Religion Journal: What do India’s Atheists Think?

[rug]

June 12, 2012, 9:00 AM IST

Delhi’s Freethinkers are discussing whether to allow religious believers into their group.

The Freethinkers, atheists who regard scientific reason and rationalism as paramount, have been meeting in Delhi as a support network for almost a year-and-a-half, but they have yet to solve the question of who to allow into their fold.

Aastha Manocha, whose first name paradoxically means faith, thinks the forum should be open to anyone who wants to find out about Atheism, not just dyed in the wool non-believers. Opening up the group would be a way to spread the message, she believes.

“We are just sitting in a nice comfortable group and we should push the ideas [of rationalism] a lot more,” says Ms. Manocha a 25-year-old content writer and researcher.

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/06/12/religion-journal-what-do-indias-atheists-think/?mod=google_news_blog

[laconicsax]

1. It should be noted that this is about a irreligious atheists, not Indian atheists as a whole.

One of the main branches of Hinduism is atheistic.

[rug]

2. Which one?

[laconicsax]

3. I don't know the name.

Most of I know about atheism in Hinduism I learned from the DUer, Vehl. The little I learned elsewhere includes the description of the atheistic Hindu beliefs as being part of a main branch, but I don't recall the name.

Here's a post where Vehl explains some of it and links to other posts explaining more: http://www.democraticunderground.com/12183261#post83

[rug]

4. I don't know how large it is but Charvaka seems to come closest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C4%81rv%C4%81ka

What I find interesting about Hinduism is the notion that it is at its center montheistic, that the various gods and goddesses are but different aspects of the same godhead.

[laconicsax]

5. I seem to recall that Carvaka died out 600 years ago.

The monotheistic nature of Hinduism with the multiple aspects of the same godhead caused a pretty funny incident in an undergrad philosophy course I took years ago. One of the students who proudly kept his Bible on his desk (there were two of them, but this one was the loudest) kept arguing that having different gods as part of the same godhead was undeniably polytheistic. When the prof tried to explain the idea using the Trinity as an analogy, he became absolutely livid, accused the prof of being an anti-Christian bigot, and stormed out of the room.

I admit, I laughed after he left.

[rug]

6. I'll keep an eye out for them anyway.

There is a distinction though between the notion of Hindu monotheism (and I don't know how prevalent that view is) and the Trinity. Sabellius in the third century similarly explained the Trinity as three aspects of the same God but this was rejected as the heresy of modalism.

[cbayer]

7. Good for them. Sounds like a good group of like minded people.