Aweism

Spirituality is (unfortunately, I think) a dirty word to a lot of atheists.

We like to talk about what amazes us – looking at the night sky and knowing how fascinatingly small we are compared to its expanse, pondering how our long evolutionary origins moved from bacteria to entities capable of building computers,

The other day at an atheist meetup in St. Louis, we talked about using the term “aweism” to refer to our own wonder and awe at experiencing the world around us.

Phil Zuckerman was the first to publicize the idea, in an edition of Free Inquiry magazine. He writes:

Yes, I am an atheist. Yes I am an agnostic- at least the version that suspects that there may be limits to human knowledge. Yes, I support and advocate the sane and noble goals of secular humanism. But I am something more. I am often full of a profound feeling. And the word that comes closest to describing that profound feeling is awe…

Aweism
Aweism is the belief that existence is ultimately a beautiful mystery, that being alive is a wellspring of wonder, and that the deepest questions of life, death, time, and space are so powerful as to inspire deep feelings of joy, poignancy, and sublime awe… There are literally hundreds of words to describe the religious… and yet when we consider the labels and self-designations available to secular folk we can count them on one or two hands… We should not shy away from articulating the various shades of secularity that we may experience, for it is important to others as well as to ourselves, to accurately describe the numerous ways in which one can be godless…”

Lack of belief in gods does not render the universe more mundane than it was before. I like to think that the universe is more amazing and inspiring, given that the life here on earth arose due to entirely natural (rather than supernatural) processes.  I am amazed that every one of the molecules in my body was at one time part of a star, part of the big bang, part of the origins of the universe. In a way, when we feel a subjective feeling of connection to the universe, I ponder if this is part of what we are feeling – it’s an emotional response brought on by rational understanding. We are connected, and it’s impossible to escape.