A POLYTHEIST EXAMINES ATHEISM

About ten years, “Atheist Paganism” (Note 1) emerged, with various Atheists desiring to form their own versions of Neo-Paganism (Note 2). Many Neo-Pagans welcomed these new Pagans into their groups and supported them. However, Polytheists did not. In response, the Atheist Pagans decided that Polytheists were bigots since they did not accept them in their rituals. As a former Atheist, I pondered what Atheist Paganism really was, and how as a Polytheist to respond to it.

 

Before I can discuss how Atheists of any kind fit in with Neo-Pagans but not Polytheists, I first need to discuss what Atheism (Note 3) is. One definition has been given by George Smith, political philosopher, in his book, “Atheism: The Case Against God (1973).” He wrote “Atheism, in its basic form is not a belief, it is the absence of belief. An atheist is not primarily a person who believes that a god does not exist, rather he does not believe in the existence of a god.” (Emphasis his.)

 

Smith’s definition was the one that my family used to describe their beliefs. For my family, it simply made more sense not to believe in God(s). My family often quoted statements by Chapman Cohen, a famous Freethinker. One, they liked, was “Gods are fragile things, they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of commonsense. They thrive on servility and shrink before independence. They feed upon worship as kings do upon flattery. That is why the cry of gods at all times is ‘worship us or we perish.’” Cohen summed up how my family felt, with “Civilised man does not discover gods, he discards them.”

 

Atheists took Monotheistic logic one step beyond. If all the other Gods are false, then so is Yahweh. Therefore, the stories of the Bible were just that – myths. They concluded that since no God is real, there is no God(s). Moreover, Atheists argued that if all Gods are the same, then so is Yahweh. There can be no exceptions.

 

In the 2000s, “New Atheism” (Note 4) came to the forefront of Atheism. Some scholars claimed that these Atheists were more militant and “fundamentalist” in their Atheism. The New Atheists believed that there is no divine reality of any kind, and pointed to science as to how the world works. Moreover, they said that belief in God was detrimental to society.

 

One of the New Atheists, Peter Boghossian defined Atheism as “a difference between an atheist and a person of faith is that an atheist is willing revise their belief (if provided sufficient evidence), the faithful permit no such revision.” He continued “the only way to figure out which claims about the world likely true and which are likely false, is through reason and evidence. There is no other way.” (Emphasis his.)

 

In his “Manual for Creating Atheists,” Boghossian wrote “certainty is an enemy of truth: examination and reexamination are allies of truth.” He stated that every definition of faith is incorrect, and called them “deepities,” (Emphasis his.) (“Deepities appear true at one level, but on all other levels are meaningless.”) (Note 5)

 

My experience with Atheist Pagans has been that they are New Atheists seeking entry into Neo-Paganism and Polytheism. I say that since several tried to force a redefinition of Polytheism to include archetypes as Gods. Furthermore, they wanted the Gods to be considered “forces of nature.” Years later, a few said they were very proud of disrupting Polytheists. Meanwhile, my perspective of Atheist Paganism is that it is metaphysical naturalism.

 

Notes:

 

Note 1: Atheist Paganism is the extension of scientific principles to beliefs about the natural world. According to this Paganism, the supernatural (including Gods) does not exist. However, a person can still have mystical experiences in nature. Other names for Atheist Paganism are “Humanist Paganism,” “Naturalist Paganism,” and “Secular Paganism.”

 

Note 2. My working definition for “Neo-Pagans” is that they are “spiritual but not religious.” They have a deep connection with the Nature, will use magic, and believe in a minimum of religious dogma. Neo-Paganism includes Wiccans but not Polytheists.

 

Note 3: Atheists include “Brights,” “Naturalists,” and “Freethinkers.” “Nontheists” are religious believers with no Gods. One could argue there is a difference since Atheists believe in no Gods, and Nontheists have no belief in Gods.

 

Note 4. “New Atheist” was coined by Gary Wolf, journalist, in 2006. The first of the New Atheists was Sam Harris, who wrote “The End of Faith Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason” in 2004.

 

Note 5. Adopted by Daniel Dennett in 2009 at the American Atheists Conference. A “deepity” has two meanings – the true but trivial one, and a false but profound one (a pseudo-profundity). An example is “There is no ‘I’ in team.” This deepity provides no reason to support the group and is a non sequitur. One could respond to this deepity with “And there is no ‘us’ in victory.” An example of a Faith Deepity is “Everything happens for a reason.” A response could be, “Of course. One reason is that you make poor decisions.”

 

Further Reading:

Alain de Botton, “Religion for Atheists.”

Nimue Brown, “Spirituality Without Structure.”

Glenn Holland, “Gods in the Desert.”

Johnathan Kirch, “God Against the Gods.”