Figure 1
All-Union scientific-practical conference in 1982, dedicated to the actual questions of the ideological work of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The banner reads (translation from Russian): “Religion will disappear in accordance with the development of socialism; its disappearance must happen as a result of the development of the society, in which upbringing plays a major role. K. Marx.” Source: ERA 5.
Figure 2
André Comte-Sponville lecturing at Paris (January 2013). Source: Wikimedia.
Table 1
A comparison of two combinations of atheism and spirituality.
| Late Soviet Union | 21stCentury West | |
|---|---|---|
| Atheism | Coercive | Organic |
| Science orientated | Science orientated | |
| Part of scientific-materialist worldview | Often part of naturalistic worldview | |
| Critical towards religion | Not necessarily critical towards religion | |
| Essential for the right type of spirituality | Not essential for spirituality | |
| Change within the same atheist tradition | Alternative current to other atheist traditions | |
| Spirituality | Individualistic in the name of communal activeness | Individualistic |
| Universally human | Universally human | |
| Non-eclectic | Eclectic | |
| Secular or “cultural” alternative to religion | Oriental influences (Buddhism, meditation etc.) | |
| Self-transcendence (pursuit for egoless unity with the community) | Self-transcendence (pursuit for transcendent experiences, feeling of awe, or oneness with the universe) | |
| Meaning of life | Meaning of life | |
| Morality (autonomous) | Morality (autonomous) | |
| Function | A reaction to earlier militant attitude, the only alternative | A reaction to earlier militant attitude, one of the alternatives |
| Bridge-breaker, spirituality as necessarily secular | Bridge-builder, spirituality as a unifying secular and religious sphere | |
| PR-tactics, to show that atheism is still relevant | PR tactics, to show that atheists are like everyone else |