And if you're going to preference supernaturalism over non-theism, or one deeply held religious belief over another, by mandating that people have to listen to and acknowledge a belief like "life begins at conception" and wait to get an abortion — then I feel that runs against the grain of the very spirit of American pluralism.
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In late Vedic era, with the start of Upanishadic age (~800-600 BCE), from the henotheistic, panentheistic concepts emerge the concepts which scholars variously call nondualism or monism, as well as forms of non-theism.
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More recently, interest in non-theism resurfaced, particularly under the British Friend David Boulton, who founded the 40-member Nontheist Friends Network in 2011. Non-theism is controversial, leading some Christian Quakers from within Britain Yearly Meeting to call for non-theists to be denied membership. In one study of Friends in the Britain Yearly Meeting, some 30 per cent of Quakers had views described as non-theistic, agnostic, or atheist. Another study found that 75.1 per cent of the 727 members of the Religious Society of Friends who completed the survey said that they consider themselves to be Christian and 17.6 per cent that they did not, while 7.3 per cent either did not answer or circled both answers.
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The Oxford English Dictionary (2007) does not have an entry for nontheism or non- theism, but it does have an entry for non-theist, defined as "A person who is not a theist", and an entry for the adjectival non-theistic. An early usage of the hyphenated non-theism is by George Holyoake in 1852,"The Reasoner", New Series, No. VIII. 115 who introduces it because: This passage is cited by James Buchanan in his 1857 Modern Atheism under its forms of Pantheism, Materialism, Secularism, Development, and Natural Laws, who however goes on to state: Spelling without hyphen sees scattered use in the later 20th century, following Harvey Cox's 1966 Secular City: "Thus the hidden God or deus absconditus of biblical theology may be mistaken for the no-god-at-all of nontheism." Usage increased in the 1990s in contexts where association with the terms atheism or antitheism was unwanted.
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Negative atheism includes all other forms of non-theism. According to this categorization, anyone who is not a theist is either a negative or a positive atheist. The terms weak and strong are relatively recent, while the terms negative and positive atheism are of older origin, having been used (in slightly different ways) in the philosophical literature and in Catholic apologetics. Under this demarcation of atheism, most agnostics qualify as negative atheists.
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Mahasi Sayadaw,Thoughts on the Dhamma, The Wheel Publication No. 298/300, Kandy BPS, 1983, "...when Buddha- dhamma is being disseminated, there should be only one basis of teaching relating to the Middle Way or the Eightfold Path: the practice of morality, concentration, and acquisition of profound knowledge, and the Four Noble Truths." Despite this apparent non-theism, Buddhists consider veneration of the Noble OnesBuddhists consider an enlightened person, the Dhamma and the community of monks as noble. See Three Jewels. very important although the two main schools of Buddhism differ mildly in their reverential attitudes.
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Quakers in the unprogrammed or "silent worship" tradition of Quaker practice have in the 20th century begun to examine the significance of nontheistic beliefs in the Society of Friends, as part of the Quaker tradition of seeking truth. Non-theism among Quakers probably dates to the 1930s, when some Quakers in California branched off to form the Humanist Society of Friends (today part of the American Humanist Association), and when Henry Cadbury professed agnosticism in a 1936 lecture to Harvard Divinity School students. The term "non-theistic" first appeared in a Quaker publication in 1952 on conscientious objection.Tatum, Lyle (ed.). 1952.
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The Vedic hymns treat it as "limitless, indescribable, absolute principle", thus the Vedic divine is something of a panentheism rather than simple henotheism. In late Vedic era, around the start of Upanishadic age (~800 BCE), theosophical speculations emerge that develop concepts which scholars variously call nondualism or monism, as well as forms of non-theism and pantheism. An example of the questioning of the concept of God, in addition to henotheistic hymns found therein, are in later portions of the Rigveda, such as the Nasadiya Sukta. Hinduism calls the metaphysical absolute concept as Brahman, incorporating within it the transcendent and immanent reality.
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800 BCE), theosophical speculations emerge that develop concepts which scholars variously call nondualism or monism, as well as forms of non-theism and pantheism. An example of the questioning of the concept of God, in addition to henotheistic hymns found therein, are in later portions of the Rigveda, such as the Nasadiya Sukta. Hinduism calls the metaphysical absolute concept as Brahman, incorporating within it the transcendent and immanent reality.PT Raju (2006), Idealistic Thought of India, Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XIIPaul Deussen, Sixty Upanishads of the Veda, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 91 Different schools of thought interpret Brahman as either personal, impersonal or transpersonal.
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Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in a God or gods. Nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject of God and differs from an antithetical, explicit atheism. Nontheism does not necessarily describe atheism or disbelief in God; it has been used as an umbrella term for summarizing various distinct and even mutually exclusive positions, such as agnosticism, ignosticism, ietsism, skepticism, pantheism, atheism, strong or positive atheism, implicit atheism, and apatheism. It is in use in the fields of Christian apologetics and general liberal theology.
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In 2013, Vosper's beliefs moved from non-theism to atheism after she read about the plight of Pakistani bloggers who faced imprisonment and execution as blasphemers for questioning the existence of God. Although many inside and outside the wider church questioned how an avowed atheist could still be a minister, the United Church leadership still abstained from taking action. In 2015, following the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris, the United Church published a prayer for those who had been killed. In response, Vosper wrote an open letter to Gary Paterson, then moderator of the United Church, arguing that the use of religious language in the prayer, namely the belief in a supernatural God, only reinforced the beliefs that had motivated the killings.
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A statue of Siddartha Gautama preaching. Since the arrival of Christian missionaries in India in the 10th century, followed by the arrival of Buddhism in Western Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries, similarities were perceived between the practices of Buddhism and Christianity.Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 2004, page 160 During the 20th century the differences between these two belief systems were also highlighted. Despite surface level non-scholarly analogies, Buddhism and Christianity have inherent and fundamental differences at the deepest levels, beginning with monotheism's place at the core of Christianity and Buddhism's orientation towards non-theism and its rejection of the notion of a creator deity which runs counter to teachings about God in Christianity; and extending to the importance of Grace in Christianity against the rejection of interference with Karma in Theravada Buddhism, etc.
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Christ and Buddha by Paul Ranson, 1880 Analogies have been drawn between Buddhism and Christianity and Buddhism may have influenced early Christianity. Buddhist missionaries were sent by Emperor Ashoka of India to Syria, Egypt and Greece beginning in 250 BCE and may have helped prepare for the ethics of Christ. Others have noted the significant differences between the two religions beginning with monotheism's place at the core of Christianity, and Buddhism's orientation towards non-theism (the lack of relevancy of the existence of a creator deity) which runs counter to teachings about God in Christianity; and extending to the importance of grace in Christianity against the rejection of interference with karma in Theravada Buddhism, etc. Some early Christians were aware of Buddhism which was practiced in both the Greek and Roman Empires in the pre-Christian period.
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Advocates of spiritual naturalism can vary in their position across the religious spectrum including deism, theism (or process theism), non-theism, and atheism, though it is by no means limited to these orientations. The majority of adherents are believed to be agnostic or atheistic while many prefer not to be categorized. There is a vast difference in opinions on how to address the question of a deity of some kind, if at all. There are those who see God as the creative process within/of the universe, those who define God as the totality of the universe (The All), some who use God in metaphoric ways, those who have no need to use the concept or terminology of God even as a metaphor, and some who are atheistic proclaiming there is no such entity whatsoever and rebel against usage of the term.
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