Cogito ergo Sun --- I think, therefore I am

-- Rene Descartes

This is a discussion in which everyone will be interested- discussion on atheism and

religion. May be in human history more than anything else this has existed as a basic query of
human psyche.
All along the timeline atheism or materialism as one might call, even though in small
fractions of society, existed as a formidable philosophy. Although not exactly the same, for the
general public atheism and materialism are synonyms of the same idea. Materialism is the
philosophy in which matter holds the centre stage. Every other experience is derived from the
mutual interactions and totality of this matter. May be an easier example is cited in a computer.
Here you can consider hardware and software as the basic matter and the functions it provide,
the experiences and usage it provides as the psyche or say " The spirit". It is very easy for an
involved user to ultimately forget the basic existence and complexities of the "matter" in it and
just think of the "spirit" as the actual truth. Apart from the materialistic ideas pioneered by greats
of modern era like Rene Descartes , the idea of materialism existed in every civilisation in
ample strength. In India they existed as the Charvaka school of philosophy which included
many like Kanaada as its supporters, In Greek civilisation through Democritus, Thales etc, In
China through Xun Zi and his Confucian philosophy, In West Asia through Arabian philosophers
like that of Ibn Tufail (Abubacer).Almost everyone of them have contributed greatly to the
development of Human philosophy and mind to a diverse and rich one that we have now.
But the bulk of the society has always followed theist philosophy in different forms. Here
every philosophy (ultimately giving rise to different religions) has slight variations in their beliefs.
Some giving a supreme self or "spirit"(God) the highest stand considering it as the only truth
(majority of the religions is dominated by this stand-which includes both monotheist and
polytheist religions) and some considering the philosophical stand that “God” and Nature are
the same and inseparable( pantheism).
All together theist philosophy has dominated the human viewpoint from the time immemorial. It,
especially the organised religions have both helped and pulled back the social development of
human beings at various stages. It provided the much needed passion and positive outlook to
human kind for its survival and civilisation. It provided the helpless with the “opium” (analgesic)
by which they can pull through the rough terrains of their life. It provided human race the utopia
where ultimately the “good” wins over the “evil”. At the same time it became deeply conservative
so that it almost destroyed human development several times. It blinded the masses from
accepting the progressive ideas much for its own comfort.It became the most valuable and
powerful tool for the rulers to suppress the majority of the society into its clutches.
This discussion will continue as long as humans exist in this world. As science advances
the materialist viewpoint becomes more and more logical and gains increasing support. But as
human is the only animal with developed psyche more than a particular level, a level up to
which it finds itself detached from the nature even able to modify it, he feels more and more
isolated and alone. This creates a psychological necessity for a constant support for his
existence- some gains it through their social concepts, moral values, various ideologies and
philosophies. But for the common masses the only easy support for his loneliness is the belief
in a supernatural or divine creator- The God. So even if the discussion over existence of God,
dispute between atheism and theism shall prevail, one thing is quiet blatant that the belief in a
Divine self is a basic psychological necessity of the majority of mankind for their survival at least
for the time being.
.......................................................................................................................................................