What actual purpose does atheism have in our lives?
Imagine a world without organised religion, where it doesn't affect people's lives, but atheism still exists. What purpose would atheism fill in this scenario?
I don't really understand the question. What purpose does atheism serve now? Who gave it that purpose? Who is the arbiter of such things?
Atheism serves as much purpose in my life as my eye color. It's just a natural part of me and has been as long as I can remember. If I wasn't an atheist, I wouldn't be me.
As far as I can tell, the whole concept of 'purpose' when it comes to humanity as a whole is basically a religious one anyway.
It feels like you're coming at this from the position of religiosity being the "default" and non-religiosity being abnormal, which I think is a flawed premise.
What I don’t understand is why it is an identity (apart from opposition to organised religion).
It also feels like you think of atheists as being anti-religion, which is also flawed.
Atheism is an identity only insofar as Christianity is an identity. Christianity isn't what a person believes, it's the word we use to describe their beliefs, to give a general idea of their culture. Atheism is just a way to describe the absence of that particular aspect of thought. The labeling isn't important in and of itself, it's just an identifier.
Are you suggesting that being atheist is unnatural? What do you mean by "actual purpose?"
Is this a high thought? It sounds like a high thought.
I don't consider it an identity, but it is a stable state for me: I do not believe in the existence of gods until further notice. This is what I mean when I say "I am an atheist". It's a shorthand way to express this stable state about me.
Moreover, opposing organized religion is not the primary reason that I don't believe in the existence of gods.
The purpose of religion is to control society through communal beliefs. The sense of “purpose” that adherents are made to feel serves to further that control.
Atheism isn’t a religion and it doesn’t have a purpose.
It isn’t part of my “identity” any more than gravity is.
Atheism doesn’t replace religion… and trying to give it purpose is a little weird. In fact, there are a few atheist religions out there.
Also, why do you think atheism is an entire atheist's identity and not just a small part of it? I'm an atheist. I'm also a Trekkie. I'd say Star Trek is a much bigger part of my life than atheism.
What's the actual purpose of not believing that pineapples grow on trees? Or not believing that the Moon is made of green cheese? or not believing in any other false statement?
I'm being cheeky to highlight a point: at the core atheism is the belief on a single epistemic statement, "there's no god out there". (Or the lack of belief in the opposite statement. Once you go past the "ackshyually" they're the same deal.)
The word atheist is just a term for a rejection of a specific proposition. There's no reason why that would logically need a purpose. We find purpose elsewhere.
What is termed "militant" atheism, where someone argues against religious ideas or actions, wouldn't exist because there wouldn't be anything to argue about. But atheism itself would exist as a default, and already does in reality. No baby is born with a belief in any religion. So the only thing that changes in your hypothetical is the baby never gets indoctrinated with such beliefs.
Because religious people needed a word for the unimaginable absence of their favourite hobby in other people. Non-believer was already used for people who believe differently relative to them, so a different word was made for those who are even worse and defy divinity. It is useful to sum up your stance towards religion for religious folks but indeed carries no meaning in non-religious contexts.
Religion gives atheism purpose by opposing religion, for those that even care about religion. I didn't even care about atheism or religion until US religion started affecting my life, because in Québec religion died in the 70s and is nothing more than a cultural artifact, so atheism is the default and therefore don't need to identify as an atheist, you have to identify as a religious weirdo.
Atheism doesn't have a standalone purpose like religion does. Atheism exists purely because religion exists.
A = without, theism = belief in a god or gods.
Atheism = without the belief of god or gods.
Atheism has no mantra, no purpose, no rituals, no dogma. Atheism is simply a non belief in god or gods. It doesn’t have to have nor does it have a special meaning or purpose. Some of us were born right.
Imagine a world without organised religion, where it doesn't affect people's lives, but atheism still exists.
A near perfect utopia where there isn't fighting over dumbass fake shit where humanity works together to better itself because there is no person who believes in a god, and nothing beyond this one life so we actually are much more motivated to make it better?
There is no purpose to atheism. It's simply a lack of a belief in a god. 🤦♂️