Bharat really enjoys science, but that wasn’t always the case. Throughout school, he always saw science as a requirement to take in order to finish school rather than the wonderful thing that it is. He studied health and fitness in college and became a personal trainer. Because he didn’t make much money in personal training, he joined the family jewelry business. While he didn’t enjoy it, he stayed in it as his mother had epilepsy, although many years later, he found a good doctor for her at Emory, and now his mother is in remission from seizures. This is one of the stepping stones that gave Bharat a true respect for science and how it can do wonders for humankind. But until then, Bharat found joy in learning about different cultures, supporting animal rights, doing charity work, and meeting friends in other groups.
Bharat’s parents were Hindu, but they never pressured religion on him. In fact, the first religion Bharat studied was in 7th grade, and it was Christianity. Jehovah’s Witnesses came to his house, but what got him interested in the first place was a TLC show called “Miracles and Other Wonders,” thus opening him up to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In 8th grade, however, Bharat studied Hinduism and found more things appealing about it. He also studied other religions like Judaism, Islam, and others. In 10th grade, he heard about Bahai’ Faith and found it appealing as it honors prophets from Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Zorastrianism, and Buddhism. During the summer after 19th grade, Bharat became interested in Jainism and its impersonal concept of God…that is, God as an “essence” that permeates the universe. This vague “essence” was a transition point from theism to atheism. In 11th grade, Bharat started questioning why he believed in God and eventually rejected God.
Many years after college, he saw Neil Degrasse Tyson and started seeing the beauty of science. Tyson’s poetic way of speaking and use of comedy in science won Bharat over. Now Bharat finds anatomy easier to remember than when he was in college. As he has a respect for medicine, Bharat has just started a class at Kennesaw State to become an EKG technician. Outside of his career goals, Bharat continues to engage in multi-cultural awareness. He is also a marathon-runner and studies martial arts, namely Muay Thai Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Bharat also is a staunch advocate of animal rights and part of vegan groups.
Just as entertaining shows such as “Miracles and other Wonders” brought him to religion, Bharat feels that approaches such as done by Neil Degrasse Tyson are needed to bring people to science. Many science museums do a good job of that, but Bharat wants to see more…he wants to see science become a social phenomenon just like religion with stories (albeit true stories like the origin of the universe and evolution of life on Earth as opposed to myths), charities (and they already exist with medicine, environmental conservation, and other scientific causes), fun events, and event marriage ceremonies. A science congregation can appeal to atheists without alienating religious.
We are in the process of scheduling a speaker, so go ahead and sign up! AFS always meets on the second Sunday of the month unless otherwise noted.
We will meet at noon for socializing, and then the talk starts at 1:00.
The facility is wheelchair accessible. Atlanta Freethought Hall is a former Primitive Baptist Church, built in 1866. Atlanta Freethought Society was founded in 1985, which makes it one of Metro Atlanta’s oldest secular societies. AF Hall is the meeting place for Fellowship of Reason, Freedom of Religion Foundation of Atlanta, as well as other organizations. We rent the building at reasonable rates. If you would like to rent the hall for an organization meeting, a party, a wedding, etc., please see a Board Member.