Hello

[madhav]

I am an Indian atheist/skeptic. Having found most other India-related forums to be full of arrogant religious Hindus, I am very happy to see this forum set up specifically for atheist discussion.

About myself, I grew up in a moderately religious household, and became very religious for a few years. Though I was religious, I always tried to read up on interesting articles and books about science and belief. Eventually, after discovering Richard Dawkins, I became convinced that I was wrong. For a few days, I went through the "I am an atheist Hindu" phase but that got old soon. So I became an atheist and have been one for the past 4-5 years.

[Ajita Kamal]

Hi Madhav, welcome aboard

Your path to freethought sounds very similar to mine, including the religious phase! I also went through a period of holding onto the religious label, attempting to justify it by saying that I just had to let go of literalistic interpretations and focus on the philosophy. Today I am anti-religious, having come to a more objective and unfiltered view of what religious memes entail, although we here at Nirmukta are careful to make the distinction between people (who deserve respect) and ideas (which don't).

Look forward to seeing more posts from you around here, and to participating in enriching conversations with you on these forums.

[madhav]

Thanks for the welcome. It is true that we need to differentiate between religious people and ideas. On the other hand, I know that some atheists prefer to just criticize religious ideas and be content with that, but I am interested in also studying the socio-economic factors side-by-side with the religious issues.

I hardly need to point out the damage done by religion from the colonial times to the present times where religion has been used for a divide and rule by the ruling classes. This is because the evidence is all around us. So as atheists, I'd say we need to think in terms of the nation as a whole too.

Having said that, I look forward to more interesting conversations.

[Ajita Kamal]

(06-Sep-2010, 09:48 PM)madhav Wrote: It is true that we need to differentiate between religious people and ideas. On the other hand, I know that some atheists prefer to just criticize religious ideas and be content with that, but I am interested in also studying the socio-economic factors side-by-side with the religious issues.

I hardly need to point out the damage done by religion from the colonial times to the present times where religion has been used for a divide and rule by the ruling classes. This is because the evidence is all around us. So as atheists, I'd say we need to think in terms of the nation as a whole too.

I think you misunderstood me. The distinction I made between ideas and people is irrelevant to what you just stated.

Addressing what you said, however, of course. We have been doing just that for the past 2 years, and I personally have been writing about a whole host of related issues for longer than that. Please look around. You will find that we are pretty well-informed on a whole host of cultural and political issues. Also check out our articles on Nirmukta.com.

[madhav]

I did not mean to say you were guilty of "preferring to just criticize religious ideas". Nirmukta seems to have some good articles addressing the points I raised.