THE EIGHTH WORLD ATHEIST CONFERENCE IN TIRUCHIRAPPALLI ON 7,8,9 JANUARY, 2011

THE EIGHTH WORLD ATHEIST CONFERENCE IN TIRUCHIRAPPALLI ON 7,8,9 JANUARY, 2011

The Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 came into effect from 3 January 1977. The
Amendment prescribes Fundamental Duties under Part. IV-A, wherein Article 51A(h) states that it shall be the duty of every citizen of India “to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.”

Even fifty years before this provision was included in the Constitution, Periyar E.V.Ramasamy began to spread ideas of Self-Respect, rationalism, humanism and egalitarianism through his Tamil magazineKudi Arasu (People’s Government) published from 2 May 1925.

Gora of Andhra Pradesh, a staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi’s constructive programme, differed from his leader in one respect, namely in opposing theist views and upholding atheist values. He called his outlook on life as Positive Atheism, and lived accordingly in private and public life from 1930s. In his words: “The spread of the atheist outlook is hope of humanity to turn from war to peace, from slavery to freedom, from superstition to a sense of reality.

Gora took the initiative to organise the First World Atheist Meet at Vijayawada, India, in 1972. After his demise the Second World Atheist Conference was held at Vijayawada in December 1980. The Third World Atheist Conference was held at Helsinki, Finland, the main organiser being the Union of Freethinkers of Finland. The subsequent conferences were held at Vijayawada organised by the Atheist Centre founded by Gora.

Dravidar Kazhagam has been participating in those conferences from 1996. Now the Eighth World Atheist Conference is going to be held at Tiruchirappally (Trichy) Tamil Nadu State, India on 7, 8, 9 January 2011, jointly sponsored by Dravidar Kazhagam, the Atheist Centre and The Rationalists’ Forum of Tamil Nadu. Hundreds of delegates and thousands of participants will attend the conference. The theme of the Conference is chosen as “Atheism - An Alternate Culture”.

The atheist fraternity is known the world over by various names - rationalists, free thinkers, skeptics, humanists, secularists, agnostics etc. according to the stress they lay on different aspects of truth-seeking.

There are certain views and ideas they have in common. They do not have any faith in revealed truth or holy scriptures as containing final truths, nor do they belong to any established religion. Their outlook is liberal and they are ready to adopt and change according to the changing circumstances. They demand separation of the Church and the State, cheishing secular values as a sure way of promoting understanding, harmony and unity among different sections of society. As they are not guided by any established religion or revealed truth, they have no prejudices, preconceived notions and fanatic attachments. Human destiny is decided by natural phenomena and human endeavour, and not by any supernatural agency including god.

The atheist fraternity has no faith in life after death. They aspire to make life in this world happy and contended, free from wars, bloody conflicts, exploitation, suppression, injustice, ignorance, superstition, unexamined and cruel customs, traditions etc.

Fundamentalists make use of science and technology to propagate fanaticism, superstition, division and discord in order to dupe, deceive and defraud people, whereas atheists focus on using inventions and innovations to preserve this planet as a healthy place free from pollution and to make life beautiful and meaningful.

Let us meet at the World Atheist Conference and discuss ways and means to make our dream a reality.

courtesy:http://www.modernrationalist.com/2010/july/page01.html