The Clash Between American and Chinese Atheism

Liberalism, authoritarian collectivism, and the late-modern sidelining of religion

Photo by Louis de Gonzague Kubwimana, on Pexels

Thanks to 9/11 and the New Atheism movement, the debate between theists and atheists has hogged the developed world’s spotlight that should have been shining on the conflict between liberal and authoritarian atheism.

With hindsight in 2025, at least, taking stock of the collapse of American neoliberalism, the rise of Donald Trump’s kakistocracy (rule by the worst members a country can offer), and more importantly the rise of China to superpower status, theism has become a sideshow that’s barely even worth recognizing for entertainment’s sake.

Israel’s dominance over Iran is consistent with this global irrelevance of theism, in that Judaism’s secular humanist upshot has sidelined the most militant arm of the Muslim world.

In any case, the dominant issue for twenty-first-century atheists might be the clash between the secular cultures of liberal and authoritarian collectivist societies.

American vs Chinese atheism

True, many Americans like to think of themselves as Christians, but perhaps only one percent of American Christians emulate Jesus in their lifestyles. The United States is…