The Spirituality Blues
In this issue of The Weekly Standard, I review Andre Comte-Sponville’s The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality.
An Unbeliever’s Prayer
You don’t need God to be satisfactorily spiritual.
by Garin Hovannisian
03/17/2008, Volume 013, Issue 26
The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality
by André Comte-Sponville
Viking, 224 pp., $19.95
This Little Book of Atheist Spirituality would have been considerably littler if it had begun on page 134, where its creator first suggests that atheist spirituality is even possible. But we tend to forgive André Comte-Sponville. It is understandable that the eminent French philosopher should begin by unloading his own thoughts about love, death, and the universe. And besides, we enjoy the journey through his detours, paved as they are with charm, charisma, and lovely Parisian sentimentality.
Most important, we discover that Comte-Sponville is not a cranky, cantankerous atheist. He was born into Christendom, and raised there; and though he eventually defected, he was never disinfected of its moral graces. He calls himself a “non-dogmatic atheist,” a “faithful atheist,” even a “Christian atheist.” Comte-Sponville might not believe in God, but he admires Him. An atheist he is; a heathen he is not.
Read more…
