"An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support." -
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969)
Atheism is not a religion or a philosophy. Atheism simply means "without
belief in god(s)". There are two types of atheist:
Implicit atheist (lower case atheism) is an atheist who has not yet
learned of theism, or gods, or religion. All people are implicit atheists
until one point, some are forever (such as most of Japan and Russia through
history)
Explicit Atheist (upper case atheism) is an atheist who understands
what a god is, and concludes that none exist. Atheism is not a moral stance
or a moral choice, and individuals (including theists and atheists) adopt
morals from their surrounding culture according to their own conscience.
Intellectualism
Atheist religions and philosophies are normally more intense intellectually
- philosophy and wisdom are core elements. This was still the case with Greek
and classical anti-religious writers before popular monotheism arose. It is
probably true that without a belief in god, the mind is freer to persue
philosophical and scientific enquiries as there is no "god" to simply
attribute cause to, when a phenomenon is not understood.
Atheist Religions
Atheist religions by far have the kinder record as far as wars and atrocities
are concerned. The mono-theistic beliefs are particularly prone to bouts of
genocide and war in their endless attempts to wipe out competing deities.
Polytheism is also better off as it naturally assumes a less violent attitude
towards other Gods. Buddhism is an example of a so-called atheist religion.
Buddhism as atheist
"No God, No Soul, As between the theist and atheist positions,
Buddhism is atheist".
There are systems of thought which the world usually calls religious,
and yet which do not positively assume a God. Buddhism is in this case.
Popularly, of course, the Buddha itself stands in place of a God; but in
strictness the Buddhistic system is atheistic.The worship of deities has
continued in many forms of Buddhism despite western scholars thinking that,
because of their texts, Buddhism was atheistic
Buddhism does not itself answer the simple question of whether or not
there are actual Gods. Buddhist theology does not rely on or need Gods,
nor do Buddhist ethics or teachings involve Gods, which is probably why
it is easy to consider Buddhism to be atheistic rather than theistic.
In reality it may be closer to agnostic, but it is certainly not valid to
say that it is truely theistic.
"The more fervent atheists have often enough shown a temper which,
psychologically considered, is indistinguishable from religious zeal"
Secularism
Secular is "not of religion". A secular government is one that caters for
the needs of all religious people without assuming to know if any particular
religion is correct, and a secular education is one that is uncorrupted by
religious agendas. "The Secular West" refers to the phenomenon that religion
as a whole has become largely irrelevant to most Westerners (although the
USA is an exception).
"...the ongoing, growing, and powerful movement called secularism, a way of
understanding and living that is indifferent to religion -- in fact, not
even concerned enough to pay it any attention, much less oppose it."
Atheism, unlike monotheism it did not spread from a single point. In India
it antedates the Buddha and the Jina and is found in the Upanishads; in China
it was codified by Confucius while a different version was laid down by Lao-tze
... while the atheism of the Buddha and the Jina is admitted frequently
Lao-tze's is usually passed over in silence, and the teachings of the
Upanishads are glossed over as pantheism.
The presence of evil and suffering in the world has even been argued by some
philosophers from Epicurus (341-270bce) to David Hume (1711-76ce) to cast
doubt on the existence of God. Other more modern writers such as Freud and
Marx sought to show that religion's explanations of the presence of evil and
suffering were based on delusions.
England makes a note on atheism. It was provided as one of "Satan's suggestions"
to a woman who contributed to a collection of stories in 1652 compiled by
Powell. Darren Oldridge says that in many cases "possession" was often a way
to voice serious concerns that a person was too scared to voice normally.
The woman thustly gave her doubt:
"There is no God to save thee or punish thee, all things were made by nature,
and when thou dyest there is an end of all thy good and bad deeds. Thou
talkest of the scripture, and of a God and of a Jesus which thou hast heard
of there. See thy simplicity now. How canst thou prove the scriptures to be
true? Alas, they were made by man's inventions, there is no hold for thee to
take there"
The Victorian Era (1839-1901) as noted by Steve Bruce, was the time was
atheism has been at a height of prominence. In much of Europe, atheism is
more popular than theism.
Varieties of religious experience, the text of lectures from 1900-1901,
clearly demonstrates that the author, 100 years ago, lived in an era where
atheism and irreligiosity was strife, particularly in academic circles,
and also that there are large numbers of secular-living people, not just
in the UK where the lectures were delivered but also in his home country,
the USA.
"it should be no surprise that, though there are more avowed atheists than
there were twenty years ago, they remain rare. Self-conscious atheism and agnosticism are features of religious cultures
and were at their height in the Victorian era. They are postures adopted in
a world where people are keenly interested in religion"
