Relationship between Atheism, Conservative Religion and Politics Up to and Including the 1960s

In 18th and 19th century England, atheists were called infidels or blasphemers, as the majority of Christians who criticized religion viewed themselves as free thinkers, as atheism was a term rarely used. Atheists such as Richard Carlile and George Jacob Holyoake were seen as dangerous, their religious views spilling into politics. Both imprisoned for blasphemy in 1819 and 1942. During Carlile’s trial he read Thomas Paine’s ‘The Age of Reason’ to spread its critique of Christianity: ‘my own mind is my own church’ (Wolffe, 2016). Deist Thomas Paine wrote his book ‘The Age of Reason’ attacking the Bible with what he thought was ‘absurdities and inconsistencies’ (Wolffe, 2016).

During the period of the radical Enlightenment, atheism was made possible by the progress of religious tolerance. There was a common conception that religious divides would cause unrest and the possibility of civil war. The radical Enlightenment of 17th and 18th centuries enabled people to have understanding of their religious freedoms in government and education. Religion was the subject of debate in coffee houses and a central topic of conversation during the 18th century. Books, such as the ‘Treatise of the Three Imposters’, were circulated, even though their contents were suppressed. Early influential atheist writers like Thomas Hobbs, Baruch Spinoza, David Hume and Denis Diderot suffered for their views being imprisoned, rejected in their careers and excluded from their churches. Even in 19th century, criticism of doctrine caused writers such as Percy Bysshe Shelley to be expelled in 1811 from Oxford University for writing ‘The Necessity of Atheism’. As the 18th century English philosopher John Locke wrote that denying God could not be tolerated because promises, covenants and oaths are bonds of society. Locke went on to say that “bonds of society can have no hold upon an atheist” (Wolffe, 2016). Religion and atheism still divided personal opinions, such as the leading French Enlightenment writer and historian, Voltaire, who criticized Christianity, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, but still thought religion was important socially: “I want my lawyer, tailor, even my wife to believe in God” (Wolffe, 2016). With Voltaire’s own personal confusions, he still advocated religious freedoms and freedoms of speech. With his outspoken views the Catholic French monarchy tried to censor his intolerances and religious dogma.

With the emergence of atheism and freethinkers, 19th century clergymen such as Hugh Stowell felt a need to lecture on infidelity. Stowell felt passionately that if humans did not believe in God, they lacked self-worth and did not have respect for each other, which resulted in a fearless society, encouraging a separation of the church and the state. A society who will breach laws and judgements whenever it suited them with no fear of ‘divine judgement’ (Wolffe, 2016). Furthermore, Stowell felt that infidelity “bereaved a man of all his worth” (Stowell, 1830). In late 1820’s, Hugh Stowell had encountered and heard about infidelity within religion compelling him to write and lecture about the dangerous repercussions if a “God of all judgement exists after all” (Stowell, 1830). 19th-century freethinkers began to change from persecution and social silence to ‘culture wars’ in Britain and Europe, paving the way for liberal freedoms and anti-clerical movements towards Christian institutions.

The Catholic Church began to panic about the growth of freethinking and culture wars. They began to dogmatically reassert traditional teachings. Pope Pius IX in 1864 sent a papal letter to all Roman Catholic Churches condemning all the singular and evil opinions and doctrines. At the top of his Syllabus of Errors was the condemnation of the ‘new atheism’, along with liberalism and agnosticism. In an 1851 religious census in Britain, it was recorded half of the population was ‘unconscious secularists’, who didn’t attend church nor reject Christianity. Although few people openly professed atheism, doubting of traditional Christianity become more widespread by the end of 19th century, the Catholic Church’s middle class was in decline. There was the growth of historical and textual criticisms of the Bible led by 1860 Benjamin Jowett’s ‘Essays and Reviews’ (Wolffe, 2016).

The reality of late 19th century ‘culture wars’, traditional Christian influences in society no longer held its dominance and there emerged more liberal and secular opinions. Church attendances declined before the First World War. In London between 1886 and 1903, only 22% attended church. In Germany attendance was 5% of the population. Late 19th century Europe, there were struggles between different denomination of Christianity, not between believers and atheists (Wolffe, 2016). Ireland and Germany suffered challenges between Catholics and Protestants. With Protestant criticism of the church during the 17th century Reformation. Atheism grew in France and Germany, where there was a feeling of disappointment of the failure of the revolution. With the Roman Catholic Church working alongside Napoleon, the middle class was open to new ideas and became critical of religion. German philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach was a critic of religion, he felt that God was a psychologically made-up figure. Frenchman Auguste Comte followed this critique by creating the ‘religion of humanity’, where man was central in life and not God (Wolffe, 2016).

In 1792, the Worship of the Goddess of Reason was established in France to replace Catholicism during the French Revolution, by the early 19th century, Napoleon had it banned and the church in France had regained its position and influence. Political and cultural competition continued in France between secularists and Catholicism traditions. In particular, the Sacre-Coeur Basilica was built overlooking Paris 1875-1914. By 1905, in France there was a formal law of separation of the church and state. France had established state secularism and claimed to treat all citizens equally and neutrality of religion.

By 1859, ‘The Origin of Species’ by Charles Darwin was published. Darwin was a churchgoer and his misunderstood views were not atheistic but more deist. Darwin did not invent evolution nor was he a major influence for atheism. He was torn between unorthodoxy and devout Christianity (Darwin, C., 1859). Darwin believed everyone developed slowly and he no longer accepted the doctrines of Christianity (James Moore, Open University, 2020), but still he believed in God.

James Moore states that Darwin would be outraged at the attacks on Christian believers by atheistic evolutionists. Darwin would refute the claim that to believe in evolution you have to denounce God. Modern ‘Darwinians’ are not interested in the real Darwin or reading ‘The Origin of Species’. The key points James Moore makes about Darwin are that he was a respectable man with a dangerous theory (James Moore, Open University, 2020). Some liberal minded Christians did believe that Darwin was teaching them something, whereas fundamental Christians believed that the truth was in the Bible. At the time of Darwin’s death atheists were not allowed in parliament, and to be an atheist in Darwin’s day was bad and immoral.

Atheism was definitely growing in 1850s and 1860’s. Scientific materialism, particularly in Germany 1850’s, was boosted by Darwinians from 1859 onwards. Darwin ideas moved faster in Germany than the United Kingdom. As was the growth of critical study of the Bible, particularly in Germany and the universities. This was crucial in protestant countries where the Bible was supreme. Germanys leader of intellectual development of atheism and most influential figure in Philosophy was Ludwig Feuerbach.

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Late 19th century saw an influence of Marxism. Marx’s attraction offered a complete world view to its followers offering a new religion. It was this attraction that rivalled Christianity and attempted to replace Christianity. Marxism had the power to replace Christianity that intellectual atheism couldn’t do. The materialistic view of history which Marxism offered it could render religion of any kind irrelevant. Marxism and socialism could offer change. Marx’s had a great influence in the working-class movement. Marxism was a way of organizing the political and economic ways of society. Christianity itself could stimulate quite radical social and political ideas (Hugh McLeod, Open University, 2020).

Throughout the centuries there have been many arguments about the role of politics and religion. Mostly atheists and secularists believe that religion and state should be kept separate (Wolffe, 2016). This opinion is based that the most oppressive states around the world use God to control the minds and actions of populations (Woodhead and Catto, 2012).

In 1925, in the southern United States, teacher John Scopes was charged with violating a law in the teaching of evolution in schools. The Scopes trial was a symbolic moment between the 19th century ‘old atheism’ and the more recent ‘new atheism’. This trial provided a platform for atheistic arguments and that Christianity and Darwinians were in irreconcilable conflict (Wolffe, 2016). William Jennings Bryan, an evangelical Christian lawyer, and Clarence Darrow, a civil rights and agnostic lawyer, were the defense lawyer and prosecutor.

American Protestant Christianity arose towards the end of the 19th century was a fundamentalist movement which aimed to re-establish conservative theological teaching against modernizing and liberal influences (Wolffe, 2016). This in-turn lead to the 1919 formation of the World’s Christian Fundamentals Association and the passing of a Tennessee law against evolution.

Atheist journalist Henry Louis Mencken reported during the Scope trial. The book ‘Genesis in the New Testament’ was the area of most of the questioning. Mencken hoped the trial would expose Christians as idiots who believe absurdities. He even refers to fundamentalists as “Ku Klux theologians, who continue to whoop for Genesis” (Mencken, 1925). The Scopes trial in the USA disregarded fundamentalism and reduced its growth. Darrow and Mencken had achieved their objective by showing fundamentalists as uneducated and out of touch with modern ideas. However, Henry Mencken had a fear about death. In 1949 he was quoted: “In every unbeliever’s heart there is an uneasy feeling, he may awake after death and find himself immortal” (Wolffe, 2016). Mencken obviously felt that the advance of atheistic ideas was now proving less inexorable.

The 1960’s is widely recognized as a time of social and cultural change in Europe and USA. Most areas of Europe saw a higher class of living standards such as the introduction of cars, televisions and washing machines within homes. Religious historians have agreed that the 1960’s was a time of major change. Anglican bishop John Robinson published a book, questioning the existence of God. His books were condemned, but yet was widely read and appealed to many who struggled to accept traditional Christian teaching (Wolffe, 2016).

The 1960’s saw the growth of a ‘counter culture’ within young people. There was also the emergence of sexual revolution, and by the end of 1960’s the beginning of women’s liberation, gay liberation movements and the legalization of abortion. “A changing society where Christian mortality was no longer the dominant” (Wolffe, 2016). And contraceptive pills appear in 1960’s. However, in 1968, Pope Paul VI condemned the contraceptive pill, which caused further disillusionment within society and caused a decline in catholic religious practices. Between 1962-1965 the Second Vatican Council ran and sought to address the damaged relationships between the Catholic Church and the modern world.

Historian Callum Brown viewed the 1960’s as a time of ‘irreversible decline for Christianity’ and that humanism was taking hold of the world. Other historians have suggested that the 1960’s was not an end of Christianity, but of Christendom, which was the social and political order which the church had a privilege position (McLeod, H., 2007). Callum Brown saw the 1960’s as having a diminished dominance of inherited Christian values, ‘the loss of a normative Christian culture’ (Woodhead, L. and Catto, R., 2012). The entire 1960 saw a rise in ‘non-religion’. As Callum Brown states, “Atheism and secularization emerged as important elements of the 18th century Enlightenment” (Brown, C. and Lynch, G., 2012). Atheism and secularism developed into a freethinking movement of the 19th and 20th centuries, fighting for freedom of conscience, birth control and moral reforms.

In conclusion, atheists and Christians share many values that are central to a civil society. They both share compassion for those in society who suffer and need help, and they promote fairness and justice for all. And as Brown and Lynch stressed, “Diversity to question religion and in a variety of beliefs and ideas” (Woodhead, L. and Catto, R., 2012). Although we cannot disregard pivotal changes in religion within the Western world during the 1960s. Rapid decline in church goers and church clericals, communities losing their regular ritual of church attendances and families losing their Christian identity. The emergence of the ‘modern world’ in 1960 shaped the philosophical, political, religious and scientific culture wars.