Atheistic Spirituality
By: Taylor Smallwood
· Standing atop a mountain high— in one direction: the creation of man, in the other: the creation of the cosmos.
· Blissfully staring at the moon and stars through a cloudless sky.
· Having an intellectual epiphany that rids your mind of a difficult problem.
· Having friends who understand your outlook on life and who create an environment of tranquility.
All of these are examples of experiences some would label spiritual. However, there are many problems with this interpretation, and those who hold this view tend to presuppose that atheism lacks these so-called spiritual experiences. To squelch these objections about atheism, many misconceptions must be revealed and a case must be made for a secular spirituality.
First, the philosophy and reasoning behind the atheistic position must be defined and explained to set the stage for a full understanding of the topic. Atheism is simply the lack of theism. Theism is the belief in a god, which therefore makes atheism the lack of a belief in a god. The reasoning for atheism is rooted in the denial of faith as a tool for gaining knowledge. The existence of a god can be accepted on faith, and the atheist doesn’t grant faith the epistemological standing that believers might. Many believers claim there is evidence of god’s existence. On the other hand the atheist asserts that this so-called evidence is insufficient for belief in the supernatural. There are many other reasons for claiming atheism, but these are central to the non-belief embraced by the atheist.
The philosophy behind the atheistic position is quite simple. “I have no belief in a god”. There is a stronger version which claims that no god exists. This claim cannot be proven because it is impossible to prove a negative. However, this claim can be reasonable if the parameters that define a god contradict one another, or if the characteristics of a god grant the entity no positive qualities. For example, if one defines an object in only negative terms such as non-physical and incomprehensible, then one has no way of distinguishing such an object from non-existence (Smith 1982). These descriptions of atheism and others like them are the extent to which atheism describes a person’s beliefs. To find out what an atheist believes on abortion, politics, economics, etc. one cannot look to their atheism for answers. Atheism covers one’s lack of belief in a god, nothing more.
There are many misconceptions about atheism. The major misconceptions include how an atheist views morality, spirituality, worship, and politics. The most important and most prevalent misconception is that atheists are inherently immoral. This idea stems from the very earliest forms of religion and is drawn out in most major religious texts. However, this idea rests on the assumption that one needs a supernatural law-giver to have ethics or morality. Plainly, this is false. Without even looking into the arguments for a secular ethics, and against a religious ethics, this hypothesis can be tested in the modern world. There is a strong correlation between secular societies and low crime, poverty, and murder rates. Likewise, there is a strong correlation between areas of high religiosity and high crime, poverty, and murder rates (Gledhill 2005). The idea that atheists are immoral is by far the most harmful of all of the misconceptions about atheism because it causes atheists to be the most distrusted minority in America today (Jacobs 2006).
Other dominant misconceptions are concerned with what atheists believe. From the label atheist, the only thing we should know about such a person is their non-belief in a god. Anything further is only conjecture. An atheist’s spirituality or lack thereof cannot be judged solely on one’s atheism. Another falsity about atheism is that atheists are devil worshipers. Many religious believers are taught that all beliefs opposed to their own is the work of an evil demon or devil, therefore atheists must worship this evil being, and be evil themselves. Since atheism lacks belief in a god, it also lacks belief in a devil, or any supernatural entity. There is no room for the worship of anything supernatural in the mind of the non-believer. Finally, the idea that one’s political views are somehow related to one’s belief or non-belief in a deity is simply false. Atheists can be libertarian, republican, democrat, green, unaffiliated, non-voters, activists, or any other political stance. A person cannot discover any of an atheist’s beliefs from their atheism except that person’s lack of belief in a god. As these misconceptions show, assuming what an atheist believes, based on his or her atheism causes confusion, distrust, and even hatred of atheists.
Philosophical materialism is another standpoint which is criticized because of a major misconception. The word materialism has two definitions which are quite distinct from one another. The first is philosophical materialism which is defined as: “the theory that physical matter is the only reality and that everything, including thought, feeling, mind, and will, can be explained in terms of matter and physical phenomena.” The second definition of materialism that most people recognize is: “The theory or attitude that physical well-being and worldly possessions constitute the greatest good and highest value in life. Or a great or excessive regard for worldly concerns.” (American Heritage Dictionary). These blatant differences are the cause of the confusion regarding philosophical materialism. Atheism is closely related to philosophical materialism, but what many people assume is that atheists are materialists who only care about possessions and nothing more. With these misconceptions explained, the next step in this discourse is to show the many kinds of spirituality which facilitate confusion about the standpoint.
To be spiritual can be defined in many ways and breaking these up into three categories will aid in better understanding spirituality. The first kind of definition is related to the non-physical:
Of, pertaining to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal
Of or pertaining to the spirit or soul, as distinguished from the physical nature
Of or pertaining to spirits or to spiritualists; supernatural or spiritualistic.
Characterized by or suggesting predominance of the spirit; ethereal (Dictionary.com)
This type of spirituality is usually the Pagan, Wiccan, or new age spiritualism which can span various types of beliefs about the world. To have this understanding of being spiritual, one could believe in anything from fairies and gelflings to a simple idea of an immortal soul. This type of spirituality is also held by many Native Americans. They believe in the Great Spirit and many animal spirits that help guide mankind. Whatever beliefs one may have in this area, the underlying belief is in the supernatural.
The second definition is related to religion:
Of or pertaining to the spirit as the seat of the moral or religious nature.
Of or pertaining to sacred things or matters; religious; devotional; sacred.
Of or belonging to the church; ecclesiastical: lords spiritual and temporal. (Dictionary.com)
This is by far the most widespread version of spirituality. Although it is related to the former definition, it takes a further step and introduces god, morality, and organized religion. To believe in this type of spirituality is to accept the dogma of a given religion. This includes a belief in the supernatural god and immortal soul.
The final kind of definition is related to the mind or a refined outlook on life: Closely akin in interests, attitude, outlook, etc
Characterized by or suggesting predominance of the spirit: delicately refined
Of or relating to the mind or intellect. (Dictionary.com)
In this sense, living the spiritual life is a life focused on enhancing the mental experience in the physical world. Defining spirituality in this way separates it completely from the other two definitions. Since the first two kinds of spirituality are based on the non-physical, they are worlds away from this physical-based variety. To believe in materialistic spirituality is simply to believe in a life which is not focused on worldly possession, but instead focused on enhancing the mental and physical experience. Since the materialistic spirituality is aimed at refining the spirit or mind, many would consider this a positive outlook on mental well-being.
The atheist is typically condemned for his or her lack of any type of spirituality. Since definitions of spirituality differ significantly, that atheist may grant credence to this criticism on the grounds that the do not believe in the supernatural. Yet, there are many times when the condemned atheist is unaware of the materialistic definition of spirituality and therefore remains un-spiritual when he or she is actually a very ‘materialistically spiritual’ person.
The position of materialistic spirituality is held by many people of the world; many of which some might call religious. There are atheistic types of Buddhism that practice their spirituality by meditation, studying, and compassion. As much as we think of Hinduism as being polytheist, there is actually one branch of the religion that has no god-belief (Daga). This variety of Hinduism is more of a philosophical ideology rather than a religion because they practice no worship of deities. It would seem necessary for philosophers to be spiritual in this sense, because philosophy is literally the love of wisdom. Clearly spirituality is not monopolized by the theists; one can be a deeply spiritual atheist and many atheists are.
“What does spiritual atheism look like?” Because humanity’s interests are so varied, there is not one exact answer to this question. Essentially, a person’s life experiences will determine how they discover spirituality in the world. For instance, one person may have a spiritual experience simply by falling in love with a sculpture. Another individual may go into the wilderness and have a spiritual experience in nature. The ideal of materialistic spirituality is to live fully engulfed in the experience of life. Of course not all atheists have a spiritual outlook on life, but a person’s atheism does not exclude him or her from such a perspective.
One atheist’s positive outlook on life will conclude this paper. Atheism is not nihilistic as many people assume. In fact, living life without a belief in a supernatural god or eternal soul can be a life of eudaimonia, the Greek word for happiness or flourishing. Seeing the pictures of the sun eclipsed by Saturn1, or the Ultra Deep Field2 has a way of humbling a person’s outlook on their life. No longer is human life the center of the universe. The universe wasn’t created for us; we live in the universe along with many other forms of life on our planet and possibly on distant planets beyond our reach. This experience of the humbling universe creates a sense of hope that the universe is in flux; constantly changing and vibrantly revolutionizing into new stars, galaxies, elements, and beings. Our very being was created from the exploding supernovas of ancient stars, and “we are, quite literally, stardust.” (Tyson 2006).
Evolution works in the same way to quell our once ego-centric universe. The DNA of a banana shares 50% of the DNA that humans have (BBC 2006), and mice share about 99% or our DNA (Walton 2002). The fact that we share our ancestry with every plant and animal on this earth can make a person act more consciously towards other life. An atheist is free of the dogma that man should rule over the earth. Instead, man and woman should live with the earth and all living things on the earth. Living with these facts should enhance one’s life because of the overwhelming unity of all life.
It is not only scientific discoveries that improve the atheist’s life; it is also a life free of guilt and paranoia. If your whole life is lived with the paranoia that someday your god is going to destroy all life…after many years of hell on earth, it takes quite a load off. There is also no original sin in the life of the non-believer; this means that people are born free and have to be held responsible for everything that they do, not something their ancient ancestor did. One is free to live their life as they see fit, not how some ultimate rule maker decided for them.
Non-belief is not the absence of belief in everything, just in god. Therefore the non-believer can find happiness in infinitely different ways. There is joy to be found everywhere as long as someone looks for it. There is joy in the sunrise, the fluffy snow covering the mountain trees, the calm snowy nights in the city, the friendship of people who share reciprocal affection and understanding with you, the music that gives utter bliss by amazingly written lyrics and melodies, and an infinite amount of further experiences. The joy of life is that nothing lasts forever. If all that is pleasant lasted forever, it wouldn’t be nearly as good, and if everything unpleasant lasted forever, it would be unbearable. The balance of these polarities gives life a wonderful harmony of high and low, beautiful and nasty, and cosmic and minute.
Perhaps the best part of the infidel’s existence is his or her demand for ethics. A person free of god and scripture is a person free of the laws that god demands. This does not make a person immoral; this in fact can make a person search for an ethics on which to base their life. A secular ethics should demand responsibility in this life, and demand care for all that lives. It should be an ethics shaped by the ever-changing standards of society; for if ideas are exchanged openly by debate and critical thought, the best ideals can be discovered. This ethics will take into deep consideration the unity of life and discriminate none. No ethics will ever be perfect because perfection is only a dream of the believer’s, the materialist realizes that perfection is doing the most good possible, not doing all good.