Concept

In what follows, we would like to present to you the basic concept of our Atheist Religious Society. Of course this presentation provides only a general outline. As further details are worked out, we will provide more information in further articles on this homepage.

“Atheist Religion”? Isn’t that a contradiction in itself?

At first glance it may seem absurd to bring atheism and religion together – these two terms seem to contradict each other. However, on closer inspection this seeming contradiction is not the case at all.

We are atheists because we believe that gods, as physical entities, do not exist. But they do exist: gods exist as cultural entities. They are what you could call ‘worldview complexes’, to which many people grant considerable influence over our lives. We are interested in them as a phenomenon of society and human culture. To put it in a nutshell: we do not believe that gods created humans, but rather that humans created gods (and continue to do so).

But we consider ourselves also as a religious community. To us, religion is a kind of lived philosophy. Religion provides – among other things – a set of views and, especially, practices that deal with what it means to be a human being and to live as a human being in the world. It deals with aspects of human life that go beyond everyday experience. Every religion provides worldviews upon which people can orient themselves, as well as possibilities to pause and reflect (e.g., in the form of celebrations and rituals).

Because our cultural spaces are (co-) shaped particularly by (mono-) theistic religions (especially, of course, by Christianity), ‘religion’ tends to be commonly equated with ‘theism’. Already the example of Buddhism within which no theistic concepts are inherent, and who is generally regarded as a religion and is legally recognized as such in Austria since 1983, shows that this equation cannot be universally valid. The European Union Council Directive 2004/83/EC explicitly states in article 10 paragraph 1 subparagraph b that

the concept of religion shall in particular include the holding of theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, the participation in, or abstention from, formal worship in private or in public, either alone or in community with others, other religious acts or expressions of view, or forms of personal or communal conduct based on or mandated by any religious belief; […].

Seen from this perspective there is no fundamental contradiction between atheism and religion.

Purpose and fields of activity of the Atheist Religious Society

Whoever searches for equality will find it only under quite concrete conditions. In Austria, the rights and duties of religious communities are quite substantially co-determined by state laws on religion; the question, what religion is and what it can be, forms a central point of junction on which much depends. Since we are dealing as the ‘Atheist Religious Society’ with religious questions and also understand ourselves as a religious denominational community, it seems likely to us to organize ourselves also in legal terms as a religious community and to strive for full and equal rights and recognition as a religious society in Austria.

We want to practice religion (despite all the misuse/abuse of religion in world history) in a way in which, in our opinion, it could be practiced quite specifically: as a practical help in life. This includes, amongst other things, questions regarding atheist world-interpretations, the giving/seeking/making of sense, working with narratives and pictures of the world, and much more. We have some ideas for it, and we are very open and thankful for constructive suggestions und clues.

We assume that needs that can be satisfied by religion are present in many people. In our religious society we want to take up the idea of life-enriching celebrations and want to create a beautiful framework for both one-off and recurring significant life events. We understand rituals as a kind of cultural practice that can be more effective than, for instance, a simple reading of advice-giving literature on the same theme; we don’t want to extract our wisdom (only) from old writings from cultural realities long past, but want to include the whole process of humanization and human development, from the first records of human culture up to the present day.

Societal aspects

Currently an interesting societal change is underway regarding what is “religiously believed and lived” and how it is ‘religiously believed and lived’. While only a few decades ago Austria was predominantly catholic, the picture today is clearly more diverse. On the one hand, by immigration and cultural exchange, religions from other regions of the world became native to Austria. On the other, the number of people who do not belong to a church or another religious community is increasing. Also within individual religious communities there are, meanwhile, remarkable differences between the official religious teachings/doctrines and the actual religious beliefs of the respective members.

As atheists we actively participate in religious discourse and in the negotiation of what is nowadays perceived, accepted and practiced in Austria as “religion”. With our initiative, we want to make this process of societal change (more) visible, we want to open new spaces of cultural participation for atheists, and we also want to invite everybody to think about the significance of religious communities in Austria.

Legal aspects

In addition to these worldview-related aims, our project has also significant legal aspects. Since 1998, the Federal Law on the Legal Status of Religious Denominational Communities (BGBl. I 1998/19 as amended in the currently effective version) is in force in Austria. This law (which regulates the legal status of religious denominational communities that have not yet been legally recognized) created the legal basis upon which we want to pursue our activities.

In concrete terms, on the level of state laws on religion, we would like our religious denomination (see § 2 of our Statutes, ‘Presentation of the Religious Doctrine’) to be registered as such. We thus strive for the “Atheist Religious Society in Austria” to attain the status of an officially registered religious denominational community in accordance with the above-mentioned Austrian Federal Law on the Legal Status of Religious Denominational Communities. In a long term perspective, and against this background, we want to become a legally recognized religious society in Austria. We consider these aims as reasonable and necessary in order to achieve, within the applicable state laws on religion, sustainable equality with the followers of already established religious communities. By law, an organized pooling of several persons is necessary for this. The Federal Law on the Legal Status of Religious Denominational Communities, in its § 3 section 3, requires 300 members for a state-registered religious denominational community and, in its § 11 paragraph 1 subparagraph d, for a legally recognized religious society about 17.000 members (2 per mill of the resident population in Austria).

Das Webportal der Atheistischen Religionsgesellschaft in Österreich