Atheist is who?

It is accepted for some reason that an atheist is a person who does not believe in God. This is partly true, but in fact, denying the higher deity does not mean giving up faith as such. Like the "Nautilus" 80's: "You can believe in the absence of faith." In this respect, the denial of the divine must lead to other steps: a revision of the value picture of the world and the adoption of a new model. In fact, after all, what is religion? This is the production of moral values, ethical norms of behavior. However, atheists (by the way, they are mostly Europeans and Americans), proclaiming themselves as such, remain in the bosom of the Christian code. It turns out a strange thing: denying God does not provoke a denial of religion.

The essence of man and his positioning in the world

Let's figure this out. An atheist is not just a person who denies any manifestations of the supernatural. This, as they say, is not enough. He recognizes nature, the Universe surrounding reality as a self-sufficient and self-developing reality that is independent of the will of man or any other being. The knowledge of the world is possible only by means of science, and man is recognized as the highest moral value. Thus, an atheist is a person who adheres to ordinary, somewhat liberal views. Moral questions, of course, interest him, but only in the context of protecting one's own interests. He can be a cynic, a sycophant, an agnostic, honest, decent - any. But this does not mean denying those moral principles through which he lives and is part of the social whole - the circle of the family, the working collective, the circle, the professional group, etc. Social habits formed on the basis of the same Christian upbringing (even indirectly, Through the school), from this will not go anywhere. So, faith, just in a slightly different, unusual for everyone, form.

If not a slave of God, then whose slave?

One often hears that an atheist is someone who hates the phrase "servant of God." On the one hand, this is understandable. For atheism as an ideological trend, it is important to recognize absolute freedom, however, like any liberal ideology. On the other hand, the same moral problem arises: if not a slave of God, then who (or what) is then for such a person the supreme ideal? And then there is emptiness - there is no substitute for God in return. But a holy place, as you know, is not empty ...

Atheist Communists

As a result, it turned out that atheism was fame glory almost the predecessor of communism. Marx and Engels, of course, publicly positioned themselves as atheists, arguing that God exists only in the imagination of people. But, again, this does not mean denying God as a moral ideal. Moreover, classical Marxism did not analyze religion from the institutional point of view, as it was done On the example of the economy, social relations, the organization of labor in production. The Bolsheviks struggled with all their might against religion, but before the Second World War. And they fought as a political institution in the form of the Church, but not with a way of thinking, which we call religious consciousness. As a result, we received a Soviet type of faith, from the remnants of which we can not get rid of until now.

Famous atheists

The first atheist in the world is the ancient Greek philosopher and poet Diagor who claimed the personal essence of the gods, their interference in the affairs of Athens and in general the ability to change the world. A little later, Protagoras proclaimed: "Man is the measure of all things", which in principle was in tune with the "physical" tradition of early Greek philosophy. In the XIX century, the theory of human psychogenesis was created, B. Russell in the twentieth century - the thesis of absolute doubt. But this does not mean denying the gods and religiosity! Simply put, for some reason it is believed that an atheist is a man who is distinguished by a special type of philosophical and scientific mind, which does not directly mean his godlessness. He just does not think like everyone else. But is this a crime?