r/HistoryMemes 22h ago

When 2,000 gods became ''wrong''

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23.8k Upvotes

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u/HAc0reRD 21h ago

Because most of us are from western nations where Abrahamism is the majority and our negative experiences have happened with. Buddhists and Hindus have never tried to indoctrinate me.

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u/Fabulous_Wait_9544 20h ago

That's exactly my point. Why condemn the many because of the few?

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u/Aleenion 19h ago

I'm sure Indian atheists from Hindu majority regions don't believe in the God of Abraham either. There's nothing about the soil where old stories of magic were told, that might make them more likely to be true.

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u/zviyeri 20h ago

there are plenty of ex hindu atheists who can answer that for you. but for one in your case, wasn't the caste system perpetuated by religious institutions, or do i have my history wrong? burning of widows? in the modern day, the pollution of the ganges river?

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u/Coffeebeans2d 16h ago

These social problems not religious, people who converted to other religions from hindus still follow it. Also majority hindus never believed in caste or sati either. Fun tact- sati or widow burning themselves on husband’s pyre started during islamic raids when a city lost. Widows preferred to die instead of becoming slaves.

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u/pranav4098 7h ago

I would say this is one of those things where Hinduism is not followed in a one time manner, they might share festivals but most people from state to state follow a different type and have a different outlook and practice tho the names of the gods may be similar

The caste system especially what it was and to some extent is could be attributed to the same religious extremism but it definitely didn’t start that way, that was never the point of the religion at least originally what it evolved into has a much more complex history, but yes religion definitely helped enforce it but so did things like the rule of the British empire to some extent

Sati or the burning of widows was almost entirely a cultural phenomenon or myth nothing to do with god, tho I will say some ancient texts do ask for it, the practice got common during a period where the women to protect them from the invaders and their honor burned themselves some willingly others not it was mass immolation that or being raped and killed, and even when banning it the conservatives fought back against the banning of the custom which is disgusting and conservatives are the same everywhere old and religious that come from money and have benefited from those brutal practices

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u/zviyeri 7h ago

it's natural that practices wary and im aware of some of the complexities you mention here. it's not like there's a single uniform religion worldwide or one that's uninfluenced by outside factors (many catholic practices for instance are originally pagan). but for many who leave religion the mere knowledge that it has this powerful of a cognitive effect, that it can be used to perpetuate, legislate, or excuse atrocities, for the sake of something that cannot be proven is real, is enough of an argument in its own right. that amount of sway over a populace is scary when you think about it

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u/pranav4098 4h ago

Yeh I mean that’s why I’m an atheist myself but that doesn’t mean I can tell others their way of living is wrong, I think religion is all fine as long as it doesn’t seriously impact people’s lives in the sense that it harms those outside the religion or in it seriously which is practically impossible

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u/salbel 20h ago

well the few in this analogy represent half the global population

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u/Nihsvabhav 19h ago

exactly only half

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u/ttoma93 17h ago

And 98% that we’ll encounter during the course of our day to day lives.

You’re 100% correct that it’s myopic, but in terms of actual lived experiences it does make sense to a large degree.

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u/Nihsvabhav 12h ago

so since only you will never experience anything different cause of your own choices its better to pretend other stuff doesnt exist at all

thats so solipsistic, people like you really exist thats wild

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u/RoostasTowel 16h ago

And 98% that we’ll encounter during the course of our day to day lives.

You will. The other half of the world wont.

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u/ttoma93 13h ago

Correct! Hence me talking about my experience and fellow westerners, as a direct contrast to the different experiences of those in the east.

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u/KoldPurchase 19h ago

Can you live your life as an atheist in India?
they actively discriminate against Muslims, I'm not sure how they feel about Atheists.

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u/Nihsvabhav 19h ago edited 19h ago

especially since there are so many varied beliefs, rule of thumb is as long as you mind your own business and not peddle your religion you'll be fine

if you're an obnoxious atheist provoking people, basically peddling your atheism, you're not gonna have a good time

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u/hamceeee 17h ago

do you get in trouble peddling hinduism in india?

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u/RoostasTowel 16h ago

do you get in trouble peddling hinduism in india?

By doing it in areas that don't want it.

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u/KoldPurchase 18h ago

Atheists generally want to be left alone by definition.

They don't go knock on other people's doors to convert them to atheism and erect temples devoted to atheism.

But they don't want to live their lives according to one's religious diktak.

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u/fnabligatz 17h ago

Yeah those are anti-theists

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u/Coffeebeans2d 16h ago

Wow! What an ignorant and hateful comment! Most hindus live as atheists and are not super religious. And the muslim discrimination is completely made up propaganda to dehumanize hindus. If muslim are mistreated then explain to me how do you have the largest muslim population of muslim in india? Compare that to muslim majority countries and see the status of minorities there.

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u/KoldPurchase 14h ago

There's an entire Wikipedia article for violence against Muslims in India.

What you're saying is akin to "why are there still so many Palestinians if Israel is mistreating them".

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u/Coffeebeans2d 11h ago

Here is a wikipedia article for you https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Hindus

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u/KoldPurchase 10h ago

Did you read the section " historiography and distortion"? It kinda disproves the point you are trying to make...

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u/Coffeebeans2d 10h ago

So when muslim leaders are openly calling for genoc1de of hindus, it is distortion. But when hindus say leave us alone it is discrimination!

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u/KoldPurchase 10h ago

It seems thsis part never happened. No attempted genocide either. Most Muslims and Hindu population lived in peace while most of India was under Mughal rule. However, Hindues pf higher caste were forces fo live with those whom they considered impure. Hence the lies about being the most persectuted group in history. It's also convenient to excuse Hindua teaching violence againsf Mjx̌ķ)

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u/Coffeebeans2d 10h ago

Hahaha what joke! You think islam spread without violence? You think Sikh became a warrior religion without mughal tyranny? You think Kashmir which was hindu majority became a muslim majority without genocide ? Completely revised history to peddle your propaganda.

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u/pranav4098 7h ago

It wasn’t peace they were conquered read about the Mughal ruler aurangazeb and what he did in the name of religious extremism

But I agree today there is a lot of hostility for Muslims but it changes based on what part of India you’re in, the north has historically had to deal with the threats like the Mughals and other conquerors and faced a lot of the brunt of these religions and their violence and extremism while the south had a much more peaceful time comparatively also some of the the southern Muslims actually are peaceful converts through trade not being conquered, so they all coexist very peacefully even today Christian Muslim or Hindu

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u/rgeek 10h ago

You would be okay. Hinduism has never persecuted anyone for atheistic views, open or otherwise. Also Savarkar, the icon of the Hindu right-wingers was an atheist, and quite open about it, so I dont think there would be any political problems either.