Modernity allows for the existence of a number of people with different views, adherents to the religion of their people and atheists. The latter believe not in gods, but in science and technological progress. Those who do not believe in a higher power and do not consider themselves to be religious are mistakenly considered to be those who are constantly in disputes with religious representatives.
An atheist does not believe in the existence of gods, the other world or any other supernatural phenomena. This is a person who denies the possibility of the existence of immaterial creatures, souls, fate and other things. They believe that the world is completely self-sufficient without the addition of supernatural beings. They perceive religion as legends that are created and invented by the human mind. There is no specific philosophy or idea, as well as generally accepted behavior among atheists; each of them is a separate person, united only by unbelief, but over time a special sign of atheism has appeared.
Symbols of atheism
Previously, the word “atheist” was used to describe anyone who was in conflict with an official religion, without taking into account his faith and views on the structure of the world. Over the centuries, this term acquired a more definite human position. Today the word is also used as a self-definition.
It is impossible to find one precise definition of the word “atheist”. Since there is no clear definition of the word “deity” or “supernatural”, and each person understands them in his own way. An atheist is someone who refuses to accept the image of God in religion as an independent and living figure who actively takes part in the life of the world, playing the role of a creator. Some call themselves this if they deny any possibility of the existence of immaterial spheres.
Scientists have identified two types of atheism: strong and weak. The last are people who admit the idea of the existence of gods, but deny the possibility of the existence of immaterial beings. The strong type firmly holds the opinion that God does not exist and is nothing more than a fantasy and a fictitious image.
Scientific and spontaneous atheists are known. The first of them adheres to the natural sciences and, based on them, denies the existence of supernatural beings, resorting to the help of scientific methods and specific data. Spontaneous ones do not adhere to scientific developments and methods, and most often play the role of skeptics, or they simply are not interested in religion, as well as the intangible world.
Practical non-believers are considered a separate group. They don't have to prove or deny anything. They may simply agree that the immaterial world is capable of existing, but it is meaningless and unnecessary for humanity.
There are three distinctive features of practical atheism:
- Lack of interest in religious issues, both in practice and in theory.
- Complete disregard for any faith. Such people are quite happy that the lack of faith in supernatural creatures does not affect their lives in any way.
- Lack of knowledge about religious movements, questions about the intangible and supernatural.
The concept of atheism is directly related to materialism. That is why the symbol of atheism is the emblem with an atom. This is explained by the fact that every natural matter consists of many atoms, as a result of which a certain sign was formed.
The goal of atheism is the desire to prove the fantastic nature of religions. Defenders of certain religions who refuse to understand their opponents, mistakenly believing that atheism as a fight against God was invented by Satanists. This is not true, atheism is a legitimate result of the development of thoughts of all mankind.
Interesting Facts
Atheism has always existed - it is even older than Islam or Christianity, so over such a “long life” many interesting facts have accumulated about it:
- In the Roman Empire, those who did not believe in pagan gods were mistaken for atheists.
- Many believe that the first atheistic state was the USSR, but this is not true - the first place belongs to France at the end of the 18th century.
- Anthony Flew, a philosopher and atheist, admitted late in his life that he was quite possibly wrong about atheism. In his opinion, the DNA molecule is so perfect that it could not have arisen on its own - it clearly has a creator.
- China, Sweden and Estonia are by far the most atheistic countries.
- Scientists have calculated that by 2060 the number of atheists in the world will decrease by at least 3% and this is due to population growth in Africa, where their numbers are insignificant.
Atheism concept
People who have accepted religious teachings are of the opinion that an atheist is a person who believes in the absence of God or divine creatures, rather than denying their existence. In other words, they imagine a certain figure occupying a place in religion. Instead of worshiping a deity, supporters of atheism prefer to honor and believe in personality, science and progress.
And yet this opinion is wrong. The worldviews of non-believers are so simple that they can be easily formulated.
- The highest creature is man. There is no need to worship and elevate yourself to the images of gods. It is logical to dedicate your life to studying yourself than to spend time serving an invisible creature that is only a figment of the imagination.
- They are confident that everything in the world can be explained by scientific facts. Even among scientists, disputes and questions arise that have not yet been answered. This is due to the fact that so far humanity has a very low level of progress, and this greatly hinders the ability to find answers to questions of interest.
- There is no god or supernatural beings, at least not in the way they are represented in modern religions. Any belief is stupid and unfounded because it was invented by people.
These are the basic principles of atheism. This type of unbelief is divided into two groups of people: some are inclined towards humanism, others are radical in relation to religious societies. Also known is spontaneous atheism, which has been familiar to people for several centuries.
Modern practices
Atheism is experiencing a cultural renaissance in the early 21st century, with most polls now identifying it as the fastest growing worldview in the developed world. Between 2022 and 2022, an international research program known as the World Values Survey found that nearly 21% of respondents from all regions of the world did not believe in a supernatural God. This is up from 13.5% in the 2010-2014 survey and 6.3% in the 2000-2004 survey.
New Atheism Movement
Many atheists attribute the rise of atheism and its growth in numbers to a movement called New Atheism, which gained its voice after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Although atheists have existed for centuries, the obvious role of religion in these terrorist attacks has become a call to action for many non-religious people. In response, a powerful, unapologetic new atheism grew up.
Propelled by the Internet and the books and speeches of prominent atheists such as biologist Richard Dawkins, philosopher Daniel Dennett, journalist Christopher Hitchens, and neuroscientist Sam Harris, the New Atheist movement has accomplished in 10 years what many other social movements take generations to achieve.
Atheism on the rise
Religiously unaffiliated Americans have begun to assert collective political power in the 21st century, making up the largest "religious" voting bloc in 2022—28% of registered voters, up from 18% in 2012 and 15% in 2008, according to Pew data Research Center. Polls and other studies indicate that atheism—or at least the nonreligious self-identification—is likely to continue to grow as a percentage of the population throughout the developed world, and as an important influence in politics and culture.
What is spontaneous atheism?
It is impossible to find the exact author who came up with spontaneous atheism, since it is the common people. Therefore, this type is boldly called folk. It can be found in the oral works of ordinary people: songs, tales, proverbs and sayings, epics. They clearly present the basic principles of belief, which relate to the fact that religion only helps the rich who play the role of exploiters. Such creativity shows that religion, be it Christian or Buddhist, has always played on the side of the rich and the clergy. The same can be found in simple sayings that are known even today. Among them are famous such as: “God loves the rich” or “A man with a fry, and a priest with a spoon.”
For centuries, the concept of atheism has been with the Russian people. In one of the epics the image of the free-thinking Vaska Buslaev was presented. He rebelled against the unfair treatment of ordinary people by religion. The main character of the epic adhered only to faith in himself and his strength, and the hostile religious force was presented in the work as a monster - a pilgrim. To cope with the monster, Vaska Buslaev rang a bell located on the enemy’s head.
Spontaneous atheism is the name given to atheism that is based on a skeptical way of thinking and a lack of interest in religion.
Spontaneous atheists are very calm about any faith, due to a complete lack of interest in it.
Religion and scientific atheism
As human knowledge about nature accumulated, scientific atheism gradually developed. Each era is famous for its proud and courageous personalities; they, despite possible execution for Satanism, were not afraid to confront religions and put science in first place. They had to flee from churches and religious followers who thought their views were horribly wrong.
Scientific atheism is very important for a materialistic worldview. In definition, it is a philosophical science that explains the essence of religion and criticizes it.
Satanism and atheism
Those who adhere to the Christian religion believe that atheists are followers of the Satanic faith - this is a common misconception. Some believe that the direct history and philosophy of atheism includes the direction of “Satanism”. This is not so, such information is most often disseminated from cultists of “dark higher powers”. The fire is also added by representatives of the Christian faith themselves, who perceive satanic machinations in things and situations that do not correspond to their views and interests.
In reality, Satanism is an ordinary religious movement that has its own churches, clergy and the Bible. In other words, atheism relates to Satanism in the same way as to any other religious movement. Atheists deny the existence of any supernatural and immaterial beings, Satan is also among them. That is why they cannot be considered Satanists, just as in the opposite case.
Satanists are people who engage in immoral acts: they desecrate graves, mock Christian values, and perform sacrifices. Atheists pay attention to secular humanism, and call any religion a figment of human imagination.
Origin
There is every reason to believe that religious unbelief has existed as long as religious affirmations. But unlike religious beliefs, which usually leave behind tangible evidence, religious unbelief has often remained unspoken throughout history—especially in cultures and eras in which atheism was discouraged or even punishable by imprisonment or death.
Western atheism
In many cases, indirect evidence must be used to establish the existence of atheism. When Psalm 14:1 from the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament says, “A fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God,’” this provides indirect evidence that atheism existed in ancient Judea.
Despite customs and laws prohibiting blasphemy against the gods, it is known that atheists existed in Ancient Greece and Rome. The philosophers Cicero (106-43 BC) and Sextus Empiricus (160-210 AD) each listed several prominent atheists of the Greek classical period, including Protagoras, Diagoras, Theodorus and Euhemerus.
The thoughts of Greek and Roman atheists were rarely preserved in their original form, since all written refutations of religious belief were destroyed. However, the ideas themselves were often preserved in the works of their critics, who quoted long passages from atheistic views to refute them. Thus, these arguments and concepts found their way through history to inspire thinkers during the European Enlightenment and beyond.
Atheism in Ancient Asia
Not every culture suppressed or punished religious unbelief. In China and India, even some forms of religion themselves have atheistic elements, including Jainism, Taoism, some forms of Buddhism and Hinduism. Confucianism, a non-theistic philosophy focused on reason and natural ethics, has been the greatest influence on Chinese thought for more than 2,500 years. The arguments against the religious faith of ancient Chinese and Indian atheists were often preserved in their own writings, carefully preserved as a valuable part of a thriving philosophical discourse.
Atheism in the modern world
It will come as no surprise to anyone that in almost every country there are a huge number of non-believers. In Russia, the concept of atheism is presented as particularly widespread, since in the country there are people who adhere to a religious movement and those who are confident in the absence of God.
Atheists in our time do not force people to abandon their usual faith. Such individuals simply have their own worldview and their own perception of the world, which gives them the opportunity to live comfortably. They do not lose their sense of morality and honor, they just do not need a supernatural force to constantly monitor them or belief in judgment after their death.
One of the modern geniuses of the world, Stephen Hawking, did not believe in a higher power. The English theoretical physicist devoted himself to the study of space and was confident that any phenomenon that an ordinary person perceives as something supernatural can be explained by scientific facts. In fact, the scientist assumed the existence of God, but considered it meaningless. He even wrote in his book, The Grand Design, that the universe does not necessarily need a god to run.
Aizaan Hirsi Ali calls herself an atheist, who abandoned religion due to too strict Muslim laws. She is a contemporary anti-religion activist and film screenwriter. Despite being considered an enemy by Muslims, Aizaan has earned admiration from atheists.
Another influential scientist, physicist Lawrence Cross, is an atheist. He analyzed and assessed religion and science, which he described in his books. It was he who first spoke about dark matter, which explains empty space in space.
Where do atheists and agnostics go after death?
All believers know that there is life after death, because the soul does not die along with the body, but, having left the physical shell, continues to exist. If a person led a righteous life, then his soul will go to heaven, if he sinned, he will go to hell.
The soul of a believer goes to heaven after death
What then happens to the soul of an atheist and agnostic? After all, among them there are both bad people and good ones.
If we turn to the texts of the Holy Scriptures, the answer is clear - those who knew about Jesus, but refused to believe him, will go to hell. The Gospel of John says that he who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God. The Holy Scripture also says that endless torment awaits non-believers. It turns out that the souls of atheists and agnostics will go to hell.
However, atheists are not “moved” by the reasoning of believers, because they do not believe in the existence of the soul and know for sure that death is the end of human life. Agnostics are not so categorical, but they believe that in fact no one knows where they will go after death. So it turns out that believers and atheists “live and know for sure,” while agnostics honestly admit that they do not know this.
Religion vs. Atheism
From the point of view of people who adhere to one of the religions, God or higher powers significantly exceed the mere understanding of the human mind. Science studies the material world and knows nothing about the immaterial being whom believers call God.
Religion proves the existence of gods by pointing out possible signs and messages from supernatural creatures, as well as by referring to the Bible. Atheists want to see clear material evidence. Thus, Sanal Edamaruku, an Indian publicist, proposed live on air to the voodoo sorcerer, with the help of higher powers, to kill him for “mocking” religion. Despite all the efforts of the sorcerer, Edamaruku remained alive.
Modern atheists are people who are distinguished by their sound mind, love of freedom, and education. They are very cultured and progressive, their characteristic feature is civilization and modernity. They have a passion for scientific knowledge and strive to understand more of the material world and human abilities.
