As Jagdish put it – “But i do believe in the Gita , Mahabharat and Ramayana and there importance in Indian Culture and the development of people”

Well, not exactly Ramayan and Mahabharat, but Gita, definitely yes.

Ramayan and Mahabharat basically exposes the true nature of human beings – that sin is present in every man, and so is virtue. It is what we choose to follow that makes us what we are.

Not to forget the fact that they represent an aspect of Indian culture not given in history books – that Indians are amazing storytellers, and that they are capable of producing WMDs

Nowhere they claim to be religious books.

I like Ayn Rand’s philosophies but I hate the way she writes. She stops her story in the middle, pushes her philosophy into people’s throats and the reader is forced to gulp it down before continuing with her story.

Thanks buddy, would love to discuss this offline.

P.S Sorry for the delay in the reply

In other words, presently, the null hypothesis states that there is a God, and we, the proponents of the alternate hypothesis need to prove that there is none. My argument is that the forming of this hypothesis itself is flawed. It should be the other way around. By saying so, I am just reiterating the Sam Harris comment which says that the onus of proof should be on the believer.

As far as my beliefs go, I think its pretty obvious as to where I stand. I don’t believe in God or religion. But I do consider the Mahabharata and Ramayana as great works in the genres of mythology, fantasy and philosophy.

@believers
In an aside, if there was a God then why would he necessarily be benevolent. If i was God and had all these tiny mortals at my mercy, I’d probably get bored real soon and mess around with some of their lives for a change. But I guess that’s just me. Or maybe the hypothetical God is like a small child who tears off a fly’s wings, just to see what it would do next.

And agree with Nattu, brilliant stories, but no reason to kill for.

@Mathai:

Being an atheist is fashionable.

Actually, given a little survey that was done a while ago in India by ToI, youngsters believe being religious is more fashionable.

I never said a word about Gita, Ramayana or Mahabharatha. I personally believe the above epics some of the greatest ever written with Mahabharatha being the most intelligent of them. I love Mahabharatha and the way the characters and the sub-plots are handled. But I repeat myself again, they are brilliant STORIES and I’d love to read/watch them.

@Manoj Mathai

I totally agree with you on that. There should be no word called an ‘atheist’.

“Being an atheist is a fashion” ?

Reminds me of a quote from Sam Harris’ book “Letter to a Christian Nation”

“Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, ‘atheist’ is a term that should not ever exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a ‘non astrologer’ or a ‘non-alchemist’. We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs. An atheist is simply a person who believes that the 260 million Americans (87 percent of the population) claiming to ‘never doubt the existence of God’ should be obliged to present evidence for his existence-and, indeed, for his BENEVOLENCE, given the relentless destruction of innocent human beings we witness in the world each day.”

i have never thought much about whether GOD exists or not. but i do believe in the Gita , Mahabharta and Ramayana and there importance in Indian Culture and the devlopment of people (at least in remote villages). There are so many good things to take it from it. If you appreciate some good novels then why dont you appreciate those books. When i was child my Aai( Mother ) used to tell me stories from those books and it has really helped me in positive way.
For people( mainly youths )being atheist is a fashion and considered as sophisticated , like Gandhiji in his early years of England.Read Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhiji The story Of Experients with Truth. He has very good written the approach towards GOD and the importance of Gita.I think after reading it your doubt will get clear but at last we cant generalize things it depends on individual approach.