Worldly morality hijacked by all religions, their men & their institutions.
The simple meaning of the concept morality is to live co-operatively with fellow human beings to serve each other worldly interest of the survival. So the urge to survive or exist precedes the emergence of religion. The man learned how to exist in his long struggle of biological evolution. This urge to exist is the basic physical need of the entire living organism. It has no relation worth the name to religious claims of non –worldly aspirations like heaven, hell, life after death etc.
The man fought his biological struggle of existence not in vacuum or in isolation. But he fought this struggle against the forces of nature. While struggling against the forces of nature he learned the laws of nature. By knowing the laws of nature, he learned how to survive in this vast universe. It was not possible for him to survive individually against the forces of nature without the co-operation of his fellow human beings. This was the origin of the morality which was required to exist.
There were people who had discarded the concept of God & religion in determining the destiny of the human beings throughout all ages of civilization. They lived with a very profound standard of morality. They were atheists & non-believers. It was their confirmed opinion that there is no need for the man to be religious for becoming the moral man. We can practice moral behavior without keeping faith in God, religion & their religious books. "The man is moral because he is rational." M. N. Roy.
It is recorded in the history that social actions of the atheist & non – believers were more moral than religious people.The state & religious order came into existence to regulate certain harmful behaviors of the individuals which were the legacy of the hunter age of the mankind. They controlled not only the vices of the people but total social life of the individuals. These authorities decided what is good & bad for the human beings. They established religious institutions, published books, & created rituals etc. to regulate the worldly life of their followers.
In Greek & Roman civilizations there were philosophers like Diogenes, Epicurus, Sophocles etc who were absolutely atheist & not believing in their pagan Gods. They did reject the idea of God, life after death, hell and heaven. But they were excellent moralists who practiced universal values.
In Indian civilization, we had Gautama Buddha & Jain Vardhaman Mahavir who were non –believes. They were compassionate moralists. Charvak was the greatest materialist not hedonist of the earlier age. He rejected all religious blind faith with their teachings. He developed his own moral code; but he was not the anarchist. In Indian philosophical school of thoughts, we had SANKHYA DARSHAN. Its teaching did not accept the God as the creator of the universe. It had a deep sense of reverence to all living beings & cosmos. They endorsed & propagated what is good & noble for the society.
It is not easy to find out atheist trends in Muslim religion. In six Arab countries – Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen – apostasy is punishable by death. There have been no executions in recent years, but people deemed to have "insulted" religion, often in trivial ways, can face long prison sentences. It is difficult to come out as an atheist because society immediately considers you to be a person without moral values or ethics. This affects women the most. Even in such a situation in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, claims to be the holiest of the Arab countries, 19 per cent said they were not religious and 5 per cent described themselves as convinced atheists. These non-believers are more interested in challenging the logical objective contradictions in Quran & authenticity of the prophet. They do not challenge the concept of God. Arabian rulers use official version of Islam to suit their political goal.
From the above discussion we can derive certain conclusions. Non- believers do not believe in the existence of God, heaven and after life. So they do not expect any reward from the God & religion. Non- believers are very much helpful & co-operative to all humans without considering their caste, creed. colour, gender etc.
