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The proposal has angered fellow atheists. With typical zeal, de Botton has already put this suggestion into action, raising almost half of the million pounds required to actually build this temple in London. De Botton suggests building a secular 'Temple to Perspective' - a place where humans can put their troubles into perspective by reflecting on the 460 million years Earth has existed for. One chapter commends religious places of worship and the feelings they can induce in us. (As this representative sample suggests, the book could probably have been more precisely titled Catholicism, Judaism and Zen Buddhism for Atheists.) Zen Buddhist retreats could assist atheists to reflect on the direction of their lives. The Jewish Day of Atonement could help atheists build better interpersonal relationships. The rituals, modes of thinking, methodologies, and approaches to life that religions promote can still be of great assistance to atheists.įor instance, de Botton argues that atheists could learn how to foster a sense of community from the Catholic Mass. Yet atheists should not dismiss religions on these grounds. De Botton says religions are not true, and God does not exist. Thanks to Elana for sending this our way.If the provocative title of Alain de Botton's book Religion for Atheists does not annoy believers and non-believers alike, then its first line probably will: 'The most boring and unproductive question one can ask of any religion is whether or not it is true.'Īnd if any sanguine readers out there remain unmoved, the book's central thesis should rile even them. If Atheism 2.0 piques your interest, you’ll want to pre-order de Botton’s soon-to-be-published book, Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion. Click here and you can watch several past sermons presented by actress Miranda July, physicist Lawrence Krauss, author Rebecca Solnit, and Alain de Botton himself. The school offers courses “in the important questions of everyday life” and also hosts Sunday Sermons that feature “maverick cultural figures” talking about important principles to live by.

What he’s describing kind of sounds like what already happens in the Unitarian Church … or The School of Life, a London-based institution founded by de Botton in 2008. This revised atheism would let atheists deny a creator and yet not forsake all the other good things religion can offer - tradition, ritual, community, insights into living a good life, the ability to experience transcendence, taking part in institutions that can change the world, and the rest.

Last summer Alain de Botton, one of the better popularizers of philosophy, appeared at TEDGlobal and called for a new kind of atheism.