Atheism in Five Minutes - Teemu Taira
55. Do Atheists Have Religious Experiences?
Atheism in Five Minutes - Teemu Taira
Abby Day [+]
Goldsmiths, University of London
Abby Day is Professor in Race, Faith and Culture in the Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London, where her teaching, research, writing and supervisions cover sociology of religion, media and religion, and critical criminology. Past Chair of the Sociology of Religion Study group in the British Sociological Association, her work focuses on improving the academic and public understanding of complex religious and non-religious identities.
Description
If religion is defined as an institution that is organised around transcendent, other-worldly beliefs and phenomena, and a religious experience is a moment when such numinous, other-worldly beings or feelings are sensed then, yes, research clearly shows that atheists have such experiences. The term ‘atheist’ merely signals a disbelief in god, not a disbelief in ghosts or granny’s enduring spirit.