One trap atheists fall into is their (our) disdain of religion to the point of ignoring those essential roles it fulfills in society. The growing epidemic of nihilism we are now experiencing was predicted by Nietzsche as the inevitable result of the destruction of religion. I’ve been thinking of how one might construct an atheistic surrogate and replacement for theistic religions including examining some of the “least theistic” ones and am rather impressed by Shintoism. Note: Buddhism is both a philosophy and a religion. The religious form today being the evolved version of the amalgam of the original philosophy with the various Hindu religious beliefs of the time of its founder, Siddhattha Gotama.

The psychologist and author Jordan Peterson has been very eloquently calling attention to this crisis of meaning in our society and while he is intentionally vague on

1. Religious communities provide a context for the development and competing evolution of individual and social values. This includes, for example, pre-scientific knowledge of nature (e.g. unclean foods or actions), psychologically positive habits such as delaying gratification (the archetype of which is the enduring of suffering in this life for the rewards in the afterlife). Also altruistic motivations.
1.5 Framework of meaning? a la J. Peterson.
2. Faith in a supervising higher power provides an “out” for the natural fear of the uncertainties about the future.
3. Organized religion provides a social hierarchy independent of the state in which non-coercive cooperation and risk sharing may be “enforced”.
4. Religion allows the controlled extension of family, clan, and tribal unity to outsiders. [Ref: O. S. Card’s exposition of the (Swedish) degrees of foreignness. Utlänning=foreigner, Framling, Ramen, and Varelse. (foreigner, stranger, frame/context, beast. {also Djur=animal}] I would suggest a different breakdown starting with self and ending with an inanimate thing or even further with abstractions and fictions. More of a hierarchy of sameness.
5. Religion establishes cultural and social rituals which reinforce the hidden values in various entities. (marriage, coming of age, grief, regret and redemption for mistakes, etc.)

Conclusions: These roles must be otherwise satisfied in an atheistic community and done so in a conscious way. It is not sufficient to, for example, replace the uncritical religious faith in the deity with uncritical religious faith in the state leadership. I personally think that once the multi-millennial head start religions have is overcome a better non-mystical system (or rather community of competing systems) is possible, and even essential.

What must a healthy atheistic society look like? A clear path to meaning, a system of rituals, unifying symbols, free market of ideas and critique of the system. An organizing hierarchy of philosophical authorities, but with multiple competing systems and adaptations to variations of individual temperaments. Independence from government authority.