Atheism is gaining visibility because of a number of reasons in our global system. Let me
identify three variables for the benefit of this discussion.

First of all, the global telecommunication system has provided the much needed support for the
dissemination of all kinds of ideas. Atheism is an alternative to the traditional pre-industrial mode of dealing with metaphysics and life beyond the grave. With the rise of science and technology as we now know, the atheistic alternative enjoyed greater intellectual and political support from the communists and other system-challenging belief systems that abhor
religion and metaphysics.

The second reason why atheism is gaining visibility lies in the growing powers of crass materialism. Since a vast number of us are captured in the world of materialism and
self-gratification, a form of atheism without intellectual support has taken refugee in the old
Greek mantra: 'Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die.' This excessive materialism tends to deny any notion of accountability at the end of one's life time.

The third avenue for the rise of atheism rests on the ever growing fruits of human scientific and
technological might. Convinced by the 'godly' powers of Man, many of us have come to embrace the deification of Man as the alternative to the transcendence of the invisible God. Caught in this
crisis of self-confidence, and unable to convince ourselves about the origins and future of Man, many human beings have come to accept atheism as an intellectual and social phenomenon that serves their quest for meaning in life. This is the mirror opposite for those of us who invest heavily in a Divine Being who is both Personal and Eternal. This contradiction between the modern atheists and the modern believers in metaphysics and traditional religions will continue
unresolved till the end of times. Neither science nor technology can resolve these issues for all of us.