No to Sharia!

Written by my Atheist Friend Amith. He is in Germany for his studies and has crush on Arundhati Roy. :) 

 As an atheist, I was exhilarated to learn of a conference of ex-Muslim writers taking place in Frankfurt, three hours away from where I stay. It was on March 8th to celebrate the International Women’s Day. The panel consisted of celebrated women writers who have spoken in spades against the grave injustices perpetrated by Islamofacist regimes and on a bandwidth of other issues in West and South Asian regions. I would have an opportunity to meet Taslima Nasrin and Maryam Namazie. A friend even offered to sponsor the train journey if I can make a report of the event. The offer was too tempting to let go. I decided to travel to Frankfurt.

The event took place in a student building in Goethe-Universität. I have not seen such a university building. It was adorned with political graffiti, with not an inch spared, filled with expletives against capitalism, Nazism, sexism etc. Though I have to remark that Germany is left-leaning – a place where the American left would be considered almost to the right -, this was no ordinary place. It seemed like a left bastion. Leftists on steroids. I went up to the first floor. I was preparing for my bags to be checked. Isn't such a conference capable of attracting some threats? But nothing. They were pretty cool about it. They allowed me in handing a pamphlet about the conference headlined with a quote from Taslima Nasrin.“Es gibt viele moderate Moslems, doch der Islam selber ist nicht moderat”. There are many moderate Muslims, but Islam itself is not moderate.

There are many moderate Muslims, but Islam itself is not moderate -Taslima Nasrin

The conference was kick-started by videos of feminist movements by FEMEN known for their bold topless protests, who attempt to arrest attention by using sexuality for political purposes. It blended with the theme of the event filled with bold writers known for holding no punches back. The video that stood out the most to me was the women in Stockholm protesting hijab imposed by the Iranian government.

Some of the writers could not make it. The Egyptian feminist and writer, Nawal El Saadawi sent a video message. She talked of her participation is Egyptian revolution. She castigated varied kinds of oppression, ranging from capitalist class oppression to the Islamist oppression. The list of writers who could not make it sadly also included Taslima Nasrin. I was very disappointed. She was apparently entangled with a legal case filed against her back in her home country. I did not get the exact reasons since many of the announcements were made in German. “Life’s too short to learn German”.

Houzan Mahmoud with Maryam Namazie

There were many writers on the dais whom I was not completely familiar with. One such writer took me aback was an Iraqi Kurdish writer, Houzan Mahmoud. I later figured out that her articles have been regularly published in The Guardian. She had essentially expanded the theme of conference from Sharia Law to all kinds of injustices. She insisted that we need not only strongly oppose Islamofascist regimes who indulge in public hangings and stoning every Friday. But also oppose neo-liberal capitalist forces, the 1% who have usurped power and resources. I was a bit surprised at the mention of Occupy movement.  But who better understands the tyranny of capitalism than the people who have lived under it. Who were invaded to be liberated but ended up bringing Islamist governments to regime, with 1,033,000 people killed until as on August 2007, tearing apart the region into warring Islamic militia resulting in the worst sectarian violence, drastically rising crimes against women, resulting in a total break down of law. Women in post-Saddam Iraq have been traded $200 for a virgin and $100 for non-virgins to neighboring countries. She talked about how her country was ravaged with dictatorships and wars, where one has had no sense of normalcy. 

She asked for the entire political structure to be dismantled, support progressive socialist movements. Any right wing conservative party would lead to human rights violations. She remarked how free market policies and privatization in Iraq has adversely affected women. She said the struggle needs to be for universal rights, a struggle for justice. This was followed by a German translation of her speech. The hall was ensued with loud applause.

Maryam Namzie giving a table thumping speech

Then came the moment I was waiting for. Maryam Namazie stood up and headed towards the lectern. She had picture illustrations to accompany her speech. She said smiling to the largely German audience that they can look at the pictures to get some idea if they did not understand what she spoke.  Maryam Namazie started talking about modern forms of resistance movements. From the Arab Spring to Harlem shake. Harlem shake is the latest internet meme that has hit YouTube where people do crazy dance moves to a song. This was used by hundreds of protesters who danced outside the headquarters of the Muslim brotherhood in Cairo.

Harlem Shake at headquarters of Muslim brotherhood. Source: Mashable

She said, “Even if you are not looking, it is becoming impossible not to see the immense modern resistance taking place day in and day out even in the darkest corners of the globe”. She called this the new period of development after many decades of Islamic terrorism, US-led militarism,  unbridled free-market reign and the retreat of all things universal. She referred to the Occupy protests across the globe, that much of the protests today are to do with occupying public spaces, citizens taking back control, from Egypt to Wall Street. Its demands are deeply rooted in the criticism of the current economic crisis, capitalism, inequality, mass unemployment, poverty as well as dictatorship and Islamism.

The Arab spring of winter does a disservice to the female revolution. It denies its existence by only focusing on Islamism and oppressive forces

She remarked that the hallmark of this era is the high visibility of women in resistance movements. She likened this to a female revolution that challenged and attempts to bring to an end the racist cultural relativism and multiculturalism. She said the Arab spring in winter -which focused on Islamism and oppressive forces- is doing a great disservice to this female revolution by denying its very existence. It was followed by a loud applause. But she was quick to point out that Islam still to this day unlike others would sentence apostates to death in all countries under Islamic rule. It is not that Christianity is any better but today we are living in the era of Islamic Inquisition. Hence, criticism of Islam is key.

“By disregarding this resistance, the much needed solidarity and support for this has been hindered. The foot soldiers of this revolution are workers, the unemployed, the youth, the women, the poor. Islamists did not spearhead the revolution, nor were they instrumental in them. They were no where to be seen. The demands of the revolution were not Islamist demands. People were chanting for education, bread and healthcare while the Islamists were saying no Bikinis!”. The Islamist demands of Sharia and veil were not people’s demands. The gain for the Islamists is a gain for the establishment.

The foot soldiers of this revolution are workers, the unemployed, the youth, the women, the poor. Islamists did not spear head the revolution, nor were they instrumental in them

She insisted speaking to the largely European audience that criticism of Islam, Sharia or the veil does not amount to racism. She used the example of the Saudi government that arrested 23-year-old journalist, Hamza Kashgari. He had tweeted that women in Saudi Arabia cannot go to hell since they are already living in one. He was arrested for apostasy and blasphemy with a pending death sentence. But when other countries accuse Saudi government of spotty human rights record, Saudi government accuses them of racism. She also castigated many postmodernist left groups for allying with Islamist groups and coining the term Islamophobia used to scaremonger people into silence. She further goes on to say that this does not mean that racism does not exist against Muslims and makes the important point that far right does use Sharia and Islamism to promote its racist far right agenda.

Sharia law is a code of death and despair

She later on goes to describe the inhumanities of Sharia law particularly against women. Iran has nearly 130 offences that are punishable by death. She called Sharia law “a code of death and despair”. She agreed that all religions are anti-women and needs to come with a health warning, “Religion kills”. 

It was followed by a loud applause. But she was quick to point out that Islam still to this day unlike others would sentence apostates to death in all countries under Islamic rule. It is not that Christianity is any better but today we are living in the era of Islamic Inquisition. Hence, criticism of Islam is key.

All religions need to come with a health warning, “RELIGION KILLS”

She brought the interesting point that Islamic laws is an exercise to control people, every single aspect of women’s lives. Though there are positive differences in Sharia Law in different countries, it is not because of progressive interpretations but because of progressive social movements aimed at secularization of rights. She said the right to religion is a personal right. Religion as a part of state, education system, judicial system is the end of any form of  equality, choice, rights, freedom. It is no longer personal beliefs but a question of political power. She supports the french system of secularism, Laïcité, which requires a strict separation of religion and state. The belief that the more regressive and reactionary you are, the more authentic Muslim you are is Islamism’s narrative.  No where is resistance against Islamism greater than the countries under Islamic rule. She ended her table-thumping speech with roaring applause in the hall.

No where is resistance against Islamism greater than the countries under Islamic rule.

It is time for Q&A. I grabbed the microphone and with my shaking voice congratulated the panel for expanding the discussion to all kinds of injustices, social and economic injustices. I had to ask the question lingering in my mind. I told them that I was from India which has a Hindu majority and and a Muslim minority. There are injustices within the Muslim society against women, though one of the major concerns there is the majoritarian intolerance of the Hindu right. I told her how when I shared links critical of Islam, it was latched on quickly by the Hindu right who cherry-picked talking points, many a time distorted arguments and used them to attacks Muslims. 

Riot started after 59 Hindus were burnt by a Muslim mob

I also pointed to her how after the Gujarat pogrom of 2002 that resulted in brutal massacre of thousands of Muslims, criticisms of Islam have been used to justify these attacks. She had something very interesting to respond to it. She said this is not unique to India. Indeed, European right indulges in furthering their racist agenda the exact same way. Despite that, however ugly it is, we need to speak the truth. If the left does not speak up against the ugliness and injustices of Islamism, this space will be filled by the right with their racist agenda. One thing that was clear to me by the end of the conference was the difference between the criticism of the left and right against Islam. The criticism from the left comes against regressive laws and regimes trying to suppress people. It is a robust defense of the women, the men, the children against this repression. While the criticism of the right is targeted against these very people who are being repressed.

Then continued some conversations in German. Followed by Iranian food served at the cafe. I decided to take leave after this. While I was leaving, I happened to notice Maryam Namazie by herself at the table full of books on display. I quickly took out the camera and ran towards her. She recognized me. She even asked me for my email address so that she could add me to a mailing list. I asked her how she could speak with such candor, so fearlessly given the antecedents of Salman Rushie and Hirsi Ali. She said jovially, I get a few death threats now and then. But never mind! There are people who suffer manifold more. I have to speak up for them. I could barely smile for the photo. I had just experienced for the first time how it feels to be star-struck. I had to miss the party that followed because I had a train to board back home. I walked back to the train station straining my neck staring at the glittering skyscrapers of Frankfurt.

Written by Amith  and earlier posted on his blog... here 

Nationalist tradition of JNU

Jawaharlal Nehru University is an institution of excellence with a huge number of nationalist students who are continuously challenging the leftists in their own so called bastion. JNU has always been a stage for bitter political fight between Right and left. Where Left is represented through several shades of left like naxal, Maoist, Leninist and so on, Nationalist wave is represented by ABVP. In early stages when JNU teachers could be partial because of students' political leanings, There used to be free thinkers group.

Many of JNU professors with leftist leaning have been accused of partiality and many students have decided to hide their nationalist views still many nationalist students have excelled and kept the torch of Nationalism burning in the campus.

few news clippings to show the people who have not been to JNU that it is not a left bastion in reality.

ABVP sweeped the JNUSU elections in 1996 which led to left getting united against nationalist forces and discourse of JNU changed. Earlier they used to discuss different shades of Left i.e MAO was better or LENIN, ABVP ensured that debate was only Right vs Left.

S.A.R GEELANI (Acquitted on the basis of lack of evidence) was chased away from the JNU campus by ABVP students.

THIS ARTICLE IS FROM HINDU (LEFT BIASED), In reality, SAR geelani had to hide in black Scorpio  of Nandita Haskar  and literally chased by hundreds of students who had no political ambition but nationalism in their blood. I was personally present and part of the young brigade of hot blooded youths who defied seniors of ABVP who wanted to show black flag and decided to chase the terrorist away..

Young students in the age group of 18-23 years decided not to allow the terrorist come to JNU and give lecture on state terrorism

See the article and see how leftists lie. blaming Tarun Vijay  of indulging in violence and attacking physically in JNU campus. We have nurtured nationalism in JNU like Banyan tree, small sapling to Giant tree.

Arundhati Roy could not have her free run when she could not go on with her anti national speech.

Some Ultra leftists wanted to polarize votes by organizing beef festival in JNU. Protests and court ruling by hon'ble court ensured that such thing could not happen in so called left bastion.

Above lines have been written by Prasenjit Bose (now expelled) state secretary CPI (M) in peoples democracy. According to him, organizing Durga pooja angered the students, you can see the hypocrisy of the leftists when they organize Iftaar parties in every hostel but won't accept Durga pooja, You might say that Bengalis celebrate Durga Pooja, but not in JNU. (thanks to secularism). ABVP ensured that Durga Pooja is held every year in the Campus. The crowd at the pooja Pandal keeps growing year by year.

Gurudakshina programme is organized every year in the JNU campus and Ashok Singhal was invited for the programme in 2002. Leftists could not digest this fact and tried to make ruckus in front of AD block where the karyakram was held.

This is JNUSU elections results tally taken from Peoples democracy site (CPI -M). you can notice how ABVP won the JNUSU president seat by 1 vote and from that year, all leftist parties started to contest elections together and seat sharing were done only to stop ABVP. The whole political debate turned to ABVP vs Left. 

Decade of 1990 to 2002 has been the Golden period of Nationalist politics in JNU with ABVP continuously  increasing the support from student community.

JNUSU elections have always been Left-Right battle where winning seats is not so important than winning the discourse of political debate. JNU has 3 centers of Arabic, Persian and Urdu with a vote bank which is always polarized by Leftists.

Political decisions of ABVP have always decided the course of JNU politics

Left parties used to debate on aspects of left and Marx and Mao were debated in Campus earlier, Not  anymore. They  do vote bank politics to win JNUSU polls now but the direction of JNU debates have changed forever.

Kandhar - Place Value, Perception & Truth An Analysis

Let's analyze How perception matters more than place value and how it can be molded ?

We were taking tea in the cold evening of 24th December 1999 when news flashed that IC 814 has been hijacked from Kathmandu Airport. This Airbus  A300 plane was full with 176 Indian passengers which ended up standing on the Kandahar Airport. Hijackers demanded more than 50 terrorists in jail to be released,asked for a big sum of money and safe passage.

We can see the geographical position of Afghanistan on the world map.Till then, Afghanistan was ruled by Taliban militia who felt proud to give shelter to the Islamic terrorists. NDA Government called an emergency meeting and all party meeting was also called. In that meet, Every party had the opinion that passenger's safety should be foremost agenda.

Hundreds of family members had come on road to pressurize the government ( In democracy Peoples' pressure does matter,In MMS democracy, Sonia's pressure does matter).

Now what were our options?

1. To send NSG commandos to rescue the plane.

2. To attack Afghanistan to teach a lesson to Taliban.

3. Not to release the terrorists and let the passengers die.(hypothetical)

4. to send some clerks along with the terrorists to Kandahar.

5. To negotiate with Taliban and hijackers.

6. To ask for help to other nations

7. Hope for some James bond character sitting in the plane.

Now, if we analyse them one by one.

Afghanistan is not a border state to India, to fly a military Aeroplane in the air space of Afghanistan,you need permission from Pakistan.We can simply say,that Pakistan could be attacked if it didn't allow the plane to use it's air space. Pakistan is a sovereign nation and it has right to shoot down any plane that is flying in it's air space without permission. If we would try this adventure, we would end up fighting a war with Pakistan.

We should see the situation at that time when 9/11 hadn't happened. We would not get support from any other nation for war against terror and would end up creating a perception that we are aggressors in spite of the place value of being attacked by Pakistani terrorists. In such situation,sending an aeroplane full of NSG guards was not possible.

To attack Afghanistan, we would need the airspace. Please note that USA which has quite an impressive arsenal,which can use it's aircraft carriers as military base to attack any nation in the world,if need be. USA has to also request for the airspace of Pakistan and it was called as an ally in war against terrorism.And,if we could do that,would it be justified to send thousands of soldiers in terrain about which they didn't know anything. After such a great fire power of US air force, they had to face a crisis of heavy causalities. It could be worse if thousands of dead bodies of Indian soldiers would come in the coffin.

India is a welfare state where person is important that country.That means that we don't justify death of people for the sake of the Nation.Government could not abandon them so easily and be tagged as insensitive and anti people. The same media which blames BJP for release of terrorists was putting pressure and creating peoples' perception to such level that some of the alliance partners would pull support to be protected from this perception.

Government would be sacrificed on this single issue, congress would be re elected and every thing would seem fine.

It is a travesty of justice that we don't remember when several terrorists where released just for the sake of the daughter of home minister Mufti Mohammad sayeed. How could a person with separatist views, could become a home minister of India, is in itself a subject of research.

We always hear,why the foreign minister had to accompany the terrorists..What would be the perception,if some clerks would be sent.There would be an issue that government is not taking the issue of safety of the passengers seriously. Isn't it praiseworthy that Jaswant Singh didn't bother about his own safety and went to a completely unsafe land to ensure the rescue of the passengers. He could have died. After the terrorists would walk free,they would have killed all passengers and the clerks,but due to the stature of INDIAN FOREIGN MINISTER they didn't do such things. For the first time in history, Indian government treated Indian citizens so well otherwise we have lots of examples when Somali pirates kidnap Indians and govt forgets them forever.

In congress regimes, India would never register even a meek protest, when there were anti Indian riots in many African countries.

To negotiate...this was the only option left to us due to all the compulsion of a state that has been soft to it's core. Government didn't surrender on their first call. It was stretched so their demands came down to three terrorists. Now there is a question to be asked..What were these terrorists doing idle in the jails of different parts of India. Why could the Congress government (remember,before BJP it was congress government) not prosecute them in time and if they would be hanged for their deeds.Who would the Hijackers demand for? What if another plane is hijacked and they ask for Afjal Guru (latest update is that he has been hanged (?).?

What could other nations do? Could they put diplomatic pressure on Afghanistan? It was not recognized by majority of the countries in this world excluding Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. So, this is ruled out.

It was pre 9/11 world where terrorism was still an struggle for justice.So,it was justified.They were openly called as freedom fighters.

So this idea of not releasing the terrorists was being projected as a Hardliner's view (Hindu Fascist and Blah Blah).If BJP could not manage to save those passengers, It's obituary would have been written then and there.

Now the hope for a james bond character from Hollywood. After watching several movies of Hollywood, we start fantasizing that there could be a character like him,who could enter the plane stealthily and would kill the bad guys.But,practically,it is next to impossible and when hundreds of citizens' lives are at stake,A mature government is not expected to be indulged in this type of adventure.

Now,if there are so many points to prove that BJP was not soft on terror,then why this perception prevails that we can't talk about the terror report of UPA because we didn't handle it well.

The main reason is that every body does not follow the facts through unbiased lense but they rely on Indian Media which is biased to the core.. So we have to fight against wrong perceptions.If media is not supportive, we will have to go to each and every house of India and convey our side of the story. We should develop an intelligentsia in the Indian system so they can create the right perception.

It is true that we should protect those people who are unbiased so they are not threatened to create wrong perception.Pioneer works to support BJP but still what's the reader's graph?

We need some channels and news papers which should be highly popular and we know that perception can be created by cracking a joke also..Why 'Rang de basanti' has hinduwadi neta being shown as a demon???? All this is part of the continuous Propaganda machinery running at different levels.

We need to counter this aggressively, Perception is always very important and it needs to be corrected. we have to ensure that we will never let any body write the obituary of politics of development and nationalism by the wrong perceptions created by opportunist class of society i.e Media,corrupt congress and their cronies.

Thanks. This article was earlier posted here

Lines that inspire....by Harivansh Rai bachan

This piece of poetry has been written by Dr. Harivansh Rai bachan. One of the best hindi poets of modern times. Those who are unaware of him, He is the father of Amitabh bachan.

koshish karne waalon ki

Translated by me, for those friends who can't understand hindi.

Earlier posted on the blog of LK advani.

Why Atheism fails.....?

Let me start this article with a small incidence of my child hood.

When I would go to my mother's village,we would visit farms and there used to be a very weird thing in every farm which I came to know much later that it is called 'scarecrow' in English.Now a scarecrow is something which is irrational, unnecessary and a very childish object  for some one who flaunts himself as a 'Rational'.

A 'rational' person will simply say that it is something which is not real, there is no life in it and if someone believes in it then he or she is not having sense.Now the question is, do the scarecrows actually solve the purpose?

                                  

I am afraid to say that yes they do. They actually keep away the birds and wandering animals who destroy the fields and eat the seeds from the field when the farmer is not near by. It works even better on animals who wander at night and a human look alike statue keeps them away.

Another incident of similar kind comes in mind. In some parts of India, when tribals go to forests, they put a scary mask behind their head. The idea is simply to deceive the attacking animal that the person is aware of it's presence and can see it. Most of the times, they are successful to protect themselves as most of the animals don't attack from front.
Now if we come to the Idea of 'GOD', many atheists will say that it is a false idea and 'GOD doesn't exist.

Let's presume that GOD doesn't exist at all and as nobody has ever seen the GOD as The Denial is not completely baseless due to lack of scientific proofs. That is another case that our science is still in its juvenile stage and can't answer to many questions of life. if we imagine a society which has no such belief of GOD, concept of devine punishment and hell.

Let us imagine a God less society and name this Society as 'dream', Majority of the people who believe in God, they believe in concept of punishment for the wrong deeds done on Earth. This punishment can be imposed upon on Earth and most probably in HELL or may be in next life as Hindus and many other sects do believe in reincarnation.

As  'DREAM' doesn't believe in God and the various concepts related to it, so the citizens of DREAM don't need to be afaraid about any divine punishment.

Now let's compare this Society to another one which actually believes in GOD.

Comparison can be done on a certain behaviour of humans living in both societies.

Now for example, if a thief finds a house open and easy to break into, there are some deterrents which stop him against it.

It is fear of being caught and beaten, the punishment which will be put upon him by man made judicial system or being punished by GOD. 

The dream society will have only two deterrents to stop the thief.

Now if the house is completely abandoned or some how the thief is sure that he won't be caught as human prosecution system is not a perfect system and crime punishment rate is abysmal. In many cases, the judiciary has to give 'benefit of doubt' to the accused so that no innocent is punished. In that scenario, the thief has enough reason to be convinced that his act will go unpunished if he is vigilant and is not caught red handed.

Now the same thief in GOD society has the third deterrent and he is actually afraid of someone whom he can't deceive as GOD is watching on him every moment and even if he is unpunished on earth, there is fair chance that he will be punished in hell or in next life. This feeling of being punished for the crime in all circumstances and no way to evade the eyes of GOD, can actually stop many potential criminals to commit the crime.

Why I say 'potential' as I think, the person who is already a thief has a justification in his mind for the crimes he is indulged in.


Poverty, hunger and sometimes lust to acquire what we can't have by proper means, can force any individual to do the 'wrong' things.

Here we use the idea of 'scarecrow' to chase away those potential criminals who don't fear the weak judiciary and police system but do fear the invisible close circuit camera watching on them every moment.

Imagine that you have 2 cars and your co traveller has none, he can show you a small knife and claim one car as he is needy and he can't be caught easily by local police. Imagine if every poor man who passes by you and your car starts attacking you as they don't have enough to eat and you are throwing parties which cost you millions of dollars. This is what we call as 'anarchy'.

Idea of GOD gives birth to fear in the heart of every person not to commit any thing wrong. It is true that this idea has failed to make the society completely crime free, but it has controlled many things to a very large extent.

And then, even the definition of term 'crime' can be incomplete as in human made crime response system, there are a lot of crimes which doesn't even matter for the police-judiciary system.

Forget the example of the thief and take another case, a man is in relation with a woman and one day he decides to desert her without any fault of her.

Man made system will do nothing if the woman has not signed on some 'marriage paper' and she might have lost few of her golden years and finds it difficult to restart her life, but if there is the deterrence of GOD's punishment, the same man will have some fear to hurt her.

I have known children who use to have nightmares and they were given some talismans and told that god will protect them and it actually helped them to sleep better, so will you tell your child that this is a dumb belief or you would prefer a better sleep for your child.If anyone has watched the hollywood movie 'cast away' with Tom hanks as the protagonist. The part of the story is unforgettable when he uses his own blood on a ball(I am not sure it was for playing football or basketball so I will stick to 'ball') to make a face on it. And the scene when he puts his life in danger to bring back the ball which has slipped away in the sea.
For a 'rational' mind, it can be a subject of ridicule, but that ball is the only friend to whom the lonely protagonist talks and it is what gives him hope. So should we be rational and call it stupid or we let the protagonist get hope at a place where he is alone and condemned to live a very difficult life?

If you have never been to a poor man's hut, please share some of your time with a poor family and you will find that the idea of GOD is strongest in the poor part of the society. When the poor has to sleep hungry, there is one thing that gives him hope and reason not to hurt someone for food and that idea is GOD. A poor man is more likely to believe in GOD as he is more needy of HOPE.

Don't we forget GOD in good times and tend to become believer when in trouble. Now the question arises, why the GOD society does not have a completely crime free society?

As I said earlier, It is not that every human fears god and so GOD society is not a perfect society but then do you think that our society believes in GOD in a perfect way?
 Or if we put the sentence in another way. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT OUR SOCIETY IS A PERFECT GOD SOCIETY WITH EVERY CITIZEN HAVING FEAR OF GOD?


Atheism has become a powerful force in several societies and it is not falsehood of GOD (If he exists) but the society which has used religion to make the life of ordinary citizens as hell, where even an idea which does not fit into the interpretation of majority in the soceity, leads to death sentences under blasphemy laws.

In such situation, I won't be questioning atheism or theism but I would be an atheist not for the sake of being an atehist but to be vocal against the suppression by the close minded warriors of GOD and to register my protest.

I remember one news article of Morocco where a boy was put into prison just because he uploaded some pics questioning existence of God and Richard Dawkins book was found in his house, So If I go to Morocco, I am an ATHEIST with capital letters. 

We strongly need societies where every view point is respected and allowed to be spoken until and unless it creates threat for the soceities in the form of violent attacks and threatens life of common citizens. And This is when societies become civil. 

But in societies where such situation does not exist and views can be expressed, The question arises, should we deny the existence of GOD just because it has no scientific proof or no witness to testify for it and call it irrational or let it exist in the society as it serves the purpose to a larger extent to control the animal instincts that lies in every human being or to give hope to every human as we might boast of being brave but when time comes, humans are the most afraid lot.

I know 'scarecrow' is not something real but why bring it down if it helps the farmer to protect their farms.

If an idea doesn't harm the society and brings order to it, then we don't need to prove it scientifically to deny or approve it, and even if we deny it, we don't need to go and shout about it's falsehood.

These are the several reasons due to which atheism has remained in the stage of an idea in the elite circles where food and richness is abundant and it has not become a popular belief.

This is the short term panacea for a child having nightmare, a poor man sleeping hungry or a man condemned to live a lonely life till the time we find the solution for such problems, even if this idea is 'false', let it remain in the society as it gives one very important thing to us.

HOPE.

NOTE: I personally don't believe the idea of GOD with closed eyes and keep travelling between the 'GOD' and the 'DREAM' society. LOVE.

Disclaimer: Photos of this post have been taken from google images. Those people who got offended by my simple idea of questioning God's existence, please don't issue a Fatwah against me or If you do, i will issue Fatwah against you aswell. ;) And I never had any thought which is final except by origin so if tomorrow I say something else, don't cry over it as I travel through Ideas.