海角大神

In the summer of 1945, Albert Einstein typed a note to a young ensign stationed aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier out in the Pacific, responding to the passionate letter he鈥檇 received from him the month before.

A Jesuit priest had told the ensign he had convinced the famous physicist to believe in 鈥渁 supreme intellect who governs the world.鈥� The ensign was shocked, and he wrote to Einstein to offer a number of arguments against such an idea.

In his reply, a letter that is up for auction at Bonhams in New York, Einstein dismisses the tale, saying that from 鈥渢he viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist.鈥� The 鈥渁nthropomorphical concepts鈥� in religion are 鈥渃hildish analogies,鈥� he wrote.

As an artifact of America鈥檚 religious history, there is something familiar in the tone of these two atheists: the earnestness, the certainty, the near mocking tone toward 鈥渃hildish鈥� religious beliefs.

But Einstein also closed his letter with a sentiment that is often overlooked in the complicated and, in fact, wildly diverse landscape of American nonbelief, including atheism and its less strident cousin, agnosticism. And many see his closing sentiment as really quite spiritual:

鈥淲e have to admire in humility the beautiful harmony of the structure of the world 鈥� as far as we can grasp it. And that is all,鈥� wrote the physicist who changed the course of human history.

Americans have long been uneasy with those who say they don鈥檛 believe in God. As a whole, Americans have consistently reported that they view atheists with more suspicion than any other group, whether ethnic, racial, or religious 鈥� including Muslims. Even as the country has become, overall, more tolerant and more accepting of other faith traditions, atheism has long remained the conspicuous exception.

A decade ago, the public face of atheism was dominated by a cadre of aggressive and media-savvy thinkers who were cheekily dubbed 鈥渢he four horsemen鈥� 鈥� the biologist Richard Dawkins, the philosopher Daniel Dennett, and the cultural critics Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens 鈥� who railed against the 鈥淕od delusion鈥� and ridiculed traditional faith and piety as 鈥渃hildish analogies.鈥�

But as with many religious communities 鈥� or in this case, areligious communities 鈥� the voices that often dominate the digital pulses of modern media often belie the steady hum of people鈥檚 daily lives and lived beliefs, and the wide range of historic institutions and moral commitments in which American nonbelievers have been more likely to express humility, compassion, and lovingkindness.

鈥淭hose who are theists tend to conflate nontheism, atheism, humanism 鈥� they don鈥檛 see that there is a spectrum of differing perspectives,鈥� says Anne Klaeysen, a leader in the New York Society for Ethical Culture and the humanist chaplain at New York University. 鈥淎nd on the other hand, we have what I call fundamentalist atheists, who look at all theists as the same.鈥�

鈥淚 am not a big fan of the so-called new atheists,鈥� she continues. 鈥淭hey lack an intellectual and a moral humility about the world and about people鈥檚 beliefs.鈥澛犅�

Platform address on the 鈥楪od letters鈥�

On Sunday, the 鈥減latform address,鈥� aka 鈥渟ermon,鈥� at the Society for Ethical Culture, a nontheistic community founded in 1876, was a meditation on another of Einstein鈥檚 鈥淕od letters,鈥� Ms. Klaeysen says. In this letter (which Christie鈥檚 recently auctioned for $2.9 million), the physicist explains his rejection of a supernatural God, but explains how he is deeply religious.

Indeed, whether it鈥檚 the humility and awe that many feel before 鈥渢he beautiful harmony鈥� of the universe, or perhaps even the feelings of fear and trembling before its sheer cosmic vastness, many among the estimated 30 million Americans who say they don鈥檛 believe in God have been exploring what could be called nontheistic forms of spirituality.

Rather than emphasizing centuries-old objections to supernaturalism or the idea of a personal and perhaps patriarchal God, an array of American atheists, agnostics, and humanists have turned toward what they describe as a deeply felt impulse to participate in communities that mark the rhythms of life and death, and work to build moral character and a better world.

This isn鈥檛 really anything new in the American religious landscape, notes Bart Campolo, the humanist chaplain at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio and a 鈥渃ommunity builder鈥� for self-described religious humanists.

For him, 鈥渢he awe and wonder that naturally arise from contemplating the universe鈥� is just the starting point for humanist leaders like him. Today, he and others are seeking to 鈥渆ncourage such contemplation and then help people practically translate those noble emotions into lovingkindness,鈥� says Mr. Campolo, a former Evangelical pastor.

鈥淪o the question is, hey, how do we translate that, or how do we manifest that in a group when the narrative at the center of it isn鈥檛, we should pursue lovingkindness because God commands it, or because we鈥檒l go to heaven if we do it, but rather, we should pursue lovingkindness because it鈥檚 the most sensible way of trying to flourish as a human being.鈥�

Like Mr. Campolo, more Americans have begun to turn away from organized religion. The millennial generation, especially, has been at the center of one of the fastest-growing religious cohorts in the nation 鈥� the so-called nones,聽a culturally diverse group of Americans who no longer check a specific faith tradition as part of their identities. But even those who say there is no God have begun to reject easy labels, experts say.

鈥淪o many labels try to define people by what they are not 鈥� spiritual-but-not-religious, non-believers, atheists, even religious 鈥榥ones鈥�,鈥� says Douglas Hicks, dean and professor of religion at Oxford College of Emory University in Georgia, via email. 鈥淏ut everyone has a worldview and it is often incredibly profound. They often have layers of moral complexity that defy labels.鈥�

鈥業 don鈥檛 want to be defined by what I鈥檓 not鈥�

This has made the job of demographers and pollsters difficult. Today, the burgeoning number of 鈥渘ones鈥� has swelled to about 25 percent of the population, Pew Research Center聽reports. These include the growing number of Americans who call themselves 鈥渁theists,鈥� about 3 percent of the population, and 鈥渁gnostics,鈥� or those who believe the existence of God cannot be known, and who make up about 4 percent of the population.

Surveys that try to gauge atheistic beliefs with more indirect questions estimate that the number of people who don鈥檛 believe in a supernatural God may be as high as 26 percent of the population.

鈥淒o I make any decisions based on the possibility that God exists? I don鈥檛,鈥� says Mr. Campolo. 鈥淪o technically, I guess, I鈥檓 agnostic. Practically, I鈥檓 an atheist, but I would never call myself either of those things, because those words in our society at this moment connote anti-religious or connote anti-anti-海角大神 perspectives, and I don鈥檛 want to be defined by what I鈥檓 not.鈥�

Instead, he prefers to call himself a 鈥渉umanist.鈥� 鈥淏ut not because it鈥檚 a great name, but because it was kind of undefined. And so, like when I was the humanist chaplain at USC [in Los Angeles], the 鈥榟umanists鈥� ended up being people who are committed to pursuing love as a way of life and who eat dinner with Bart on Sunday nights.鈥�

As the number of 鈥渘ones鈥� and nonbelievers grow, there are signs that some of the antipathy Americans have had toward atheists have begun to thaw, recent surveys suggest.

Last Monday, Portland, Oregon, became the second city in the U.S. to extend civil rights protections to atheists, agnostics, and other 鈥渘on-religious鈥� people, after Madison, Wisconsin, did the same in 2015. Nearly a third of the population in Oregon describe themselves as 鈥渘ones鈥� 鈥� the largest single cohort in the state, followed by evangelical Protestants, who make up 29 percent, and Catholics, who make up 12 percent, according to Pew.

As many critics note, the 鈥渘ew atheism鈥� movement is overwhelmingly white and male, and even plagued by a 鈥渂razen sexism鈥� and vehement intolerance that makes women and others prefer to distance themselves from the term. And of course, every group has its trolls 鈥� eager to cast derision and mockery on people who believe differently than they do.

That said, 鈥淚鈥檝e seen plenty of evidence of folks in the nontheist movement moving away from the four-horsemen 鈥榥ew atheism,鈥� and moving away from antagonism toward religion,鈥� says Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.

Many nontheists have used terms such as 鈥渞eligious naturalism鈥� or 鈥渞eligious humanism鈥� or 鈥渉umanistic spirituality鈥� to describe the underlying beliefs that support their ethical and moral convictions without an appeal to divine revelation or a supernatural God.

鈥淒o I believe in a personal God? No,鈥� says Robert Strock, a therapist and counselor who heads The Global Bridge Foundation, a humanitarian group in Santa Monica, California. 鈥淒o I feel like humanistic spirituality is including people that do? Absolutely, yes. I feel like I鈥檇 be a bigot if I didn鈥檛.鈥�

Not all nontheists, especially those who embrace the identity 鈥渁theist,鈥� are comfortable with terms like 鈥渞eligion鈥� or 鈥渟pirituality,鈥� however. And many see their role as combating the dangers of supernatural beliefs and sectarian ideologies that they see as a major source of human discord and violence.

鈥淪pirituality is a term that I鈥檓 comfortable with, but not all of my colleagues are,鈥� says Ms. Klaeysen, who has a doctorate in pastoral counseling and congregational development.

鈥淗ow I look at it is, I think of transcendence not as an out-of-body or other worldly experience, but more of, how am I making a real connection, a connection not outside myself, but kind of a 鈥榮uper connection鈥� if you will, whether it is with another human, or a community, or with music, art, nature 鈥� a sense that I鈥檓 fully aware of myself in nature or as part of the universe.鈥�