New Atenism: A Religion of Reason
One might argue that we already have a word for a belief system based on reason, humanism. Humanism is a philosophy that places emphasis on the value and agency of human beings, promoting rationality, compassion, and the pursuit of human welfare and fulfillment. At its core, humanism holds that we have the capability and responsibility to lead ethical lives and to contribute to the betterment of society through reason, empathy, and critical thinking, rather than relying on gifts and guidance from a supernatural deity. Humanism emphasizes dignity, equality, and the importance of individual freedoms, while also promoting the advancement of knowledge, science, and education for the betterment of humanity as a whole. Characterizing New Atenism as humanism plus would be a fairly accurate summary, the plus being a sacred, yet well-reasoned, belief in the divine.
Humanists reject any notion of an active agent supernatural deity or spirit, and many break out in hives when they hear the word “religion”, but it is possible to be a humanist and religious. Unitarian Universalism is one example of a humanist religious institution and there are many examples of people who combine belief in the sacred or divine with humanist values. The 17th-century Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza can be viewed as a bridge between theism[1] and humanism. He devoted much of his writings to defining God and integrating that knowledge into an ethical/moral framework which included many humanist values, such as a deep belief in reason, intellectual freedom and the pursuit of knowledge. He rejected dogma, superstitions and authoritarianism and fervently believed critical thinking and the evaluation of empirical evidence was required to better understand the world.
Spinoza famously said God and nature are one and the same, but he wasn’t just talking about trees, llamas and stars, he included all natural laws and thought, all that is known, unknown and unknowable. For this reason, I use “Nature” with a capital “N” to convey a better understanding of what Spinoza meant by “nature.” Spinoza also believed God had infinite “attributes” of which we mere mortals can only perceive two; thought, all ideas concepts and knowledge, and extension, all matter, energy and natural laws[2]. This is an incredibly humble and powerful idea in that it leaves the door wide open for an infinite number of things which lie outside of our ability to perceive or comprehend. Spinoza believed the only way to know God/Nature was to use reason to evaluate that which we can perceive. The process of reason, and of human progress, is building an evidentiary bridge between thought and extension, taking ideas and bringing them into the real world.
A belief can, and typically does, start out totally in the thought domain as an idea with no supporting evidence. While still part of Nature, this thought does not yet have any connection to the real world, to objective reality. If and when some evidence is collected and/or reasoned argument takes place, the idea can either move towards reality or remain apart from it. It can become more or less likely to be true.
The most important characteristic of a belief is how well it aligns with objective reality. In 2016 many people came to believe that Hillary Clinton was running a pedophile ring out of a New York pizza parlor’s basement. There was no evidence to support this belief and well-reasoned arguments to dismiss it out of hand abounded–which all reasonable people immediately did. Despite how clearly preposterous this belief was, a guy showed up at the suspected parlor with a rifle to free the children. After shooting a lock off the door he felt certain led to the child-prison basement, he found only mops, brooms and cleaning supplies waiting to be rescued from a closet. Despite this compelling falsifying evidence, the would-be child-rescuer’s belief remained steadfast. As he was being handcuffed face-down on the pavement, he pleaded with the officers “Are the children okay?” A belief, no matter how nutty, is still part of Nature, a piece of everything, even if it has no alignment whatsoever with objective reality.
When we falsify an existing belief and update it with a better explanation, we are using the process of reason to form a belief that is better aligned with reality. The falsified belief still exists, is still part of Nature, but is now relegated to the thought domain, totally separate from objective reality. The process of reason is the engine that brings new pieces of God/Nature into objective reality, building an evidentiary bridge between thought and extension. All of the blessings of the modern world that have made our lives longer and more comfortable are the result of reason building a vast library of more reality-aligned explanations. Most religions believe in a supernatural force or spirit which brings blessings to our lives but the belief that reason is the true spirit of human progress is supported by a massive amount of evidence. It is much more closely aligned with reality.
So, why “New Atenism” instead of Spinozism? Why use the name an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled 3,300 years ago gave his sun god? Particularly this pharaoh, Akhenaten, who is often dismissed by history as “the heretic king[3]” or a psychotic[4]. It turns out that, crazy or no, Akhenaten is the rare, and I would argue singular, founder of an ancient religion who made a claim about his God’s power which has been revealed by reason to be correct. All previous Egyptian religions included a sun god and gave it a prominent position, but Akhenaten’s Aten was different. Rather than having the physical characteristics of a human or animal, Akhenaten described Aten as a “sphere[5] in the sky” that emitted “life-giving rays” and reason has revealed that he was right on both counts.
Sunshine, radiant solar energy is responsible for every bite of food you eat, every drop of water you drink and every breath you take. Akhenaten said Aten’s rays bring life to “All on Earth that walk on legs and all on high that fly on their wings[6].” Since Akhenaten’s time we’ve learned that radiant solar energy powered all life on Earth[7], from the first cyanobacteria that figured out how to do photosynthesis 3.5 billion years ago to all of us. We’ve also learned that this required the delicate balance of near-Earth space, our atmosphere and magnetosphere, filtering out harmful rays and particles. We’ve learned that Aten is not the creator of the universe but was created by it. Aten is the power behind all known life in the universe. While the search for life beyond our world continues[8], right now the tiny sliver that comprises the surface of our planet and a thin layer of air directly above it are the only place we know it exists and all of it relies upon Aten’s life-giving rays.
So now we have some of the important elements of a religion all of which are rooted in reason and supported by evidence. We have a God, defined as Nature, all that ever has or ever will exist. We have a manifestation of God that brought life to our world and sustains it in the form of radiant energy from that sphere in the sky made life-giving by near-Earth space. We also have a spirit, reason, the invisible force which continually works to bring progress and prosperity to humanity. The spirit of reason is embracing that which is helpful and rejecting that which is harmful. Each of us does this when we employ reason to evaluate our instincts, urges and emotions so that we can embrace those that are helpful and reject those which are harmful. We employ reason collectively to share knowledge and mitigate the impact of individual blind spots and biases allowing us to build knowledge and beliefs which better align with reality. While lacking the ability to reason, near-Earth space does embrace helpful aspects of the sun’s energy while casting off harmful ones. This passive use of the spirit of reason brings life to our world while our active embrace of the spirit of reason brings both personal and collective progress. These elements are the basis for the Four Tenets of New Atenism:
- The God of Spinoza: God is Nature, universal and encompassing everything in existence. All matter, energy, thought, concepts and knowledge. All that is known, unknown and all that is unknowable past, present and future. Through reason, we uncover the divine one better reality-aligned thing at a time.
- Aten is the life-giving manifestation of Nature, of God.
- The Spirit of Reason: Embracing that which is helpful and rejecting that which is harmful
- The Gospel of Prosperity: Unlike the materialistic interpretation often associated with prosperity gospel, New Atenism believes progress and prosperity are achieved through reason. The Gospel of Prosperity is a virtuous circle where individuals employ reason to progress in their own lives, humanity employs it collectively to drive progress and that progress builds belief in reason, beginning the circle anew.
We have now accrued enough knowledge that we can form a belief system based on what we know rather than one that fills in the blanks of what we don’t. We can have a religion that binds us together behind what is most likely to be true rather than dividing us across a vast spectrum of unsupported beliefs. We can retain many of religion’s benefits, like communal comfort and support and becoming part of something larger than ourselves, while recapturing religion’s place as a driver of human progress. New Atenism is the religion with the core narrative reason has revealed is most likely to be true. By embracing the spirit of reason, you can progress in your own life and do your part to drive humanity’s progress.
You may well ask why when we already have reason and humanism, we need a new religion? Aren’t people increasingly moving away from religion? The answer to that second question will be the subject of next week’s blog post and the answer to the first one will come in the post the week after that.
[1] Even though theism means belief in at least one God, some object to calling Spinoza a theist. Theism has come to mean belief in a supernatural, active agent God for many people despite the fact that it’s the root word for all god belief systems including monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, panentheism, deism, and atheism.
[2] In “Ethics.” Which was published ten years prior to Isaac Newton’s “Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica,” Spinoza wrote “forces of nature” rather than “natural laws”
[3] Influential American archaeologist and historian, James Henry Breasted, known for his work on ancient Egypt and his portrayal of Akhenaten coined this term in his 1905 book A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest”
[4] Cyril Aldred, a prominent Egyptologist, suggested Akhenaten’s actions and behaviors could be indicative of a psychological disorder and Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky, proposed in his controversial book “Oedipus and Akhenaten” drew parallels between Akhenaten and the mythological momma-lover Oedipus.
[5] “Aten” in ancient Egyptian is a noun that means either disk or sphere and carvings from the period make it clear Akhenaten meant sphere.
[6] From Akhenaten’s “Hymn to the Great Aten”
[7] Even organisms residing in deep sea vents rely on organic material imbued with Aten’s rays that floats down from the surface to become part of their food chain.
[8] The Europa Clipper will launch on October 10th, 2024 to search for life below the icy surface of Jupiter’s intriguing moon.
[1] Even though theism means belief in at least one God, some object to calling Spinoza a theist. Theism has come to mean belief in a supernatural, active agent God for many people despite the fact that it’s the root word for all god belief systems including monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, panentheism, deism, and atheism.
[2] Spinoza actually used “forces of nature” rather than “natural laws” as “Ethics” was published ten years prior to Isaac Newton’s “Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.”
[3] Influential American archaeologist and historian, James Henry Breasted, known for his work on ancient Egypt and his portrayal of Akhenaten coined this term in his 1905 book A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest”
[4] Cyril Aldred, a prominent Egyptologist, suggested Akhenaten’s actions and behaviors could be indicative of a psychological disorder and Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky, proposed in his controversial book “Oedipus and Akhenaten” drew parallels between Akhenaten and the mythological momma-lover Oedipus.
[5] “Aten” in ancient Egyptian is a noun that means either disk or sphere and carvings from the period make it clear Akhenaten meant sphere.
[6] From Akhenaten’s “Hymn to the Great Aten”
[7] Even organisms residing in deep sea vents consume organic material imbued with Aten’s rays that floats down from the surface as an energy source.
[8] The Europa Clipper will launch on October 10th, 2024 to search for life below the icy surface of Jupiter’s intriguing moon.
