Has Atheism Won?

[Underseer]

In the Battle for God Karen Armstrong made a convincing case that fundamentalists have lost their faith already. They just haven't admitted it to themselves yet. The blind fanaticism is just a method by which to convince themselves of the truth of God. But they don't believe it. The fundamentalists are the religious with the weakest faith.

I love that quote, and am going to get and read that book! Thanks.

Yes, it's a fantastic way to 'win' any argument when you can simply assert that your opponent hasn't "admitted" to themselves that they are wrong. Or that they don't really believe what they say they believe.

Not surprised phands loves that quote.

No need to put win in scare quotes like that.

Throughout the industrialized world, atheism is increasing and theism is decreasing.

The only reason the overall number of theists is rising is that third world theists are having babies faster than first world theists can deconvert to atheism.

I don't know how many generations it'll take, but eventually, theism will be thought of as a third world thing, and by then the third world will have a lot more poverty because of all the babies third world theists are having right now.

You lost the arguments thousands of years ago. Religion survived this long because for centuries, the government set people on fire for not being Christian.

 

[bilby]

Yes, it's a fantastic way to 'win' any argument when you can simply assert that your opponent hasn't "admitted" to themselves that they are wrong. Or that they don't really believe what they say they believe.

Not surprised phands loves that quote.

No need to put win in scare quotes like that.

Throughout the industrialized world, atheism is increasing and theism is decreasing.

The only reason the overall number of theists is rising is that third world theists are having babies faster than first world theists can deconvert to atheism.

I don't know how many generations it'll take, but eventually, theism will be thought of as a third world thing, and by then the third world will have a lot more poverty because of all the babies third world theists are having right now.

You lost the arguments thousands of years ago. Religion survived this long because for centuries, the government set people on fire for not being Christian.

Third world poverty is declining, not increasing; And as it does, it is bringing down birth rates (High population growth is caused by, rather than being a cause of, poverty; or rather, poverty increases infant mortality, which leads to increased population as parents overcompensate by having more children).

As the third world becomes less poor, and education levels improve, so religion will die out there too.

Religion cannot survive widespread and effective education. The USA is the only nation to achieve both sufficient education for technological and economic success, and simultaneously high levels of religion - and it does so by separating the irreligious and educated North East and West Coast from the religious and uneducated South and Midwest. Even in the religious areas, the cities are better educated and less religious than the rural areas that surround them.

 

[DrZoidberg]

I don't share their beliefs. But I think they are as genuine Christians as the rest of them. Why should your definition be more important than theirs? Or mine?

They identify as Christian and do the whole thing. They just read any reference to God as a metaphor. They even attend a Bible study group for people like them. There's apparently a whole movement of Christians like this.



Just based on behaviour Christians today, thry behave as if God exists to validate whatever idiotic notion they have. The Bible isn't used as a guide to help the Christians grow. In order for spiritual growth to occur you need to make an effort... put in the time. Christians today have no time for that shit. A culture geared toward instant gratification and gaining status through consumption is something... But religious it is not. We (The west) have an almost entirely atheistic and nihilistic culture.

Belief in God today as been reduced to an empty phrase people say. With no cost attached. That's a godless existence.

In the Battle for God Karen Armstrong made a convincing case that fundamentalists have lost their faith already. They just haven't admitted it to themselves yet. The blind fanaticism is just a method by which to convince themselves of the truth of God. But they don't believe it. The fundamentalists are the religious with the weakest faith.

Some of us atheists are just more honest about our atheism. Anyhoo... That's what I believe

They can redefine ”christian” as much as they want but i dont know of any major church that doesnt believe in the resurrection if jesus and that jesus was the son of God. If you dont believe in that you are not christian.

Maybe you mean something else by ”being a christian”?

Religion is supposed to be a spiritual activity. I see very little of that in contemporary Christianity

 

[steve_bank]

I don't share their beliefs. But I think they are as genuine Christians as the rest of them. Why should your definition be more important than theirs? Or mine?

They identify as Christian and do the whole thing. They just read any reference to God as a metaphor. They even attend a Bible study group for people like them. There's apparently a whole movement of Christians like this.



Just based on behaviour Christians today, thry behave as if God exists to validate whatever idiotic notion they have. The Bible isn't used as a guide to help the Christians grow. In order for spiritual growth to occur you need to make an effort... put in the time. Christians today have no time for that shit. A culture geared toward instant gratification and gaining status through consumption is something... But religious it is not. We (The west) have an almost entirely atheistic and nihilistic culture.

Belief in God today as been reduced to an empty phrase people say. With no cost attached. That's a godless existence.

In the Battle for God Karen Armstrong made a convincing case that fundamentalists have lost their faith already. They just haven't admitted it to themselves yet. The blind fanaticism is just a method by which to convince themselves of the truth of God. But they don't believe it. The fundamentalists are the religious with the weakest faith.

Some of us atheists are just more honest about our atheism. Anyhoo... That's what I believe

They can redefine ”christian” as much as they want but i dont know of any major church that doesnt believe in the resurrection if jesus and that jesus was the son of God. If you dont believe in that you are not christian.

Maybe you mean something else by ”being a christian”?

Religion is supposed to be a spiritual activity. I see very little of that in contemporary Christianity

Weren't you working on an atheist church a few years back? How did that go.

 

[Underseer]

Yes, it's a fantastic way to 'win' any argument when you can simply assert that your opponent hasn't "admitted" to themselves that they are wrong. Or that they don't really believe what they say they believe.

Not surprised phands loves that quote.

No need to put win in scare quotes like that.

Throughout the industrialized world, atheism is increasing and theism is decreasing.

The only reason the overall number of theists is rising is that third world theists are having babies faster than first world theists can deconvert to atheism.

I don't know how many generations it'll take, but eventually, theism will be thought of as a third world thing, and by then the third world will have a lot more poverty because of all the babies third world theists are having right now.

You lost the arguments thousands of years ago. Religion survived this long because for centuries, the government set people on fire for not being Christian.

Third world poverty is declining, not increasing; And as it does, it is bringing down birth rates (High population growth is caused by, rather than being a cause of, poverty; or rather, poverty increases infant mortality, which leads to increased population as parents overcompensate by having more children).

As the third world becomes less poor, and education levels improve, so religion will die out there too.

Religion cannot survive widespread and effective education. The USA is the only nation to achieve both sufficient education for technological and economic success, and simultaneously high levels of religion - and it does so by separating the irreligious and educated North East and West Coast from the religious and uneducated South and Midwest. Even in the religious areas, the cities are better educated and less religious than the rural areas that surround them.

We'll see, I guess.

The number of theists is rising in the third world, ironically from the very countries that Republicans are trying to prevent immigration from.

 

[bilby]

Third world poverty is declining, not increasing; And as it does, it is bringing down birth rates (High population growth is caused by, rather than being a cause of, poverty; or rather, poverty increases infant mortality, which leads to increased population as parents overcompensate by having more children).

As the third world becomes less poor, and education levels improve, so religion will die out there too.

Religion cannot survive widespread and effective education. The USA is the only nation to achieve both sufficient education for technological and economic success, and simultaneously high levels of religion - and it does so by separating the irreligious and educated North East and West Coast from the religious and uneducated South and Midwest. Even in the religious areas, the cities are better educated and less religious than the rural areas that surround them.

We'll see, I guess.

The number of theists is rising in the third world, ironically from the very countries that Republicans are trying to prevent immigration from.

Sure. The proportion is more important than the absolute numbers though. And the third world is dominated by Islam and Christianity from the outside - Missionaries are very effective in poorly educated societies.

As those societies get less poor, and better educated, missionaries will get less respect and more ridicule.

 

[Juma]

I don't share their beliefs. But I think they are as genuine Christians as the rest of them. Why should your definition be more important than theirs? Or mine?

They identify as Christian and do the whole thing. They just read any reference to God as a metaphor. They even attend a Bible study group for people like them. There's apparently a whole movement of Christians like this.



Just based on behaviour Christians today, thry behave as if God exists to validate whatever idiotic notion they have. The Bible isn't used as a guide to help the Christians grow. In order for spiritual growth to occur you need to make an effort... put in the time. Christians today have no time for that shit. A culture geared toward instant gratification and gaining status through consumption is something... But religious it is not. We (The west) have an almost entirely atheistic and nihilistic culture.

Belief in God today as been reduced to an empty phrase people say. With no cost attached. That's a godless existence.

In the Battle for God Karen Armstrong made a convincing case that fundamentalists have lost their faith already. They just haven't admitted it to themselves yet. The blind fanaticism is just a method by which to convince themselves of the truth of God. But they don't believe it. The fundamentalists are the religious with the weakest faith.

Some of us atheists are just more honest about our atheism. Anyhoo... That's what I believe

They can redefine ”christian” as much as they want but i dont know of any major church that doesnt believe in the resurrection if jesus and that jesus was the son of God. If you dont believe in that you are not christian.

Maybe you mean something else by ”being a christian”?

Religion is supposed to be a spiritual activity. I see very little of that in contemporary Christianity

So what? If you do not believe that jesus was Christ then your not an christian.

 

[DrZoidberg]

Religion is supposed to be a spiritual activity. I see very little of that in contemporary Christianity

Weren't you working on an atheist church a few years back? How did that go.

It's taken on a life of it's own. It's massive now. I'm not actively trying to build it now. I'm just a regular member now. In two weeks we have our annual event. This year in Denmark. 3000 tickets and it's sold out. That's twice the number from last year. People travel from all over. There's "Syntheist temples" popping up all over.

It's exploded. I wish I could explain the popularity. I can't.

I suspect that it's a magnet for "searchers". Similar to the kind of people who were attracted to New Age. But were too uncomfortable with the woo to go full hippie. We have similar kinds of events and activities, but led by people with a scientific background. But like I said... it's too big now, and still too new, to make any good pithy summary. Our members tend to be well educated with good jobs. So there's that pattern. It's a very middle class group.

And now it's also splintered into dozens of sub-groups each with their own focus. All being losely held together somehow. People jump between these groupings all the time.

It's not organised from the top. It never was. Yet, stuff keeps happening driven by iniatives from whoever feels they want to.

I'm amazed it still exists and became something. The Christians I told you about is part of the Syntheists. But they have their Christian sub-group. They found eachother through Syntheism.

So basically, it's gone better than anything I dared hope for. Wildly more successful. I think all the founders are equally baffled by the popularity, impact and that it works so well. We clearly had a well thought out structure for how to build this. That's nice to learn.

It's been six years since we founded it. I think that's enough time to say it's been successful

 

[Underseer]

Third world poverty is declining, not increasing; And as it does, it is bringing down birth rates (High population growth is caused by, rather than being a cause of, poverty; or rather, poverty increases infant mortality, which leads to increased population as parents overcompensate by having more children).

As the third world becomes less poor, and education levels improve, so religion will die out there too.

Religion cannot survive widespread and effective education. The USA is the only nation to achieve both sufficient education for technological and economic success, and simultaneously high levels of religion - and it does so by separating the irreligious and educated North East and West Coast from the religious and uneducated South and Midwest. Even in the religious areas, the cities are better educated and less religious than the rural areas that surround them.

We'll see, I guess.

The number of theists is rising in the third world, ironically from the very countries that Republicans are trying to prevent immigration from.

Sure. The proportion is more important than the absolute numbers though. And the third world is dominated by Islam and Christianity from the outside - Missionaries are very effective in poorly educated societies.

As those societies get less poor, and better educated, missionaries will get less respect and more ridicule.

Both Christianity and Islam have factions that are promoting pronatalism. One way or the other, that's going to have awful consequences for the third world.

 

[Underseer]

Religion is supposed to be a spiritual activity. I see very little of that in contemporary Christianity

Weren't you working on an atheist church a few years back? How did that go.

It's taken on a life of it's own. It's massive now. I'm not actively trying to build it now. I'm just a regular member now. In two weeks we have our annual event. This year in Denmark. 3000 tickets and it's sold out. That's twice the number from last year. People travel from all over. There's "Syntheist temples" popping up all over.

It's exploded. I wish I could explain the popularity. I can't.

I suspect that it's a magnet for "searchers". Similar to the kind of people who were attracted to New Age. But were too uncomfortable with the woo to go full hippie. We have similar kinds of events and activities, but led by people with a scientific background. But like I said... it's too big now, and still too new, to make any good pithy summary. Our members tend to be well educated with good jobs. So there's that pattern. It's a very middle class group.

And now it's also splintered into dozens of sub-groups each with their own focus. All being losely held together somehow. People jump between these groupings all the time.

It's not organised from the top. It never was. Yet, stuff keeps happening driven by iniatives from whoever feels they want to.

I'm amazed it still exists and became something. The Christians I told you about is part of the Syntheists. But they have their Christian sub-group. They found eachother through Syntheism.

So basically, it's gone better than anything I dared hope for. Wildly more successful. I think all the founders are equally baffled by the popularity, impact and that it works so well. We clearly had a well thought out structure for how to build this. That's nice to learn.

It's been six years since we founded it. I think that's enough time to say it's been successful

There are lots of reasons.

I make a special point of talking to ex-theist atheists because I'm fascinated. (I have no idea if I would have been able to overcome the indoctrination.)

One of the questions I ask is for the list of good things about being a theist. Overwhelmingly, the most common answer is simply having an extrafamilial support network that can be leaned on in times of trouble for the minor cost of helping others when they need the help and whatever tithes you owe the church.

 

[bilby]

Sure. The proportion is more important than the absolute numbers though. And the third world is dominated by Islam and Christianity from the outside - Missionaries are very effective in poorly educated societies.

As those societies get less poor, and better educated, missionaries will get less respect and more ridicule.

Both Christianity and Islam have factions that are promoting pronatalism. One way or the other, that's going to have awful consequences for the third world.

It already is and has had such consequences. But in the last couple of decades that has been more than compensated for by reducing child mortality and increasing levels of income and education.

In the 20th century, the missionaries wanted more babies to add to their religions, and the parents wanted enough babies to be confident that at least foir or five would be around to support their parents in their dotage.

The missionaries haven't changed and probably never will. But these days, African mothers are more likely to want two or three children than seven or eight - The end of famine and the widening availability of vaccines means that that's enough to be confident of having adult children in a few decades time.

Things are improving. Very slowly, due in no small part to the fucking missionary arseholes who have been fucking things up for a couple of centuries; But nevertheless, the improvements are measurable and significant.

 

[DrZoidberg]

It's taken on a life of it's own. It's massive now. I'm not actively trying to build it now. I'm just a regular member now. In two weeks we have our annual event. This year in Denmark. 3000 tickets and it's sold out. That's twice the number from last year. People travel from all over. There's "Syntheist temples" popping up all over.

It's exploded. I wish I could explain the popularity. I can't.

I suspect that it's a magnet for "searchers". Similar to the kind of people who were attracted to New Age. But were too uncomfortable with the woo to go full hippie. We have similar kinds of events and activities, but led by people with a scientific background. But like I said... it's too big now, and still too new, to make any good pithy summary. Our members tend to be well educated with good jobs. So there's that pattern. It's a very middle class group.

And now it's also splintered into dozens of sub-groups each with their own focus. All being losely held together somehow. People jump between these groupings all the time.

It's not organised from the top. It never was. Yet, stuff keeps happening driven by iniatives from whoever feels they want to.

I'm amazed it still exists and became something. The Christians I told you about is part of the Syntheists. But they have their Christian sub-group. They found eachother through Syntheism.

So basically, it's gone better than anything I dared hope for. Wildly more successful. I think all the founders are equally baffled by the popularity, impact and that it works so well. We clearly had a well thought out structure for how to build this. That's nice to learn.

It's been six years since we founded it. I think that's enough time to say it's been successful

There are lots of reasons.

I make a special point of talking to ex-theist atheists because I'm fascinated. (I have no idea if I would have been able to overcome the indoctrination.)

One of the questions I ask is for the list of good things about being a theist. Overwhelmingly, the most common answer is simply having an extrafamilial support network that can be leaned on in times of trouble for the minor cost of helping others when they need the help and whatever tithes you owe the church.

In Scandinavia we have no religious indoctrination to over-come. Religion has been dead for over half a century. Theism isn't coming back. We also haven't got atheistic indoctrination. That whole paradigm of human thought just want away. For whatever reasons Scandinavians seems to lack the urge to impress their own religious/philosophical values onto their children.

That was one of the factors that drove us to create Syntheism. There's several Syntheist forums. On one of these a man, who is suffering from severe depression said today that the loneliness of his depression is unbearable, and a bunch of Sytheists promptly invited him to things. Now he's out on a walk in a forrest with some of us.

So whatever we define Syntheism as it's working

 

[steve_bank]

Religion is supposed to be a spiritual activity. I see very little of that in contemporary Christianity

Weren't you working on an atheist church a few years back? How did that go.

It's taken on a life of it's own. It's massive now. I'm not actively trying to build it now. I'm just a regular member now. In two weeks we have our annual event. This year in Denmark. 3000 tickets and it's sold out. That's twice the number from last year. People travel from all over. There's "Syntheist temples" popping up all over.

It's exploded. I wish I could explain the popularity. I can't.

I suspect that it's a magnet for "searchers". Similar to the kind of people who were attracted to New Age. But were too uncomfortable with the woo to go full hippie. We have similar kinds of events and activities, but led by people with a scientific background. But like I said... it's too big now, and still too new, to make any good pithy summary. Our members tend to be well educated with good jobs. So there's that pattern. It's a very middle class group.

And now it's also splintered into dozens of sub-groups each with their own focus. All being losely held together somehow. People jump between these groupings all the time.

It's not organised from the top. It never was. Yet, stuff keeps happening driven by iniatives from whoever feels they want to.

I'm amazed it still exists and became something. The Christians I told you about is part of the Syntheists. But they have their Christian sub-group. They found eachother through Syntheism.

So basically, it's gone better than anything I dared hope for. Wildly more successful. I think all the founders are equally baffled by the popularity, impact and that it works so well. We clearly had a well thought out structure for how to build this. That's nice to learn.

It's been six years since we founded it. I think that's enough time to say it's been successful

What you're describing over here is the Unitarians Universalists. Any belief including atheism is accepted. It became a place for people who want a sense of spiritualism without formal religion. There is an underlying morality and classes for kids, at least in a local church I looked into.

 

[steve_bank]

It's taken on a life of it's own. It's massive now. I'm not actively trying to build it now. I'm just a regular member now. In two weeks we have our annual event. This year in Denmark. 3000 tickets and it's sold out. That's twice the number from last year. People travel from all over. There's "Syntheist temples" popping up all over.

It's exploded. I wish I could explain the popularity. I can't.

I suspect that it's a magnet for "searchers". Similar to the kind of people who were attracted to New Age. But were too uncomfortable with the woo to go full hippie. We have similar kinds of events and activities, but led by people with a scientific background. But like I said... it's too big now, and still too new, to make any good pithy summary. Our members tend to be well educated with good jobs. So there's that pattern. It's a very middle class group.

And now it's also splintered into dozens of sub-groups each with their own focus. All being losely held together somehow. People jump between these groupings all the time.

It's not organised from the top. It never was. Yet, stuff keeps happening driven by iniatives from whoever feels they want to.

I'm amazed it still exists and became something. The Christians I told you about is part of the Syntheists. But they have their Christian sub-group. They found eachother through Syntheism.

So basically, it's gone better than anything I dared hope for. Wildly more successful. I think all the founders are equally baffled by the popularity, impact and that it works so well. We clearly had a well thought out structure for how to build this. That's nice to learn.

It's been six years since we founded it. I think that's enough time to say it's been successful

There are lots of reasons.

I make a special point of talking to ex-theist atheists because I'm fascinated. (I have no idea if I would have been able to overcome the indoctrination.)

One of the questions I ask is for the list of good things about being a theist. Overwhelmingly, the most common answer is simply having an extrafamilial support network that can be leaned on in times of trouble for the minor cost of helping others when they need the help and whatever tithes you owe the church.

In Scandinavia we have no religious indoctrination to over-come. Religion has been dead for over half a century. Theism isn't coming back. We also haven't got atheistic indoctrination. That whole paradigm of human thought just want away. For whatever reasons Scandinavians seems to lack the urge to impress their own religious/philosophical values onto their children.

That was one of the factors that drove us to create Syntheism. There's several Syntheist forums. On one of these a man, who is suffering from severe depression said today that the loneliness of his depression is unbearable, and a bunch of Sytheists promptly invited him to things. Now he's out on a walk in a forrest with some of us.

So whatever we define Syntheism as it's working

What you are describing does not sound like atheism.

 

[HaRaAYaH]

It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion--its message becomes meaningless.

Abraham Joshua Heschel in God in Search of Man

 

[Jobar]

I've long said that atheism is not a religion, or a philosophical position upon which one can build a worldview. All it is, basically, is a statement of lack of belief, or negation of the validity of any idea of god(s), or any system built on belief in god(s). Atheism is not a complete paradigm, though it ought to be a single aspect or facet of such a paradigm. So it can't really be said to have 'won' until, in the words of Ingersoll, "...the myth called Jehovah [and by extension any other named god] can be destroyed from the human mind." And really I don't think that will ever happen.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

I've long said that atheism is not a religion, or a philosophical position upon which one can build a worldview. All it is, basically, is a statement of lack of belief, or negation of the validity of any idea of god(s), or any system built on belief in god(s). Atheism is not a complete paradigm, though it ought to be a single aspect or facet of such a paradigm. So it can't really be said to have 'won' until, in the words of Ingersoll, "...the myth called Jehovah [and by extension any other named god] can be destroyed from the human mind." And really I don't think that will ever happen.

Of course it will never happen, at least not in all cases, but does that invalidate it? Emotions are easy, instinctive. Intellect takes knowledge and experience, the suppressing of emotional gratification. That's rather uncommon. Is the uncommon something that "does not happen?"

 

[DrZoidberg]

It's taken on a life of it's own. It's massive now. I'm not actively trying to build it now. I'm just a regular member now. In two weeks we have our annual event. This year in Denmark. 3000 tickets and it's sold out. That's twice the number from last year. People travel from all over. There's "Syntheist temples" popping up all over.

It's exploded. I wish I could explain the popularity. I can't.

I suspect that it's a magnet for "searchers". Similar to the kind of people who were attracted to New Age. But were too uncomfortable with the woo to go full hippie. We have similar kinds of events and activities, but led by people with a scientific background. But like I said... it's too big now, and still too new, to make any good pithy summary. Our members tend to be well educated with good jobs. So there's that pattern. It's a very middle class group.

And now it's also splintered into dozens of sub-groups each with their own focus. All being losely held together somehow. People jump between these groupings all the time.

It's not organised from the top. It never was. Yet, stuff keeps happening driven by iniatives from whoever feels they want to.

I'm amazed it still exists and became something. The Christians I told you about is part of the Syntheists. But they have their Christian sub-group. They found eachother through Syntheism.

So basically, it's gone better than anything I dared hope for. Wildly more successful. I think all the founders are equally baffled by the popularity, impact and that it works so well. We clearly had a well thought out structure for how to build this. That's nice to learn.

It's been six years since we founded it. I think that's enough time to say it's been successful

What you're describing over here is the Unitarians Universalists. Any belief including atheism is accepted. It became a place for people who want a sense of spiritualism without formal religion. There is an underlying morality and classes for kids, at least in a local church I looked into.

I want a formal religion. That's why we created this. It's not formless. It's more like a smorgasbord with many flavours to chose from.

Spiritual practices that have an "open mind" about the supernatural, invariably turns retarded. Magical thinking is rife in our world. Tolerating it is to encourage it. I have no time for that.

While I defend religions, I'm still as militantly atheist as I've ever been. I don't have respect for any beliefs that require magic. It's dumb and frankly embarrassing for an adult human to associate with. I don't want to be associated with it.

What I defend about religion is the other stuff. All major religions have plenty of aspects that work without the need for God. "School of life" type stuff.

Since I live in Scandinavia and that religion is in practice dead here it's good to have an anti-theistic stance to make this take off. Belief in God is intelligence-repellent over here. I like smart people.

 

[DrZoidberg]

I've long said that atheism is not a religion, or a philosophical position upon which one can build a worldview. All it is, basically, is a statement of lack of belief, or negation of the validity of any idea of god(s), or any system built on belief in god(s). Atheism is not a complete paradigm, though it ought to be a single aspect or facet of such a paradigm. So it can't really be said to have 'won' until, in the words of Ingersoll, "...the myth called Jehovah [and by extension any other named god] can be destroyed from the human mind." And really I don't think that will ever happen.

That's aparent in Scandinavia. Atheism is dependent on strong theism in a culture. Without it it's not meaningful.

I like the term post-atheism to describe a culture that is mostly atheistic.

 

[Shake]

There isn't a (specific) word for people who do not believe in, say, unicorns, because it's pretty much universally accepted they don't exist. Once we get to the same state of affairs with respect to gods then we will no longer have a need to use the word "atheist," and then we will have "won."

Don't get me wrong, the normalization of atheists is a necessary steps, as is decreasing both the number and influence of religious people.

Someone — sorry, I'm too lazy at the moment to go back and find out who — above said that certain parts of the Religious Right (Dominionists) are most certainly not 'losing' right now. They set out their goals long ago and have been working hard ever since to achieve them. They knew it was a long game, but they were prepared to take the time because they believe in what they're doing. We're behind in that regard and also because we're not as easily organized. However, the more we can lessen their impact through any means, be it voting, exposing their lies, or otherwise directly opposing them, the better we'll all be. Education is key, because those who don't understand, for example, church-state separation, will be those who vote for public displays of the Decalogue. Then they'll get all bent out of shape when some other religious group takes advantage of some law they've passed (as Satanists have done in several cases) and the ensuing brouhaha will just wind up costing taxpayers more in the long run. It will also serve to just upset more people and lessen the chances of people coming together to support the common good.