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Genuine Atheist



Ludwig Feuerbach was a 19th century philosopher who started as a theologian and soon became an atheist.  He was of the opinion that religion and God diminished the greatness of man.  Religion and God alienate man and impoverish him by transferring to them the qualities that man should possess.  Love, truth, justice, and other such qualities are transferred by man to God.  God is love, God is truth, etc are statements we hear frequently.  But it should be the other way around, says Feuerbach.  Love is a human virtue.  So is truth.  So are compassion and other virtues we transfer to our gods. 

If we bring these qualities back from gods and religions to human beings, we will have a better world.  Haven’t we been, throughout history, adjusting our gods to our own needs, longings and purposes? Asks Feuerbach.  Haven’t we been reducing our gods to the demands of our banal everyday reality?  Haven’t we fought enough battles and wars in the name of our gods – gods who are supposed to be love and truth and compassion and what not?

Have we not talked about God and meant by this our own interests?  Haven’t we been seeking our own wishes in the name of divine purposes?

God is merely a projection of our personal wishes and selfish interests.  He is the sum total of the qualities we should possess but actually care not to cultivate. 


Feuerbach gave up God and religion in his honest pursuit of meaning in life.  He could not relegate the responsibility for his actions to any other being.  He even gave up his job as a professor and lived a simple and highly disciplined life.  He was such an exemplary human being that a Catholic priest, Ildephonsus Muller, praised him as a “man of character who is in the habit of expressing his personal conviction freely and frankly.”  The priest wished, “Being what you are, if only you were one of us.”  The priest knew that the atheist Feuerbach was more ‘religious’ than most religious people!

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  1. AmitAagJune 21, 2014 at 1:16 PM

    I have found atheists generally more religious than most religious people..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJune 21, 2014 at 1:20 PM

      True. My experience has not been different either.

      Delete
  2. UppalJune 22, 2014 at 7:23 AM

    Yes, it is the other side of the coin and fairly impressive one at that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJune 22, 2014 at 10:18 AM

      There are many like him. People generally do not take interest in getting to know them.

      Delete
  3. UnknownJune 22, 2014 at 9:34 AM

    Logical. Not a single statement that I can deny.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJune 22, 2014 at 10:19 AM

      Did I manage to shake your religious faith a little? :)

      Delete
    2. UnknownJune 23, 2014 at 11:35 AM

      Actually, you managed to agitage the radical surface of my mind. :)

      Delete
  4. Vinay NagarajuJune 22, 2014 at 10:43 AM

    I like this part where you say - God is merely a projection of our personal wishes and selfish interests; It reminds me of the so many gods we create - one for wealth, one for knowledge, one for pleasure and the other for pain..lf we look closely, I guess we can see all the human emotions right there in front of us :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJune 22, 2014 at 11:04 AM

      Yeah, polytheism creates separate gods for each wish. In India, we have deified 33,000 crore wishes!

      Delete
  5. AnonymousJune 22, 2014 at 2:23 PM

    That really is a very interesting read. And that is also so true.. that at times the irreligious amongst us sometimes are more religious than the 'religious'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJune 23, 2014 at 8:28 AM

      Those who question religion and such 'sacred' things are on genuine quests. That's why they are more virtuous.

      Delete

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