Religion gives atheism purpose by opposing religion, for those that even care about religion. I didn’t even care about atheism or religion until US religion started affecting my life, because in Québec religion died in the 70s and is nothing more than a cultural artifact, so atheism is the default and therefore don’t need to identify as an atheist, you have to identify as a religious weirdo.

Atheism doesn’t have a standalone purpose like religion does. Atheism exists purely because religion exists.

Atheism isn’t serving a purpose. It’s an evidenced-based reality.

Why do you feel it must serve a purpose?

Reminding people to demand evidence for claims.

Imagine a world without organised religion, where it doesn’t affect people’s lives, but atheism still exists.

A near perfect utopia where there isn’t fighting over dumbass fake shit where humanity works together to better itself because there is no person who believes in a god, and nothing beyond this one life so we actually are much more motivated to make it better?

There is no purpose to atheism. It’s simply a lack of a belief in a god. 🤦‍♂️

The word atheist is just a term for a rejection of a specific proposition. There’s no reason why that would logically need a purpose. We find purpose elsewhere.

I don’t really understand the question. What purpose does atheism serve now? Who gave it that purpose? Who is the arbiter of such things?

Atheism serves as much purpose in my life as my eye color. It’s just a natural part of me and has been as long as I can remember. If I wasn’t an atheist, I wouldn’t be me.

As far as I can tell, the whole concept of ‘purpose’ when it comes to humanity as a whole is basically a religious one anyway.

None. Atheism isn’t a religion or philosophy. It’s an answer to one question, and only one: do you believe in gods? The answer is “no.”

Where we go from there is up to us.