Atheism is on the rise in the West – statistics in successive censuses prove it, especially in Europe and places like New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. There are certain religious people who unfairly blame this phenomenon on the personalities of the atheists themselves, by saying things like, ‘they just don‘t want to be morally accountable‘, or that ‘they are self-centred and materialistic’, or, ‘they are unable to face reality’, and any number of other unkind things they can think of to say about atheists.
I would say that these claims are more about the religious person being like the self-righteous scribe in the Temple (Luke 18.9-14), who thinks there is nothing wrong with him, rather than any fault on the part of atheists. Atheism is on the rise, because certain religious people behave in a way which makes decent people think, ‘Well, if that’s the kind of awful person that religion turns you into, I want nothing to do with religion, or the god that created such a horrific and unreasonable religion’. Atheism is on the rise, because ‘God’ is so definitively absent from the hearts of many so-called ‘religious’ people.
I recall attending a meeting of humanists in London during the 1980’s. I was shocked by the horror stories I heard, of what they had experienced at the hands of religious parents and religious friends during their childhood and early adulthood. I came away realising that the way people practise religion has to change; people were turning away from religion, because it had treated them with such psychological cruelty – they had left religion in order to regain their sanity. Would God be pleased at how people were being treated in God’s name?
My point therefore in this article, is to examine the idea that, it isn’t God that is turning people away from religion and making them atheists; it is the false god that religious people cling to that is turning people away from religion. And this false god does not exist.
My personal views on atheism
Before I explore some of the anti-religious views of specific atheists, I’d like to make you aware of some of my own thoughts on atheism.
I might on occasion point out where I disagree with atheists, and it might give you the impression that I vehemently oppose atheism. However, the reality is that I personally have nothing against atheists. When I first encountered atheists in my mid-twenties, I found that I even agreed with much of their criticism of religion, especially when it is criticised for being oppressive and psychologically harmful. That’s why it is useful to listen to atheists when they express genuine and constructive criticism of religion, especially of fundamentalist religion. When I left Christianity, I wanted to belong to a religion which was sensible, responsible, rational and humane. I don’t want to belong to a religion that is illogical or unreasonable, or which holds harmful and destructive beliefs. I don’t want to have to defend ideas that are morally and ethically indefensible. When you hold religious ideas which are, to put it bluntly, stupid, that reflects badly on God.
I myself listen to the views of certain atheists, because they help keep me grounded as a religious person who does believe in God. Some of the things that religious people believe are harmful to the human spirit and psyche, and sometimes they believe in things that can be detrimental to human society and hold it back. One of the many reasons I could no longer believe in Christianity, was that I could no longer defend some of its beliefs and teachings on the grounds of humaneness, like where the souls of babies go if they die before they were baptised. In Catholicism they remain in limbo, and don’t go to heaven, because of the Christian belief in original sin; imagine a grieving mother, who has just lost her child, being told that. In Yahwist religions, because we don’t believe in original sin, but on the contrary, that everyone is born in a state of purity and innocence, babies who die shortly after they are born, go straight to God in heaven.
God does not forbid atheism
The Hebrew Bible does not forbid atheism. When it mentions ‘godless people’ (eg Job 8:13), it is not talking about atheists. In Hebrew, the word chaneif (חָנֵף) describes someone who utterly rejects the values and ethics of God, someone who hates good and loves greed and selfishness, exploiting and oppressing others, hurting others without remorse, and so on. A chaneif is more an ‘ethic-less’ person, than a god-less person; you can be a religious person without any decent ethics or morals, as much as you can be an atheist with good and humane ethics. Sadly, believing in God doesn’t always make someone into a good or compassionate person.
As a case in point, in Yahwist theology, there is the concept of the Righteous Gentile. This is a non-Jew who does not worship YHVH, or believe in the God of Israel, but nevertheless, does their best to live a good and decent life. In Yahwist theology, one recognises that you can be someone who does not worship our God, but you can still be someone who is basically a good person. You can even be an atheist, and still be a good and decent person. In Christianity and Islam, the righteous Gentile and the atheist would go to hell, but in Yahwist theology, the non-Jewish, righteous gentile and the ethical atheist are loved by God no less than someone who believes in YHVH; in the Israelite faith, righteous gentiles and ethical atheists still go to heaven.
Some religious people might object to this and say to God, “Hold on – shouldn’t we, religious people who have served You our whole lives, be rewarded with more at the end of our lives than those who merely lived an ethical life? Yet you’ve made them equal to us!” And to that, God will answer, “My friend, I do you no wrong; it’s My desire to give them the same as I have also given you. Is it unlawful for Me to do what I wish with what’s mine? Or are you envious because I’m generous?” (see the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, Mt 20:1-15)
At that, the religious person will throw up their arms and say, ‘Then what’s the point of being religious?’ Well, you live with an awareness of your God-given mission. Your mission is to spread God’s values, and work for the fulfilment of the Kingdom of God, so that one day, heaven will exist on earth. You also get to experience the tremendous warmth of a loving Being, to draw on the strength and wisdom of God in your life, so that you have a better quality of spiritual life. You are able to see and experience something wondrous in this life that they cannot.
So no, atheism is not forbidden, just as other religions are not forbidden. YHVH is the God of all nations, all religions and all peoples, not a tiny, limited godling who is only able to love the members of just one religion – a tinpot little dictator who sends people to hell for believing in the wrong religion.
Some people are simply unable to believe in God
Many people turn to atheism, because they are so disgusted by the unconscionable behaviour of certain religious people, or because they are being asked to accept beliefs so outlandish and preposterous, that there is no way any decent person can defend them rationally. These atheists become atheists, because they have intellectually reasoned that that they can no longer, in all conscience, believe in God. As religious people, we need to ask if what they are actually being asked to believe in is a false god – a god that is so unkind, tyrannical and devoid of all compassion, that such a god cannot possibly exist in the first place. Are some religious people asking humanity to believe in such a god – the kind of unpleasant god who doesn’t exist anyway?
But then there are people who are just unable to believe in God – that is how they seem to have been made in their very nature. I personally think that there are some people who are genuinely unable to feel God or believe in God – they are genuinely unable to experience God in any meaningful way.
I vaguely remember that in 2003, Richard Dawkins underwent a scientific experiment, where they stimulated the part of the brain which, in most people, would cause something like a religious or spiritual experience. I don’t remember all the details, but what I do remember is that Dawkins experienced nothing. That experiment made me think that there must be some people whose brains are just not structured to be sensitive to anything spiritual. You can’t blame someone for the way they were created.
There are also those who want to believe in God, but are unable to experience anything spiritual in any meaningful way – they cannot ‘feel’ the presence of God, no matter how much they long to do so. An atheist Youtuber, Alex O’Connor, argued in a debate that there are these non-resistant non-believers who “knock and receive no answer” – those who want to believe in God, but can’t, so wouldn’t God show God’s Self to them in order to make them believe? But God doesn’t, “therefore, God doesn’t exist”.
The flaw in this premise, is perhaps thinking that God has a human-like ego, human-like personality and human-like motives, which of course, YHVH does not. Nevertheless, I believe there is a place in God’s plan for such people. Even though they are unable to experience God directly, they can still experience God through living in the midst of an improved and bettered humanity. An unseen, intangible God has given us the means to experience God through God’s values – through human beings who try to live their lives in a better way, becoming a society that operates in accordance with God’s values, so that everyone has a chance at a better life. A person who is naturally unable to feel God’s Presence, but earnestly desires to do so, can still experience God through what God has given us – a set of values, ideals and principles that help and improve humanity and our society.
Criticisms of God
Whenever I criticise atheists, it is not to speak against the concept of atheism, rather it is to answer a particular criticism or mindset. Basically, they say that because God is an authoritarian, totalitarian dictator, God cannot therefore exist. They are right to criticise this god, because this god is a false god, and this god does not exist.
I recently watched a video by David Voas (‘Why Religion & God are Disappearing in the West’), which examined why people were turning away from God, and it seemed that it was the very nature of that God that was causing people – especially in Europe – to abandon religion and become atheist. I also noticed that as David Voas proceeded to describe this God, I had to admit that I didn’t recognise this god.
Voas said that people were leaving religion because the god they were taught was either oppressive, interfering and condemnatory, or was uninvolved and remote. That’s not anything like the God I know.
YHVH is a faithful and powerful source of courage, strength, inspiration, wisdom, love, peace and freedom. We can strengthen these values in ourselves by tapping into the very Source of all of them. Through the noble values God gives us to live by, God is the protector of the weak and vulnerable. YHVH is the Voice of those whose voice has been denied to them. God’s values, ideals and life-principles prove that God is concerned about our societies, and societies affect the quality of life of its individual members.
The answer to the rise in atheism is not to become more fundamentalist and unyielding, or to double down on our beliefs, or become more intolerant. Only a faith that is impressive in its wisdom and compassion, that is sensible and understanding, that is magnanimous in its ability to listen, is one that will gain people’s respect. Pushing unreasonable and indefensible ideas will not stem the rise of atheism – if anything, it will speed it up.
There is also the observation that, as humanity becomes more educated and affluent, people will no longer believe in God. When you know more about how the universe works, and how science works, so the argument goes, you will come to the inevitable viewpoint that God doesn’t exist.
I would say that I have a very scientific mind – I am a very logical person, I reason through my decisions, and I have a basic, layperson’s understanding of many scientific concepts. You can never know enough! I love learning new things – for example about nature, space, ancient history, linguistics, human biology, palaeontology, philosophy, and many other fields of secular knowledge – yet I still believe in God. Knowing more has not in any way caused me to abandon God; if anything, it has made me appreciate God all the more, and instilled in me a greater awe and wonder in God. The God I believe in is the Author of all the natural laws of science; the God I believe in is the God of all knowledge, who set the entire universe in motion. My deep appreciation of science is not incompatible with my deep love of God. Talmidis do not need to fear science, or mistrust scientific knowledge, because it was created and written by the very Author of the entire Universe.
If you believe in a God who is opposed to science and learning, then yes, as you learn more and gain more scientific knowledge, the less you will have faith in a god who hates science and learning. The only type of faith that will survive and thrive in an educated society, is one that values knowledge and learning. I have watched a number of videos made by ex-Muslims, and most of them cite a greater awareness and knowledge of science as one of the main reasons why they left Islam.
If there were a God…..
There is the argument that, if there were a God, surely God would manifest God’s Self to atheists to prove the existence of God (but this assumes that God has an egotistical need to prove God’s own existence). And if there are people who just cannot feel God, yet still earnestly desire to, surely God would miraculously make these people feel God’s presence. But God doesn’t do either of these things, “therefore, ipso facto, God doesn’t exist, q.e.d.”.
My personal view is that God allows atheists to exist, especially ethical atheists like Humanists, because it shames those religious people who hold unreasonable, nonsensical and stupid ideas, because unreasonable and stupid religious ideas dishonour God. Perhaps God made atheists to point out when religious people are being ridiculous or unjust, because a ridiculous or unjust religious person brings shame to the reputation of God. In contrast, acting in a way which does not bring dishonour to the reputation of God is an important tenet of Yahwism, which many people seem to have forgotten. Just as we should not bring dishonour to our parents, how much more so should we not bring dishonour to God!
I also believe that God allows people who are inherently unable to experience God – and that perhaps, God has even created them that way. God allows agnostics who want to believe in God, but cannot feel or experience God, because it should then give religious people the incentive to create a society based on God’s ethical values and principles – ideals that most decent people, including atheists, can agree with – so that people who are naturally unable to feel God can then experience God through the tangible, positive actions and outlook of an improved humanity. They can’t experience an invisible and intangible God, but they can experience the visible results and the tangible effects of God’s handiwork.
What happens when a society becomes atheist
Then there is the issue of what happens to a society when it becomes majority-atheist (see this video by Phil Zuckerman, a sociologist). There are a few countries where non-religious people are in the majority (Sweden, Norway, Czech Republic, South Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK). He uses these countries as examples of what happens to societies that become secular and atheist.
As someone who lives in the UK, I guess what we have in common with these other countries is that we have fewer religious nutjobs (they still exist, but they know their whacky and in-your-face behaviour is not approved of by the majority of people around them). I get the impression that religious people in majority-atheist countries generally behave in a more sensible manner. We are also likely to be less distrustful of science, less intolerant, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we have greater equality between men and women, although there is still a long way to go. I’m sure you can think of other things too, if you live in any of these countries.
I think that the problems start when far-right or far-left ideas start creeping into a secular society, which has happened here in the UK, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. In these countries, anti-Semitism is on the rise. Is it because these people no longer have any ethical red lines, that they are more willing to explore extremist ideas – because they have never been taught that to oppress others is wrong? Or that censoring someone solely because you disagree with them is wrong? Some might say that these people have nothing to follow anymore, so instead they follow outlandish influencers, for whom the latest trends on social media have become their replacement religion.
But then religious countries can also be just as right-wing and extremist, and they are just as likely to ignore the ethical values they have been taught, in order to become extremists.
In South Korea and Japan, your job and your career is what matters most in life, and so their children’s education has become an all-consuming passion, where children no longer have time simply to be children, but spend every waking moment studying. When women are pressured by their career, without time for families, they have falling birth-rates. In 2019, because there was so much pressure on individuals to succeed, South Korea also had the 9th highest suicide rate in the world. Secular societies are not always as perfect as they are portrayed.
Some do’s and don’ts
When you meet an atheist, ideally the ultimate aim of any interaction with atheists is not to convert them, but rather, to react and converse in such a way as to cause the atheist to conclude, ‘Wow! I still don’t believe in God, but I never thought I’d ever meet a religious person who was so reasonable, and talks common sense’. They were expecting just another belligerent, unreasonable, confrontational religious nutter, but what they got was a pleasant surprise – a religious person they can hold a decent, intelligent conversation with. I hope that we can all learn to reach that mindset, because it will reflect well on God. If you only see the rest of humanity as your enemies, they will be your enemies. But if you treat them as your sisters and brothers, they will be more inclined to be more neighbourly towards you, and treat you as someone they can easily chat with on a simple, human level.
From my own experience with atheists, I’ve put together some points to bear in mind – a lot of them may seem counter-intuitive to a religious person, but I follow these rules myself, and they end up with the atheist developing a respect for the mindset of Talmidaism:
— Don’t start your interaction with atheists by viewing them as enemies; it is better to understand them as people who are more likely to have been hurt or wronged by religion
— Don’t treat them as targets for conversion, because you will only make things worse, and cement their view of religious people as ‘god-botherers’ (a northern English term for a persistent religious nuisance, who won’t take no for an answer – so-called because they would even bother God and try to convert God)!
— You don’t know what a particular atheist has gone through with religion in their past. Perhaps they suffered some really unpleasant experiences at the hands of religious fundamentalists, so the last thing they need from you is someone trying to convert them
— You don’t need to counter everything they say by trying to prove them wrong; if you are confident in your faith, their counter-views no longer seem like attacks, more like opportunities to reflect; sometimes it is wiser to be magnanimous
— Talmidaism is meant to be a sensible and responsible way of practising religion, so most of their criticisms of religion will be against religions they are familiar with, such as fundamentalist Christianity, or fundamentalist Islam, not you
— Listen to their objections; you never know, God might be speaking through them to ensure that you do not end up spouting views which bring dishonour to the reputation of God
— If they voice a valid criticism of religion which you agree with, say so
— Don’t be afraid to admit when religious people have done wrong in human history; it is not your job to defend the crimes of mainstream religion (defending and making excuses for a sin is itself a sin, Prov 17:15)
— The best thing you can do is to make them aware of your viewpoint; if they are convinced atheists, nothing you say will change their mind, so you are wasting your energy
— Trying to prove God exists to an atheist is pointless; concentrate on the ethics and outlook of Talmidaism (which are, it turns out, things that most decent human beings can agree with)
The point of all these things, is to show the atheist that Talmidis are not like other religious people. I myself have always come away from encounters with atheists with them respecting Talmidaism, even though they still don’t believe in God. It has paved the way for future encounters, in which they feel they can open up to me, to discuss and talk about anything, without fear of me trying to convert them, or attacking them. I become a pleasant neighbour they can live with, not fear. The Kingdom of God can be put into the heart of even someone who doesn’t believe in God.
Final Thoughts
When religions insist on pushing authoritarian gods, gods that have unreasonable and ridiculous demands, or gods that are distant, uninvolved and detached, then that is the best way to turn society atheist. Rather than see atheism as a threat, I think that the rise of atheism is a sign that religions are portraying false gods that don’t deserve our faith or worship in the first place.
My God is no tinpot little godling who behaves like an egomaniacal dictator. The God I believe in is a loving Parent, a caring and supportive Friend, a wise and knowledgeable Teacher, a Being of unparalleled warmth who is quick to show love, care and concern. The God I follow is wise and gracious, is able to show me what matters in life, One whose ideals show me a way to live alongside with others in peace. The God I love is One who is quick to embrace and comfort, rather than display wrathful anger. The God I turn to is a source of strength and courage, One who speaks with common sense and humane decency, One who has concern even for the least of us, and is strong enough to love and bless even those who do not believe in God.
In my humble opinion, having a decent and responsible religious faith – one that doesn’t hold outlandish or stupid ideas about human nature and society – will act as a bastion against extremist and dangerous ideas. Being intellectually responsible will help you balance your life’s priorities, keep you from seeking solace in fleeting social trends that lead nowhere, and stop you from placing worth in things that ultimately have no worth. To have a healthy, evolving and growing society, one needs to balance study with leisure, work with family life, and maintain a responsible balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of society. The happiest countries in the world are those who are able to achieve these balances. If your job is your sole reason for living – if the material life is all that you live for, nothing else, then there will eventually develop an emptiness inside of you which can never be filled by the material things you crave.
I also think that both secular and religious societies can be just as bad as each other; there don’t seem to be problems that are unique to one or the other, in spite of what ‘experts’ say. I look at what is going on around the world, and in my humble opinion, aggressive extremism – both right-wing and left-wing – are what damage human societies and pull them apart.
If a society can learn to behave in a way which does not bring the reputation of God into disrepute – if its members are willing to appreciate reasonable, responsible and just values, and encourage one another to behave in ways which do not harm the human mind, then such a society will be stable and grow, whether it is secular or religious.