Today, many people, when they hear the word “atheist,” believe that this person must constantly be in conflicts with representatives of various religious denominations. But in fact, this is absolutely not the case, because when there is blind faith, the mind is absent or simply asleep.
However, if we apply logic and analyze it precisely from a religious perspective: should a person, in order to control other people, blindly believe in various ancient myths written back in the Bronze Age? Or has today come the time in which freedom of thoughts, beliefs and scientific thinking reigns?
The uniqueness of each religion
Surprisingly, even qualified experts cannot name a clear number of religions that exist throughout the world today. For example, Christianity alone has more than thirty thousand different directions, and adherents of each are confident that the true teaching is their teaching.
These religions are represented in various branches of Baptists, Pentecostals, Calvinists, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Old Believers, Anabaptists, Pentecostals and others. However, currently there is another very widespread trend - atheism. Its adherents do not fall into any of these categories. Therefore, the question of what atheism is is quite relevant.
Despite such a variety of different religions, it is impossible to get to heaven for one of them without immediately ending up in hell for all the others. Every religious denomination that exists today contradicts all others in such moments as the creation of the Earth, the origin of man, the emergence of good and evil, and so on. In addition, various religious movements compare their mystical acquisitions, while arguing that all hallucinations or mental disorders serve as an argument for authenticity.
But everyone knows that miracles do not happen. People who are residents of India, who were brought up in this characteristic culture, immediately before death, imagine Shiva with six arms. Europeans see angels and demons depicted on Catholic frescoes. Aborigines living in Australia claim that they actually met with the Great Mother.
Thus, the Holy Scriptures of different religions have a lot of contradictions. At the same time, numerous denominations provide rather contradictory images of gods with their prescriptions. Since all this information cannot be true at the same time, there are simply no divine beings related to modern religions.
Atheism concept
Not everyone knows what atheism actually is. In general, this word is of Greek origin. It contains two parts: a - translated as “not” (negation), and theos - “god”. It follows from this that the meaning of this term is the denial of all gods, any supernatural beings and forces, in other words, it is atheism. You can also say that atheism is a system of views that proves the inconsistency of the arguments of every religion.
As a rule, atheism is closely related to the concept of materialism. Therefore, it is not without reason that the emblem of the atom has been considered a symbol of atheism for quite a long time. This is explained by the fact that in nature all matter consists of atoms, hence such a specific symbol of atheism appeared. And this is not surprising, since this concept is identical with materialism.
Atheism consists of philosophical, historical, natural science criticism of religions. The goal is to reveal their fantastic character. In fact, it is impossible to say unambiguously what atheism is, since it is a rather complex concept. For example, atheism reveals the social side of religions, and from the point of view of materialism it can explain how and thanks to what religious faith appears, and also explains the role of religion in society and methods for overcoming it.
The process of development of atheism was characterized by a number of historical stages and characteristic directions. Among them were such fairly common types as ancient, free-thinking under the feudal world, bourgeois, Russian revolutionary-democratic, and so on. The most legitimate follower of atheism of all eras was the Marxist-Leninist teaching.
Individual defenders of some religions who do not fully understand what atheism is, arguing that this concept did not exist at all before, but was invented by the communists. But this is completely wrong. Atheism is a completely legitimate result of the development of advanced thoughts of all mankind.
Today there are two main types of atheism - spontaneous and scientific. Adherents of the first option simply deny God, following common sense, while the second option is based on clear scientific data.
Meaning of the word atheism
, or godlessness
This is such a perversion of thoughts, according to which they reject the very existence of the Creator and Provider of the world and people - God. Since the idea of the Divine is inseparable from the essence of our spirit, since it is deeply imprinted in our rational nature and the entire world around us and the destinies of human life speak loudly to us about God, it is not without reason that some doubt that there were ever actually atheists. But, on the other hand, since this idea in itself is incomprehensible to our mind and its development and clarification is possible only with the help of our spirit and depends on the property and degree of our mental and moral education, then we cannot reject the possibility of to some extent, and this most terrible delusion. According to the false principles noted at the basis of this error, atheists are divided into theorists and practitioners. Atheism is theoretical when it follows from philosophical or scientific, generally mental activity, seeks to establish itself on philosophical principles and justify itself with scientific data and rational arguments * (Psalm IX, 25, 32; XIII, 1; Rom. I, 22; 2 Cor. X, 5; 2 Pet. III, 4), and practical, when a person by his very life, criminal and ugly, little by little is led first to forgetting about God, and then to a daring denial of Him (1 Cor. XV, 34; Philip III, 19; Tit. I, 16). Psychologically, it is quite possible and indeed there are cases that a person, having never read godless works or heard godless speeches, but having led a depraved life for a long time, so darkens and disfigures the image of God in his soul that the latter seems to be completely erased from it; the thought of God visits Him less and less, and, finally, the very reminder of God becomes painful and unpleasant for him; the lack of love for God gradually turns into hostility towards Him, the lull of conscience and the deadening of the spirit and the oblivion of God that accompanies them turns, especially under the influence of the devil**, into a reckless and stubborn denial of God, or even into a furious, completely insane blasphemy. Forgetting God, but not being able to forget Him completely and completely - since nature, people, history, and one’s own existence remind us of Him - carrying in one’s soul, albeit a vague, but nevertheless painful premonition and expectation of a terrible punishment for a criminal life - the unrepentant sinner tries to drown out this painful fear, assuring himself that everything will end with the end of earthly life, that in heaven there is no punisher of wickedness, there is no God (Psalm XIII, 1-5; cf. Psalm LII, 2 –6). Since negative atheism should be called the complete absence of God in a person, and yet in reality such a state does not exist, there is only a greater or lesser alienation of a person from God and from the true knowledge of God and from worship of God or, what is the same, from religion - then negative atheism could more accurately be called semi-atheism, not in the strict sense of the word. The reasons for modern semi-atheism are: the anti-religious and materialistic spirit of the times, a frivolous passion for newly emerged anti-religious teachings and a vain desire not to be branded as backward people, the absence of any kind of religious education and development, the influence of real atheists, who often, however, do not dare to openly take their side. these small-minded and weak-willed people***.
* the following facts eloquently testify to the consequences of atheism. In France, which with merciless consistency has banished from schools not only religious education, but even religious instruction, judicial officials are despairing at the appalling increase in crime among young people. “Any sensible person,” writes the judicial investigator in Paris, Guillot, “no matter what his convictions, cannot deny that the terrible increase in the number of young criminals is internally connected with the school reform (with the introduction of non-religious education). Religious ideals were taken away from youth. We owe the fact that evil has not assumed wider proportions to the free Catholic schools, which educated, albeit small, but a selected army of God-fearing, religious and moral people.” Bonjean, a lawyer at the court of the Seine department, writes: “France is rapidly heading towards destruction. Learning without God is the main cause of rapidly progressing degeneration.” “And this is quite natural,” says the court official Kruppi, “the young man, without fear of God, follows only the voice of his passions and is capable of anything.” In the report of the statistical bureau of the Sensky Department we read: “Out of 100 children brought to trial, 11 were educated in Catholic schools, and 89 in non-religious schools.” One doctor writes: “I have been practicing for 20 years, and before my eyes there has been a decline in many well-being in the houses I know. Here are the results of my observations: out of 342 broken families, 320 did not attend church at all; out of 417 lost young men and women who dishonored their parents, only 12 did not shy away from church prayer; out of 23 bankrupts, not one could be seen in church on holidays; Of the 25 sons who treated their parents heartlessly, 24 from childhood did not prepare to greet the bright days of Easter in a Christian way. I am overwhelmed by the terrible eloquence of these figures, but should I say it? I take some pleasure in being assured of God’s justice towards those who rebel against Him and abuse His goodness.” That is why Victor Hugo was right a thousand times, who, of course, cannot be accused of clericalism if he said: “It is necessary to bring to justice parents who send their children to schools, on the doors of which it is written: “The law of God is not taught here” (eg. see Ts. Ved. 1907, 43).
** strong addiction to earthly and material things, enslavement of the spirit by matter and an all-consuming stream of sensual corruption always lead to oblivion of God and neglect of religion, but not always to positive atheism. We also need pride, which gives both the learned and the corrupt enough audacity to dare to directly deny God and blaspheme. Just as in paradise the devil managed to assure the first parents that they would become gods through violation of the commandment of God, so the same seductively proud voice sounds in the hearts of their descendants, inspiring researchers of the secrets of nature that they are the absolute rulers of it, gods, and violators of the moral law that They are a law unto themselves, that they are gods and fear no one, since there is no God who would punish them. No passion drives some so easily and so often to madness, others to positive godlessness, as pride (Sir. X, 14-15).
*** experience shows that not only scientists and philosophers were atheists, but also complete ignoramuses, or, most often, immature and superficial minds, or people who began systematic education, but did not complete it, or people who picked up from books without analysis of what they read, the top of various sciences and having no idea about their roots, or people who frivolously delude themselves with the hope of being known through unbelief as advanced scientists and, like parrots, adopting other people’s words, the meaning of which is poorly understood to them, or, finally, spineless and cowardly people who fall under influence of strong character, despotism, ridicule and impudent speeches of the leaders and spreaders of godlessness. One can even recognize as a rule that the vast majority of atheists have little in common with serious science and are even more distant from philosophy. What leads to atheism is not profundity, but frivolity, not serious science, but its mirage, not true philosophy, but its perversion or denial, not sublime, but base thoughts, not the height of morality and purity of heart, but corruption. Genius does not coexist with godlessness. A genius, even without research and experimentation, cognizes and discovers the truth with his inner instinct; This sense of truth alone is enough for him to feel and understand the lies and recklessness of godlessness. Enumerate in your mind the great poets, artists, orators, both in ancient times and in modern times, and you will find it difficult to identify the atheists among them; list the most famous philosophers - you will find pantheists and dualists among them, but you will not find atheists: remember the first-class scientists of all countries and times - and among the great number of them you will hardly find three or four close to unbelief. Among the atheists one can find scientists, but few and not of prime importance; one can find writers, but mediocre ones; one can find thinkers, but not geniuses. The consciousness of God and the thought of Him can never be completely and completely eradicated from a person; from this point of view, atheism is a pitiful self-deception and a fundamental self-contradiction, so one cannot help but come to the conviction that atheists can only be those blinded and enslaved by passion, or maddened, or thinking and acting under the influence of an evil spirit, in general, people with a perverted way of thinking and lives that are abnormal.
The concept of spontaneous atheism
The author of spontaneous atheism, which arose before scientific atheism, is the common people. That is why this species can safely be considered recognized and popular. It manifests itself, as a rule, in oral folk art (various epics, all kinds of legends, songs, sayings and proverbs). This reflected the core principles of the belief that all religions serve rich people who are exploiters. They are beneficial only to the rich and the clergy. Among the numerous sayings that have survived to this day, the most famous are “A man with a fry, and a priest with a spoon”, “God loves the rich.”
From time immemorial, the symbol of atheism was characteristic of the entire Russian people. One of the existing epics even brought out the general image of the famous freethinker Vaska Buslaev, who rebelled against the injustice present then and various religious prejudices. He believed only in himself, and the religious force hostile to people in this epic is presented in the form of a pilgrimage monster. Vaska Buslaev beat the church bell, which was on the head of this monster.
Concept of scientific atheism
Scientific militant atheism gradually developed as knowledge about nature, social society and human thinking accumulated. In every era, courageous and proud people were born who, despite the anger of the clergy, were not afraid of all kinds of persecution and various persecutions. They contrasted religions with the power of science.
Scientific atheism is the most important aspect of the materialistic worldview. Since this is a philosophical science, in the process of explaining the essence and criticizing religion, it emerges from historical materialism. At the same time, the main strength of scientific atheism lies not precisely in criticizing religion itself, but in establishing the healthy foundations of the general spiritual life of the entire society, as well as each person.
Types of atheism
There are two types of atheism in human culture:
- Militant atheism (materialistic), whose adherents directly declare that there is no God and all stories about him are fictions of people. They either have not learned the interconnection of natural phenomena, or they want to have power over those who do not know, speaking on behalf of God, who does not exist.
- Idealistic atheism, whose followers directly declare that God exists. But they are leaving all religious directions because they understand that the Bible is an erroneous concept, because Jesus cannot be the creator of the Universe, and on the seventh day after the creation of the Earth, God does not rest.
Today, materialistic scientific atheism, under the pressure of various discoveries, is being rebuilt into idealistic. Followers of the second are rather passive. They move away from the Biblical concept and do not seek the truth at all, while believing that religion is a deception and manipulation of people.
Believe it or not?
If we talk specifically about God, who is absent from churches, then on the basis of an incorrect religious feeling it is impossible to build a complete picture of the worldview and have a personal culture of knowledge, which has great possibilities. The human mind is limited, which means that people's knowledge is also limited. Thanks to this, in the history of mankind there are always moments that are taken only on faith. It’s not for nothing that many atheists actually claim that atheism is a religion.
God proves his existence to all people and every person in some characteristic, strictly individual form, and to the extent that the people themselves are righteous and sympathetic and believe in God. God gives irrefutable evidence of his existence to people precisely according to their faith, but not their reason. He always hears prayers and answers them, as a result of which the life of the believer then changes, which is manifested in the events that happen to him.
Indeed, God communicates with people only through the language of life circumstances. Any accidents that happen to people are direct clues aimed at the need to make some changes towards the righteous path. Of course, many are unable to notice these clues and react to them, since they are sincerely convinced that atheism is a religion that allows them not only to stand out from the surrounding crowd, but also to have faith solely in their own abilities.
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.
Communication with God
Undoubtedly, God communicates with people mainly through the language of life circumstances. When faced with any accident, an intelligent person is obliged to think about it, after which he will begin to clearly distinguish what exactly God is telling him: whether he promises his support or warns against any upcoming possible sins, mistakes and delusions.
Despite all these judgments, atheists are present in huge numbers throughout the world. Moreover, the majority of adherents of such views live in Europe. Atheism in Russia is a fairly common concept. There are many people here who sincerely believe in God, but there are also those who are convinced of his absence.
The first argue that communication with God cannot be somehow built through various intermediaries. All churches claim their role. Direct connection with God is filled with physical meaning. However, it is absent among demonic individuals, since they are based not on the providence of God, but on their own personal calculations.
In addition, people who drink alcohol are generally unable to record any investigative connections between their actions and the situations they cause. Their life is very often filled with adventures and disasters. It’s no secret that Russian people are famous for their addiction to alcohol, which is why such a phenomenon as atheism in Russia is quite relevant and widespread.
As for true believers, they may not be aware of all the possibilities of conversation with God and are confident that prayer will always be heard. When certain changes in life do not occur, a person, according to the meaning of his prayer, receives several other explanations as to why this did not happen. However, God can help people only in those moments that they themselves make every effort to explain. It’s not for nothing that people say that trust in God and don’t make a mistake yourself.
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.
Who are atheists today?
It so happened historically that today almost all state special programs in the fields of education, culture, healthcare, law with the support of the media lead to the formation of only materialistic views in people. Atheism relates such a worldview to three main concepts: the scientific direction of atheism, evolutionism and humanism with all its derivatives.
Ideologists have recently been able to quite firmly convey to the public consciousness the idea of such a concept as atheism-materialism. This is the only scientific and historically progressive worldview, which throughout its entire existence has been the correct achievement of the natural sciences.
Atheists are now perceived by many as sane, free, enlightened, educated, cultured, progressive, civilized and modern. Now even such a word as “scientific” has become synonymous with the term “true”. Thanks to this, any worldview that differs from materialistic views can be considered not next to scientific hypotheses, but contrary to them.
Definition of atheism
Based on the fact that atheism is, which is quite difficult to define unambiguously, we can draw the following conclusion: atheists have only one authority in knowledge - modern official scientific data. That is why bearers of scientific and atheistic worldviews have the same views on many things. This fact is evidenced by a clear answer to the question of what atheism is. The definition of this concept states that atheism is godlessness, which is based on scientific knowledge.
In other words, such a philosophical materialist doctrine denies the supernatural existence of God, just like any immaterial one, but at the same time it recognizes the eternity of the material world. As is commonly believed in Christianity, the basis of atheism is that it conventionally proclaims its opposition to religions. In fact, according to its content, this concept represents one of the many forms of religious worldview.
Atheism is not just disbelief...
According to Wikipedia, this concept was first mentioned in ancient Greek manuscripts of the 5th century BC. Four centuries later, the Roman politician, Stoic philosopher and eminent orator Cicero took the Greek adjective ἄθεoς (" god-denier ") and made a Latin transliteration of it.
This is how the word “atheos” appeared, which in classical sources was used to mean “a/anti-theistic,” that is, “rejecting the gods.”
When this term - already at the beginning of our era - migrated to other cultures, the noun “atheisme” appeared in French, which was interpreted as “ atheism, lack of faith in God .”
Over time, this term ceased to be unambiguous and, in the course of the strengthening of religious fundamentalism, acquired new semantic shades.
Thus, the concept of atheism could be used in a variety of contexts, and a number of negative qualities , including heterogeneous phenomena:
- freethinking (or religious freethinking);
- heresy (how is that?), paganism;
- doubt in the existence of gods and any supernatural forces;
- wickedness, depravity;
- lack of moral codes;
- denial or non-recognition of the gods of the dominant cult;
- God-fighting, violating the will of the Lord;
- conscious dissent as spiritual resistance to the only correct ideology.
That's how negative the vector of expressive-semantic coloring of this word was! And this trend continued until the Renaissance (what is this?).
These were times of growth, when science began to actively develop, and philosophy (what is this?) began to acquire more materialistic features, and civil society finally outgrew its “puberty period” (what is this?) and entered the phase of maturity.
And only at the height of the ideological era (somewhere at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries) did the attitude towards atheism change, and the scales of “public reason” tipped towards rationalism (what is this?) and impartial criticism of the religious worldview.
Now no one, except the clergy, believed that an atheist is a militant evil that destroys the foundations of the world order, and therefore is subject to total eradication.
At the same time (in addition to the progressive part of society), in the average secular stratum there were more and more of those who realized that the only criterion and means of knowing a person and the world around him can only be common sense. That is, an appeal to the intellect and the practical use of reason.
Satanism and atheism
Many people have the mistaken view that atheists support the views of Satanists. Moreover, there is an opinion that the history of atheism includes such a movement as Satanism. This is completely untrue, and such a false version is propagated by clergy. For example, followers of the Christian faith see satanic machinations in many things and situations that are contrary to their interests.
In fact, Satanism is an ordinary religious movement with its own churches, clergy and bible. In other words, religious atheism can be related to Satanism in the same way as any similar system. That is, the existence of Satan is denied, and thoughts associated with him are considered unfounded. Therefore, no Satanist can be an atheist, and vice versa.
Atheist: who is he today and what does science have to do with it?
If we talk about atheism in general, then this usually means the elementary denial of religion and the absence of theism - that is, belief in gods and/or in the existence of any supernatural forces.
It’s the same with the concept of “atheist”: if you say that you don’t believe in God, then you are definitely an atheist.
There is, however, one caveat. If you justify your worldview with some scientific facts, doctrines (what is this?) or concepts, then your atheism is not a consequence of personal hostility towards churchmen or believers, but the result of a critical analysis of religious ideology.
In this case, your beliefs can be considered scientific atheism . However, simple atheism and scientific atheism are different things.
By atheism in general we understand simple disbelief in God, and by scientific atheism - a system of views as one of the integral characteristics of the materialistic (dialectical) worldview. Although, by and large, both can still be considered two semantic shades of one concept.
So let's just assume that atheism is a kind of religious skepticism based on adherence to the most basic standards of intellectual sanity.
Thus, we can conclude that in a simplified sense, an atheist is a person who is aware of the inconsistency of religious teachings and refuses to live according to religious laws.
And how he argues for his denial of religion - scientific arguments or ordinary common sense - is not important.
The main thing here is the rejection of religious concepts and disbelief in the existence of anything immaterial.
Well, now we only have to deal with one issue, critical for both religious people and non-believers.
