" For the world cries your faith is now
But a dead time's exploded dream"
( GRAND CHARTREUSE, MATTHEW ARNOLD)
Atheism, in the broadest sense of the term, is the belief denying the existence of Gods. It rejects Gods.
There are many who are religiously inclined amongst us, but what about those who don't believe in it? Religion has been the foundation of culture in various continents and subcontinents. It acts as guidelines or rule books that define a way of life. To counter centuries of the established order, Atheism was born on the basic principle of rationality.
The birth of Atheism goes back to the Age of Enlightenment in Europe. Before that, perhaps, the Peasant Revolt(1388) during the reign of King Richard the Second marked its beginning. More than the War of Roses, the Black Death(1348) ravaged the masses, mainly serfdom. Largescale death was enough for the common masses to become sceptics. Questioning the existence of Gods, the revolt demanded social and economic upheaval. While Chaucer dealt with the trickery of clergymen rather lightly, Langland, on the other hand, was vitriolic in his condemnation of the unfair practices in the church.
'God', William Empson wrote, " is the wickedest thing yet invented by the black heart of man". This statement came as a blow and drew outrage from the theists. Though much denounced, religion, irrevocably, has been in the eye of the storm. The breakaway of the Protestants from the Roman Catholic Church sought the separation of church from political affairs. Later, came the Puritan Revolution headed by Oliver Cromwell. While England had been in a state of flux; war, plunder, and conversions were rampant in India as well. The Bhakti movement saints like Kabir criticized the 'mullas' and 'pandits' alike. With Colonialism, plunder and expansion strengthened its foothold further. Not just these, the chaos in the Middle East, the earliest examples being Israel and Palestine has had many killed. What we gather from such examples is that religion(s) are catered to by the masses. In exchange, the masses are provided with a semblance of identity and clanship. Threatened, it strikes back!
The moral dilemma- the tug of war between faith and disbelief- is highlighted in the poems of Matthew Arnold. The aching need of humans to put their belief in something, whether tangible or intangible, to feel centred is apparent. Charles Darwin shook faith. Thomas Hardy, in turn, delved into the weakness of humans when pitted against the 'Immanent Will'. The havoc caused by the World Wars turned Eliot to the East for spiritual solace. A need for a reformed order was felt: an order more cooperative and humanistic.
Philip Pullman in his fantasy trilogy 'His Dark Material' has replaced the theist world of John Milton's 'Paradise Lost' with the Rousseaouist one. Prominent atheists like Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins have criticized religions for causing more harm than good. Shelley in ' The Necessity of Atheism' writes: " the mind cannot believe in the existence of a God'. In India, Atheistic schools have been found since the inception of Vedas. Nasadiya Sukta concerning the origin of the Universe in Rig Veda says, " Who really knows? ..... Whence is this creation?" Emerging globalization has claimed liberal values to be universal. Changing moral fashions based on human values in science. In turn, twenty-first-century atheism has a liberal and scientific outlook.