Atheism

Published on 9th September, 2018, in Mid-day. For Europeans and Americans, Middle East is considered the Orient – part of the East. However, from a mythological point of view, Middle East, where Islam dominates, is part of the West, for it is rooted in monotheism just like Christian Europe and America. Even atheist, secular, scientific West that believes in liberal democracy follows the same paradigm. They don't believe in one God. But they do believe in one truth, and mock alternative narratives of the world as "post-truth". In fact, the way Western intellectuals use the word "post-truth" contemptuously is exactly the way colonisers and missionaries ..

Published on 6th August, 2017, in Mid-day. Many people believe that mythology ceased to be relevant after the arrival of science, and the resulting rise of atheism. A new tool arose to distinguish between truth and false narratives – measurement, not doctrine. Monotheistic religions staked sole claim to the truth in the 19th century, but then science, with its atheistic foundations, usurped this position, shoving monotheistic religions into the realm of mythology, an idea that makes radicals bristle even today. The fact is that neither the single God of monotheists, nor the many gods of polytheists, nor ideas like soul or heaven, can ever be ..

Published on 15th April, 2017, on www.dailyo.in. Since no one can actually define Hinduism, the simple answer is: yes. Politicians and supremacists who try to define, and homogenise, Hinduism, may disagree and insist Hinduism is theist. The problem is with how we define God. When people around the world use words like religion, they refer mostly to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. When they use the word God (singular, capitalised, masculine), they are in all probability referring to the God of Abraham, that informs Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This is God who is outside humanity, and outside creation, who creates the world and humanity, loves humanity, ..