Faith without God: is atheism a religion?

In an age of theological scepticism, the question I feel needs answering is: “Can we be religious without subscribing to supernatural beliefs about a God (or Gods)?”. Much religious discussion in the modern day focuses on how religion can extend beyond belief in God and so why one doesn’t need to believe in the supernatural in order to be religious. It sounds ideal to the modern day spiritual sceptic, who can reap the benefits of religion without wholeheartedly endorsing its content.

Undeniably, religion is a fantastic civil unifier, binding communities and creating a sense of social trust, as the great atheist Emile Durkheim once argued. It also guides us morally and gives a marker by which to judge our actions. Sounds perfect doesn’t it? Well, perhaps not. It’s all well and good following the religion without accepting its roots, but can we truly be religious if we don’t have anything to believe in, or rather, if we ultimately have “non-belief” at the centre of our “religion”? Is this all just one big contradiction? We can’t seriously advocate religion as a moral guideline if we don’t accept the objective core from which these guidelines stem.

According to Alain De Botton… Why should religion need to fall along with theism? If one says ‘NO’ to God, then one doesn’t need to say ‘NO’ to religion!

Alain De Botton, in his recent book ‘Religion for Atheists’, stimulates this exact debate, suggesting that he has been liberated by his being religious without believing in any supernatural power or force. This takes a moment to sink in, but it certainly isn’t uncommon to combine ‘atheism’ with religion. Don Cupitt’s ‘Sea of Faith Programme’ speaks from the same script as Botton. The aim of this organisation is to “promote religion as a human creation”. For these atheists, religion has a continuing importance in everyday lives even if it is merely a human construct.

Scientific thought is providing an incessant challenge to orthodox belief in God. We are living in a world where belief in aliens now outweighs belief in God, and only 15 percent of individuals attend church at least once a month. According to Botton, this shouldn’t be the case. Why should religion need to fall along with theism? If one says ‘NO’ to God, then one doesn’t need to say ‘NO’ to religion!

Perhaps this is unrealistic. An individual who adopts ‘non-belief’ in the supernatural generally tends not to attend church on a regular basis. However, if religion benefits communities in terms of bringing individuals together through a common belief, why can’t atheism do this exact thing? For centuries religion has congregated people who all have a core belief in common. So why shouldn’t atheism become its own religion? Seems pretty absurd I know, but that isn’t to say it’s not already happening. The ‘Sea of Faith’ promotes exactly this, as does Botton’s ‘Religion for Atheists’. Of course it clashes with what we commonly perceive religion to be – a belief in a transcendent power – but religion has adapted enough over the last few centuries to dismiss this.

For centuries religion has congregated people who all have a core belief in common. So why shouldn’t atheism become its own religion?

In my opinion, there is of course an underlying contradiction which keeps me from accepting the idea that religion can be at the centre of an atheist’s life. How can religion aid one in being moral if the morality which they follow is of no objective value? It seems a stretch too far to coalesce these two seemingly opposing forces in the twenty-first century.

Botton’s book certainly provides a compelling case to suggest otherwise. Atheism isn’t as simple and straightforward as non-belief, nor should religion be so deeply rooted in theism. He remarks, quite powerfully, that “religions are in the end too complex, wise and fascinating to be abandoned simply to those who happen actually to believe in them”. Whatever you believe, you have to admit – he’s got a point! This certainly is a timeless debate, but never has it seemed so relevant.

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Header Image Courtesy of flickr.com/ murdelta