Communication Between Cultures

is also a belief in helping others, that assistance centers on people helping people, not

an outside authority.

A Set of Ethical Standards

Like all worldviews, atheism espouses a set of ethical standards. Though many people

who rebuff the atheistic worldview charge that atheists are void of ethics, in actuality

the ethical standards that atheists propose can be found in nearly all religious tradi-

tions. For example, United States Atheists, in an article titled“An Atheist’s World

View: 15 Principles of Atheism,”maintain that atheists cannot avoid responsibility

for their actions, should encourage a respect for nature and humanity, and should

advance social action that creates a better world.^21

The Finality of Death

As a secular humanist, the physicist Stephen Hawking’s description of death in many ways

summarizes the secularist’s concept of death when he writes of heaven as a“fairy tale for

people who are afraid of the dark.”For those who hold this view, death is the end of this

life, and there is no other life after this one. Cornish repeats this essential aspect of atheism

when he writes,“The simple fact is that all life-forms end in death and the elements of

which they are composed return to the air and earth to be taken up and recycled into

some new organism.”^22 Because of this interpretation of dying, atheists believe that

death is not a spiritual matter but rather an undeniable biological truth about our exis-

tence. When there are funerals, they are keptvery simple. They are intended to offer sup-

port to the family by recalling the accomplishments of the deceased.

Spirituality as a Worldview

While the notion of spirituality has been discussed for thousands of years, recently,

under the rubric“New Age,”this worldview has gained a large following, especially

in the United States. As is the case with all worldviews, spirituality has produced dif-

ferent strands. First, because of its popular culture exposure, the concept and the word

have become fashionable and chic. In general, spirituality is regarded as a system that

stresses that a person does not need formal religion to live a life of faith. This partic-

ular approach to spiritualism also draws from a variety of sources. For example, this

form of spiritualism“has touches of various Asian and indigenous religions. This is

an eclectic group of beliefs and practices: crystal healing, channeling spirits, shaman-

ism, venerations of the Earth, and ritual techniques.”^23

A different and more formalized view of spirituality also exists. It is“concerned with

the scared, as distinguished from ordinary reality, but is often individual rather than

collective and does not require a distinctive format or traditional organization.”^24 It is

this idea of having a personalized worldview that appeals to the American value of indi-

vidualism. The notion of a“religion”wherein people can turn to themselves to discover

“inner peace”combines this value of individualism with the value of free choice. Carl

Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist and popular figure among contemporary spiritualists,

expressed this view when he remarked somewhat poetically,“Your vision will become

clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks

inside, awakens.”Underscoring the distinction between religion and personal spiritual-

ity is the idea of emphasis on the individual versus the institution:

Spirituality as a Worldview 107

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