20th Century History
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History
The Twentieth Century
The nineteenth century was the century in which atheism established itself in the minds of the European educated public. In the twentieth century, however, atheistic belief would become a mass phenomenon. This can be seen as taking two main strands. For many, Marxist revolutions led to atheism being approved by the state, and enforced to a greater or lesser extent. For others, atheism grew out of the philosophies and sceptical critiques of religion that had been developed in the 19th century.
Atheism in the Marxist form is repudiated by many modern atheists, who regard Marxism as a sort of religion itself. Nevertheless, it cannot be ignored as having had a massive impact on how widespread atheism is today.
The rejection of religion on sceptical grounds in non-Marxist countries could of course be built on Marxist belief as well. Although the influence of Marx has declined, some of his key claims, such as the idea that ‘religion is the opium of the masses’ are still supported by modern, non-Marxist, atheists. The influence of Freud in dismissing religion as neurotic is a similar case. While Freudianism is largely dismissed as pseudo-science, the idea of religion being based on wish-fulfillment or repressed drives remains. Similarly, the idea of atheism as encouraging the freedom to create one’s own meaning in life spreads far beyond its Existentialist roots, and not only strict positivists reject religious language as empty or meaningless.
Not all atheists have been content to simply reject religion: the twentieth century has also seen a growth in the number of humanists around the world. Humanist associations often offer an overarching way of approaching the world, and even provide rite-of-passage ceremonies, without taking on the more dogmatic trappings of Comte’s ‘religion of humanity’.