheistic offshoots of hinduism like nastika(hedonistic atheism) by Charvaka, asthetic atheism like buddhism and jainism. Even in Islam in India there were moderate forms like Sufism, Kabir Panthis who used to pray to both hindu and muslim Gods. But the Indian government which is Gandhi Nehru family never encouraged these branches, instead they have encouraged Fundamentalistic Shankarcharyas hinduism, Jihadi Islam and crusading christianity. So that they can rule India.
I strongly disagree with Martin | Nov 3, 2008/ even though I don’t like Nehru Gandhi Hypocrisy. The comments on which I will be doing soon. Still yet to develop my writing skills
Ashish Patil | Dec 24, 2008 | Reply