Historical and Ideological Shifts Boosting the Spread of Atheism
Besides economic prosperity and scientific progress, other significant factors can also influence the spread of atheism in a country. First, the historical weakening of strict control by religious institutions has contributed to the rise of atheistic ideas. As seen from the descriptions of the 17th–18th centuries, when "the papal apparatus for reaction to independent thought had become sufficiently dulled," the decline of the Church’s repressive power created favorable conditions for the development of views that rejected traditional religion (source: link txt).Secondly, drastic political and social upheavals can accelerate the abandonment of traditional religious beliefs. An example can be found in Europe and Russia, where "atheistic ideas began to spread rapidly"—often accompanied by revolutionary transformations that not only reshaped the political system but also fostered the forcible expulsion of religion from public consciousness (source: link txt). This political dynamic, especially when state support for atheism is framed as an "exclusively scientific worldview," plays a decisive role in altering the cultural landscape.Thirdly, the ideological and cultural reevaluation of past dogmas also has a significant impact. Enlightenment ideas, which questioned traditional religious narratives and presented historical facts in a new light, could substantially undermine the authority of classical religious institutions. For instance, when Enlightenment figures publicly labeled the figure of Jesus as a myth and claimed that science refuted religion, this propagandistic pressure—reinforced by "informational and financial support from certain circles"—contributed to the spread of atheistic ideas (source: link txt).Thus, beyond technological and scientific progress, the spread of atheism is fostered by historical shifts in authority, revolutionary changes in the socio-political sphere, and deliberate ideological rethinking of traditional religious views.Supporting citation(s):"Up until the 16th-17th centuries, human thought could not progress further and was doomed to stagnate in Western Europe due to the abuses of power by the Catholic Church,… But from the 17th-18th centuries, when the papal apparatus for reaction to independent thought had become sufficiently dulled, atheism, gaining enormous support in the natural sciences, reached astonishing dimensions in its development." (source: link txt)"Atheistic ideas began to spread rapidly across all European countries, often resulting in bloody revolutions. These ideas could not bypass Russia… The triumphant march of atheism reached its peak in Russia after the 1917 revolution, when religion was brutally expelled from human consciousness, and atheism became the 'sole scientific worldview'." (source: link txt)"This was initially, and most explicitly, manifested in France, and then spread to other countries. The so-called 'Enlighteners' were the ideologists behind these ideas… It is also noteworthy that this propagandistic assertion unexpectedly found powerful informational and financial support from certain circles." (source: link txt)