Cause of Atheism
In the past century, especially in Western countries or developed countries, atheism has developed because religion is considered unable to answer the challenges of the times or compete with advances in science and technology. However, in today’s century, atheism proliferates in Muslim countries in the Middle East and surrounding areas seems to be caused by different things.
Based on a survey conducted by several research institutes and mass media, the shift of people to atheism is mainly triggered by the massive coverage of the war, murder, violence, atrocities, rape, hate speech, hoaxes carried out for and in the name of religion. This was also revealed in an article entitled “The Arab Spring and the Coming Crisis of Faith”, written by Tamer Fouad in 2012.
This fact indicates that radicalism has become a bad “promotion” for Islamic symbols. And, atheism becomes a form of “protest” from Muslims in general against the tidal wave of radicalism in the Middle East and other Islamic countries. When a particular group monopolizes the truth and imposes a single truth by force in the name of religion, many people secretly turn in another direction: atheism. And that’s what happened after that wave of religious radicalism.
Although atheism was first defined as an understanding that does not believe in the existence of God, in the phenomenon that appears in the Middle East or Islamic countries, it is interpreted in various ways. Some don’t believe in God. However, some do so by giving up their religion (Islam) and choosing not to be religious—even though they may still believe in the existence of God. Some interpret it as “ignorant” of spiritual matters. In other words, if being religious means being radical, then it’s better not to.
Atheism in Indonesia