Sleepwalking into oblivion - Athesim - the new world religion

Atheism, seems to be the new experiment of our time. Never, have we ever as a species, in our entire history on this planet did we actually think of abandoning our beliefs and conventions, especially those that have a religious/spiritual nature. Even the most primitive of societies have always believed in some kind of "story" in order to reconcile with the fact of their apparently unexplained existence on this little tiny plant of ours.

The result of the propagation of atheism as the new "belief system" (especially in secular Western societies) is the creation of a vast segment of dissociated, uninhibited, indifferent, self-centred "modern citizen", who's primary concern is to spend the 60 or so years he has in his "age wallet" acquiring as much material and temporary fading pleasures. That, of course, being the worst of the worst, so to say, yet, we also acknowledge that their are so many well-intentioned, self-directed, humble and happy atheists, who would go out of their depths to enhance and contribute to the overall body of knowledge we have accumulated thus far.

The problem however is not strictly statistical as to what type of mentality does the new atheistic movement encourage us to adopt, but rather it is a problem of having to deal with a movement (atheism that's), that seems to have religious qualities, yet masquerading under the banner of "secularism" and intentionally "preaching" and propagating its beliefs (or the lack thereof) to the otherwise unsuspecting public within certain societies. This, of course, is done without paying any consideration to the implications this may have on the next generation of young adults.

It's worth noting that according to recent statistics from the World Health Organisation, depression is a leading cause of disability and suicide, and soon to be the number one killer, overtaking fatal diseases like cancer, as the leading cause of death. There's a clear correlation between the proliferation of atheism in societies and the implications it has on individuals whom are not quite mentally capable to deal with life "without a clear defined purpose" and their consequential exposure to falling into depression and similar mental illness. This phenomenon, was virtually unobserved in any other point in time, but its strictly a recent trend that's gaining great momentum (Depression 2016). It's however, worth highlighting that, unlike nowadays, religion in the past was always the centre of society and formed and facilitated a "collective purpose", which humans usually require to function, and so depression was never a major concern.

Moreover, another major fallacy that we were led to believe, is that religion was always the cause of death and distraction, and that scientific progress was only a result of the the abandonment of faith and the adoption of an atheistic outlook on the universe (and all that's within it). However, upon closer inspection, we come to realise the fact that this claim can be easily falsified, if only we examine our recent history more thoroughly. Clearly, there were many great minds throughout time (and still to this very day) who held/hold certain religious beliefs and were actually the pioneers of science and technology. Not forgetting of course the Golden-age of the Islamic Civilisation, where the foundations for modern science was laid and later exported to the West (BBC 2013).

Religion was never a hindrance or an obstacle in the face of scientific progress, or any other type of progress for that matter. This is only a lie sold to us by the propaganda machines of the new-age atheistic movement.... For example, some might find it very hard to believe that numerous Muslim Scholars were first to explore and detail the "evolutionary theory", way before Darwin came on the scene. And even Darwin himself admits that he adopted this theory from faithful oriental scholars (and he was also a faithful devout man himself). The contemporaries of Darwin, namely John William Draper, used to refer to evolution as "The Mohammedan Theory of Evolution", acknowledging that the Arab/Muslim scientists were the ones who developed it prior to Darwin's times (Shah [no date]).

The aforementioned is not an attack on Darwin and his credibility as a scientist, nor is it an attempt to discredit the theory itself, but it is rather a point-making proposition to reaffirm the fact that atheism and progressive-thinking are not synonymous at all, and that many religions, especially Islam, succeeded in finding the balance between creating a progressive scientific society which also enjoys a great deal of intellectual, mental, and spiritual harmony (Winter 2011).

The problem with the atheistic approach (especially in the Western world) is that it tends to link the Christian experience of how a "theistic society" looks like, and assumes that all the rest of religious traditions (including Islam) share similar "backward characteristics" (as observed from Europe's experience with Christianity) that prohibit freedom of thought and expression etc... This is a profoundly false assumption, and is especially easy to propagate nowadays, because the Islamic Civilisation in its current position, doesn't seem particularly progressive and such, and is going through one of the lowest periods in its entire history (Blankinship 2011); this is of course a consequence of a range of factors, highlighted by the political unrest that was created as a result of fragile dictatorships who were left in power in the post-colonial era of the last few decades. Most Middle Eastern and Muslim countries were under European imperial rule and were colonised and ridden and left in an unfortunate state, with all still being exploited one way or another to this very day (Chomsky 2012). But that is a whole diffrent topic altogether and we're not going to entertain it, just yet.

In conclusion, I would leave you with a few questions/thoughts to ponder over and contemplate, and perhaps you can help me answer a few of them, or at least come to terms as to why certain things are the way they are; So, the questions are as follows, and in no particular order:-

1-Do we realise the impact the abandonment of religion / spirituality had on our societies, and is there a link between this and the decline of moral standards (to some degree), and also the increase in mental illness, like depression?

2-Can we comprehend and admit that Atheism is not to be confused with and is not synonymous to progressive ideologies, and that many religious traditions (such as Islam) demonstrated extraordinary openness and forethought / forward thinking qualities?

3-Do we acknowledge that regardless of faith, or the lack thereof, people can still be as rigid, or as flexible, in their approach to progressive ideologies, as they themselves wish to be?

4-Are we really aware that atheism, seems to be forced upon societies through diffrent means, whether through those little hidden subliminal messages we get exposed to on the media, or by conventional manufacturing of consent, and the misuse of authority in public institutions?

5- Why does the modern Atheistic movement, best resembled in people like Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss adopt a militant-like temperament when it comes to propagating its agendas, and selling itself as the default belief system for what they consider to be "the rationalist mindset"?

6-Are we walking our way into oblivion being the first generation ever in history with an increasing number of atheists in our midst?

Disclaimer:
Please note that, I, by no means encourage the elimination of any ideology , be it "atheistic" or "theistic" in nature. I believe in everyone's right to practice or subscribe to any belief system (or none), as they see fit, and I am not proposing that we should get rid of any sect/creed, regardless whether it has a negative or a positive impact on society.
Please be informed that this content is strictly made to provoke intellectual discussion, and thus it is not intended for anything else, but that.

References

BBC, 2013, Science and Islam [BBC Documentary] [online]. [video]. 2013. [Accessed 25 December 2016]. Available:
@

Blankinship, Khalid, 2011, Dialogue Between Civilizations: Muslims and the West [online]. [video]. 2011. [Accessed 25 December 2016]. Available
@

Chomsky, Noam, 2012, Noam Chomsky: Who Owns the World? Resistance and Ways Forward [online]. [video]. 2012. [Accessed 25 December 2016]. Available
@

Winter, Timothy, 2011, The Muslim Influence on Europe and the West [online]. [video]. 2011. [Accessed 25 December 2016]. Available
@

Depression, 2016. World Health Organization [online],
@: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs369/en/

Shah, Muhammad, [no date], Pre-Darwinian Muslim Scholars’ Views on Evolution [online]. 1. Muhammad Sultan Shah. [Accessed 25 December 2016]. Available from:
@http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/uoc/PDF-FILES/(11)%20Dr.%20Sultan%20Shah_86_2.pdf