Has atheism been hijacked by the left?

Post Reply New Topic

Let me explain my title. I am not super religious person either, but I'm also not an atheist. Sometimes I wonder if atheism has been "hijacked" by progressives and the "regressive left" at one point. It's just been something that was on my mind. The atheists today certainly do seem to have a political agenda, but it's an agenda that I don't necessarily agree with. It's very clear to me.

I'm familiar with the historical interpretation of the relationship between atheism and communism, though.

Yes it has. The left have made atheism like a religion which is contrary to the principles of atheism.

Atheism is simply believing in no gods/religion...also I don't think there is any direct connection between atheism and communism. Though I don't find the idea of communism to be the worst thing, but that is also when it has more democratic elements over authoritarian and totalitarian government...the former hasn't really existed on a large scale.

How do you hijack a stationary object?

"Atheism" isn't enough of a cause, or of a force in society to be able to be either "driven", or to be "hijacked" because its more of a non-belief, than a belief. Even if the number of atheists grow I don't see it becoming a force in society analgous to the way religion has been, or as secular political ideologies are.

Its true that in America in the late 20th Century religion is associated with conservatism, and liberalism is associated with secularism (though not necessarily atheism).



But the two most famous (or infamous) atheists in history were Karl Marx, and Ayn Rand, who were opposite ends of the political spectrum. Both both were evangelical about their politics. Niether were all that evangelical about their lack of faith as such (as far as I know). Their atheism was an afterthought to their politics.

Evangelical atheists are a recent phenom. One of these new missionaries spreading the good news about the lack of faith was the late Christopher Hitchens who was also an apologist for W. Bush. So Hitchens wasn't particularly progressive or leftist.

So if you wanna abandon your religion you don't have to leave the GOP. The trouble is that your fellow GOPers might stigmatize you. Its more conservatives marginalizing atheism than it is progressive taking over atheism. So if you wanna stop the GOP from driving atheism into the arms of the left then maybe you should become the leader of a new "Atheist Right".

I think that, at least today, Republicans are far more likely to disown/reject and denigrate atheists than atheists are to latch on to any one political party--be it liberal, conservative, independent, or otherwise. Of course, the whole idea that "God is a Republican" probably probably doesn't attract atheists in the first place, either!

'Not believing in a deity' is a personal decision, not an institution, so it can't be 'hijacked.' And as others have pointed out, there are plenty of nonbelievers who can be called 'right wing,' so if you announce that you're an atheist few will assume that you're a leftist as well.

The far left, the Marxists, aren't really atheists at all. They reject traditional religion but merely substitute the People for God, the State for the Church, and the writings of Marx, Lenin etc. for Holy Writ.

How about a counter-question?

Has Christianity been hijacked by The Right?

No. It doesn't belong to anyone and you can't take it away from anyone.

Some atheist groups have been co-opted by progressives, but I was never entirely enamoured with the notion of collective atheism anyway.

Well wouldn't be it be equally as logical to say that atheism has not been hijacked by the left it is just that they tend to vote left due to the fact that the right is embracing more religious and conservative viewpoints that atheists disagree with.

[metaphor]I'd say Christianity has been hijacked by the Pharisees.[/metaphor]

Hijacked is a terrible word for this. Not only does it gratuitously convey the sense that a terrible crime has been committed, but it suggests a deviation from an expected course.

Atheism doesn't have a course, therefore it can't be redirected to some other course.

Of course, anyone can find examples of atheists who hold extreme anti-religious views, but there are plenty of others you don't see because they aren't out on the corner carrying signs saying "I don't care whether you believe in nonsense or not" or making long Youtube screeds about how "talking about this doesn't seem like a particularly good use of time."

No, atheism hasn't been hijacked by the left or anyone else, the idea makes no sense.