Having No Belief Is Indeed Not a Belief

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 18 July 2024 "When an individual chooses to align themselves with a particular religious belief system, or even with the decision to adhere to no specific religious creed, it inherently implies a conviction that their chosen stance holds the ultimate truth and significance. This act of embracing a specific religious doctrine or choosing to be unaffiliated serves as a declaration of one's earnest belief in the authenticity of their own spiritual path. Through this act of preference, one unmistakably signals their adherence to the notion that their chosen faith is not only the most valuable but also the most accurate and genuine among all the options available." Sorry, Mr GGS. I beg to differ with you on this count. To quote exiled Russian philosopher Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who authored the classic The Gulag Archipelago, from his novella For the Good of the Cause (1964), "It's erroneous to say that no belief is also a belief or a conviction. Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit (Out of nothing, nothing is produced or Nothing comes from nothing) explains an individual's non-religious, non-ideological and non-doctrinal state of existence. If you've no faith in any religion, belief system or a particular doctrine, your mind is a Tabula Rasa (Latin for a Clean Slate). It's not cluttered with any prejudice or preconceived notion / concept. Such a person will not judge others with respect to his / her belief/s because he has no belief. Comparisons and judgements crop up when people have certain concrete beliefs, faiths and ideologies. " So very true. A concrete belief in something, say, a religion, creates more beliefs and prejudices. An individual without a belief in any belief is open to welcoming even those beliefs that are diametrically tangential, opposite and outlandish. He's not insisting that his belief in nothing is an ideal choice for others to follow. Moreover, all our languages are semantically inadequate. No language can properly convey the anatomy of disbelief / unbelief or no-belief. This is known as the Connotational Dilemma (Bertrand Russell's phrase) in Philology and Logic. For example, if you say, " I don't believe in any religion and god," it suggests that it's your belief that there's no god and your no faith in any religion is itself a faith! Words can never convey what one thinks (not 'believes') intrinsically because what we can find words for is already dead in our hearts. In my comment on Mr Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi's statement, I just suggested that an educated person must avoid tom-tomming his faith. I didn't say, my faith in nothing must be followed by all. Remember, when you've belief in a system, whether religious, political or social, you've a tangible template and you subconsciously impose that on others. When you've no belief in anything, you've no template or to say, an agenda in popular parlance. The intangibility of non-belief liberates, whereas the tangibility of a belief hardens you. From the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes to the French linguistic philosopher and Father of Deconstruction, Derrida, all struggled to define that having no belief was indeed belief in nothing. Don't try to explain it ontologically and call it an Intentional Fallacy. Rather, blame it on the inadequacy of all languages. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/indeed-no-belief/d/132731 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism