Why I am an Atheist is a short essay written by Bhagat Singh where he talks about his journey to becoming an atheist. Although he grew up in a religious household, his time in college during the non-cooperation movement made him skeptical about the existence of God. By reading further, he strengthened his conviction until he finally convinced himself that there does not exist an omnipresent supreme being who created and controlled the universe.

Singh makes some basic arguments about why such a God cannot exist by drawing parallels with the suffering and destruction and unfairness in life and that a benevolent God wouldn’t let these happen in the first place. He also thinks people believed in God and orthodox religion because we’ve become lethargic and aren’t developing the ideas of our ancient thinkers. He emphasizes the importance of reasoning and questioning beliefs.

By reading this essay, one can sense the man’s anguish and the difficulties he faced during his lifetime. One must also appreciate that he took on a society that was much more hostile to such ideas at the time and stood by it until his death. However, it does seem that Singh did not have an in-depth understanding of the nature of God, religion, and the nature of life, especially from a Hindu perspective. The existence of an omnipresent, all-knowing, and all-conquering God is mostly an Abrahamic worldview, unlike Dharmic faiths, which are more nature-oriented. Overall, the book is a short window into the thoughts of the revolutionary.

Also published here.