Thoughtful believers and atheists have more in common than meets the eye. While their views are opposite, they ponder the same mysteries and after evaluating the limited information at humanity’s disposal, they come to different conclusions. Since they cannot prove or disprove their assumptions, both believers and disbelievers live their lives according to different hypotheses. However, the process of considering questions like their origins and matters like creation, virtue, happiness, unhappiness, and destiny is generally an elevating one. Thus, these two groups of people think similar thoughts.
While believers have faith in God, they do not necessarily agree upon the details that describe God and the soul. On the other hand, while atheists purportedly do not believe in God, they often are able to describe the God whose existence they deny. Their non-God is the source of strife among peoples and of hypocrisy among worshippers. Atheists do not fear burning in hell, but they care as much as believers about doing good and being good.
In an introduction to my book, On Hinduism, Ravi Heugle writes a commentary entitled A Skeptic’s Perspective. Along with many scientists, Ravi questions the existence of God who is not only everything but is beyond everything and hence belongs to the supernatural world. Instead, Ravi believes in the reality of perception and experience that is measurable in the physical world. He acknowledges that the supernatural cannot be denied, but considers the soul, another matter entirely. He writes:
The soul will render itself superfluous to any consistent
description of a life form. In describing a watch, if we
understand all the mechanisms and principles of operation,
no additional concept or idea is necessary to explain its
purpose, function, or state.
I find it strange that those who take the reality of the mind as a given do not accept the reality of the soul. I see these two parts of us as linked aspects of our being. Our mind processes thoughts whereas our soul processes consciousness. Most believers think that the soul is a spark of God. Skeptics and atheists dispute this view. Yet no one can explain the nature of divinity. Some claim to know the essence of God whereas others doubt the truth of this knowledge.
Regardless, we pursue our own paths. If believers and atheists respect one another and view one another with kindness, we will be equally uplifted.
See A Skeptic’s Perspective in On Hinduism, by Irina Gajjar