The Disciplinary Construction and Path of Scientific Atheism

—Speech at the 2011 Annual Academic Conference of the Chinese Atheism Society

——在中国无神论学会2011年学术年会上的发言

I. Current Situation: Not Bad, but the Road Is Long. Why?

一、现状：不错，但路很长。为什么？

The Chinese Atheism Society has been established for over 30 years, and *Science and Atheism* has also gone through 12 years. If asked about the current situation, my personal view is that it is not bad, but the road ahead is very long.

中国无神论学会成立至今已有30余年，《科学与无神论》也走过了12年。要问现在状况如何? 我个人认为还不错，但路其漫漫兮大约很长。

Saying it is not bad is because the central authorities have never withdrawn their support for atheism. In recent years, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has increased its support for atheism research, especially by establishing specialized research offices and research centers with allocated staffing positions. Although there are currently only three colleagues, this represents a leap from nothing to something.

说不错，是因为中央一直没有取消对无神论的支持，中国社会科学院近些年对无神论研究加大了扶持力度，特别是设置了专业的研究室和研究中心，有了编制，尽管现在还只有三位同胞，却是从无到有的飞跃。

Saying the road is long is because the obstacles and resistance on the path are astonishingly numerous and stubborn. Theories of ghosts and gods have existed in China since ancient times, but voices of opposition—such as the theory of the destructibility of the spirit, the theory of no ghosts, and the refutation of falsehoods—have never ceased through the ages. Especially in modern and contemporary times, there was almost no room for theories of ghosts and gods to operate in broad daylight. In the early Republic of China, spiritualism briefly ran rampant, proposing that “if the theory of ghosts and gods is not promoted, the nation’s fate will be cut short.” The pioneers of the May Fourth Movement immediately struck back hard. When Christianity attempted to enter Tsinghua School to hold an international conference, it even triggered the vigorous rise of the “anti-Christian movement” and the “anti-religion movement,” which swept the entire nation. From the Opium War to the founding of New China, theories of ghosts and gods never occupied mainstream public opinion. But since the emergence of special psychic powers, traces of divine miracles and ghostly shadows have repeatedly appeared among urban and rural officials, ordinary people, and intellectuals, eventually leading to the frenzy of several cults. State laws had to be invoked to resolve the problem, yet lingering troubles remain. Where were those scientists? Where were those philosophers? Where were those prominent scholars and experts? The subsequent religious fever then took on new forms. One was to use orthodox religions to resist cults; another was to use native religions to resist foreign religions; and most strikingly, to use theories of ghosts and gods to save the human heart and social morals, halt moral decline, build a harmonious society, and externally to demonstrate that our religious freedom surpasses that of the West—even opening up the national education system and state research institutions to religion. Can the West do that? Now there are demands for the Communist Party to open up to religion as well.

说路很长，是因为路上的阻力和障碍多得出奇，硬得出奇。鬼神论中国自古有之，但反对之声，什么神灭论、无鬼论，疾虚妄，历代不绝；尤其是到了近现代，几乎没有了鬼神论在光天化日下活动的余地。民初灵学一时嚣张，提出“鬼神之说不张，国家之命遂促”，五四运动的先驱们立即予以迎头痛击：而一旦基督教要进入清华学校举办国际会议，竟然导致“非基督教运动”和“非宗教运动”的激昂兴起，席卷全国。我们从鸦片战争到新中国建立三十年，鬼神论从来没有盘踞过主流舆论。但自特异功能问世，却在城乡官民文化人中间时时闪现着神迹鬼影，最后闹出了几个邪教疯狂，不得不动用国家法令去解决问题，仍遗患不断。那些科学家哪里去了? 哲学家哪里去了? 大牌学者专家哪里去了? 此后的宗教热，又呈现新的姿态。其一要用正教抵御邪教，其一要用土教抵御洋教，更绝的是要用鬼神论去挽救世道人心，制止道德滑坡，建设和谐社会，对外可用以显示我们的宗教自由比西方更甚，连国民教育体系和国家研究机构也向宗教开放，西方行么? 现在是要求共产党也向宗教开放了。

II. Where Does the Resistance Come From?

二、阻力来自哪里?

This macro environment has led to distortions in values and talent assessment. For example, a group of intellectuals trained abroad in theology has seized the national resources and discursive platforms of “religious studies” and “religious culture.” Behind them follow some imitative power-holders, professors, and experts, forming a peculiar alliance. They share a common voice: atheism has committed many evils and must never be tolerated. The publicly listed charges are threefold: first, it is a remnant of the Cultural Revolution and ultra-leftist ideology; second, it opposes the policy of freedom of religious belief and the national constitution; third, it creates ethnic conflicts and undermines social stability. With so many political labels, coupled with countless written attacks, collaboration between internal and external forces, interweaving of top and bottom, and interaction between power and culture, how much room is left for atheism to operate? —But it must be noted here that this force targets not only atheism but is also dividing and isolating patriotic churches.

这种大环境促使价值观和人才观出现畸形。举例说，一批接受国外神学培育的文化人，占据了“宗教研究”“宗教文化”的国家资源和话语平台；后边跟随着一些学舌的当权者和教授专家，形成一种奇妙的结合。他们有一种共同的声音：无神论作恶多端，绝不可宽容。所列罪状公开的有三：一是文革遗绪，极左思潮；二是反对宗教信仰自由政策和国家宪法；三是制造民族矛盾，破坏社会稳定。这么多的政治帽子，加上数不清的文字围攻，外与内协作，上与下交织，权与文互动，无神论还有多少可以活动的空间? ——不过这里要交代一句，这股势力不仅针对无神论，也正在分化孤立爱国教会。

From my daily academic activities, I feel that the central authorities have consistently supported atheism, demanding the strengthening of propaganda and research work on atheism and incorporating it into long-term strategic plans. Documents issued by relevant agencies, from the six ministries and commissions to the five bureaus, are all very well stated, with measures quite in place, bringing us waves of encouragement and confidence. Unfortunately, they are probably all locked away in cabinets due to “confidentiality.” At any rate, I have never read them. I think the Party and the state have established so many organs and units and issued so many documents—this must have been very hard work—but if they are to be kept confidential from everyone and cannot be implemented, why write and issue them at all? Around early 2011, I only learned that the *Education Law*, passed by the National People’s Congress in 1995 and promulgated by the order of the President of the People’s Republic of China, clearly stipulates that “the state implements the separation of education from religion.” Xinjiang Normal University had already begun to implement it systematically shortly after its publication, yet I was so legally illiterate as to be ignorant of it—I was truly ashamed to the point of wishing I could disappear. But what about the leaders of our institutions of higher learning? What about the leaders of national research institutions? Are they also so legally illiterate, or do they simply disregard national law? Why do they—to be precise, those entrusted by the state with corresponding positions as responsible persons—invite foreign theologians to be professors—adjunct professors, guest professors, honorary professors—allow professional missionaries to give major lectures, run training courses, and even participate in or independently conduct surveys of national conditions?

我从日常学术活动中感到，中央对无神论一直取支持态度，要求强化对无神论的宣传和研究工作，并列入长远战略规划。有关机关发下的文件，从六部委到五部局，讲的都非常好，措施也挺到位，给我们送来一阵阵鼓励和信心。遗憾的是，大约都因为“保密”锁到柜子里去了，反正我是没有读到过。我想，党和国家设立那么多的机关单位，发了那么多文件，一定很辛苦，但要向大家保密，不能实行，写它们发它们干什么? 大约在2011年初我才得知，1995年全国人大已经通过并经国家主席令公布的《教育法》中明确规定“国家实行教育与宗教相分离”；新疆师范大学早在公布之后不久就开始有计划地贯彻，而我竟然法盲到了无知的程度，真是惭愧得无地自容。可我们的一些高等院校的领导们呢，国家科研机构的领导者们呢，是他们也如此法盲，还是干脆目无国法? 为什么把自己主管的学校和单位——确切些说，是国家委派你承担相应职务的责任人，就聘请外国的神学家当教授——什么兼职教授、客座教授、荣誉教授，让职业传教士作大报告，开办培训班，以至参与或单独进行国情调查?

Anything can be marketized, but people cannot become commodities. The soul, the national soul, the soul of the nation cannot be bought or sold. Money can move the gods, so many scholars and experts also get rich through the divine. Who has the most money today? Once the printing press starts, hundreds of billions of dollars flow out, used either for war or for proselytizing. Hence there are also literati who parasitize war and religion. In ancient times, it was said that literati lacked moral conduct; today, the behavior of some literati borders on shamelessness. For a bit of foreign money, they regard all their countrymen as mentally disabled. And some of our countrymen, indeed blinded by greed, open up markets for these foreign flunkies. In addition, there is another, more important type of person: they do not actually believe in religion, and even claim to be atheist Marxists, yet they vigorously applaud theories of ghosts and gods, while seeking to thoroughly discredit and trample atheism—especially scientific atheism—underfoot, wishing it could never rise again. This is not an isolated phenomenon; such people are abundant among those revered as experts by the authorities.

什么都可以市场化，人不能成为商品，灵魂、国魂、民族魂不可以买卖。钱能通神，所以也有不少学者专家靠神发财。当前谁最有钱? 一开印钞机成百成千亿美元就流出来了，除了用于打仗，就用于传教。于是也就有寄生于战争和宗教的文人。古代称文人无行，现下某些文人的行为近乎无耻。为了外国人的那点钱，把国人都目之为智障；而有的国人，也确实利令智昏，为这批洋奴开拓市场。此外还有一种更重要的人，他们并不信仰宗教，甚至还自称是无神论的马克思主义者，但却拼命为鬼神论喊好，而要把无神论——特别是科学无神论，批倒批臭，踏上一只脚，恨不得让它永不能翻身。这不是个别的，在被权力机构奉为专家之中大有人在。

Under such conditions, the fact that scientific atheism has survived and can hold an annual conference of this scale, with hundreds of thousands of words of papers, is truly remarkable.

在这样条件下，科学无神论能够生存下来，而且能够举行这么大规模的年会，有几十万字的论文，实在是件了不起的事。

III. Confidence and Truth

三、信心和真理

Money and power are good things; they are both seductive and intimidating. Hence some of our comrades are somewhat passive and pessimistic. Without money or influence, it is extremely difficult to get research projects, publish books, or obtain academic titles; issues of wives, children, housing, and cars remain unresolved—these are real problems. Anyone who does not face these problems squarely is not a materialist. But I believe we still have something to be proud of: we speak the truth, we do not deceive ourselves, let alone others. We possess the truth and dare to uphold it, and truth cannot be refuted. Do ghosts and gods exist? In fact, given the development of science today, even some theologians dare not affirm their existence, nor dare they deny it, so academic theology avoids a direct answer. Cultural apologists and those who live off religion mostly adopt the same attitude. Thus they rack their brains to abstract religion into culture, using culture to make people forget or even drift away from the system of ghosts and gods, thereby concealing the core of religious belief, and in the name of culture, they assign to religion social, moral, and even political functions that are not originally its proper role. But if religion has no ghosts or gods, then its transcendence, sacredness, mystery, and so on become superfluous words, and its believers completely lose their object of faith. In a word, religion would no longer be religion, at most degenerating into an ordinary social organization. This is the paradox of certain intellectuals on the issue of religion.

钱和权都是好东西，它们诱人又吓人。所以在我们的同仁中有些消极，有点悲观。没钱没势，课题出书评职称难之又难，孩子老婆房子车子没着落，这是现实问题。谁不正视这些问题，谁就不是唯物论者。但我以为我们还有足以骄傲的，那就是我们讲的是实话，不自欺，更不欺人，我们拥有真理，敢于坚持真理，而真理是不可以被驳倒的。鬼神有没有? 其实科学发展到今天，连一些神学家也不敢肯定是有，当然也不敢肯定是无，所以学术神学回避正面回答；而文化护教者和吃教者也大都采取这种态度。所以他们绞尽脑汁要把宗教抽象为文化，用文化让人们淡忘甚或淡出鬼神体系，转而隐瞒宗教的信仰内核，并另以文化的名义去发挥社会、道德以至政治等本非宗教所不应发挥的功能。然而宗教若没有鬼神，那它的超越、神圣、奥秘等就成了多余的话，而它的信徒就彻底地失去了信仰对象。一句话，宗教不再是宗教，最多流为普通的社会团体。这是某些文化人在宗教问题上的悖论。

But scientific atheism dares to affirm that ghosts, gods, and their otherworldly realm do not exist. Theories of ghosts and gods have no factual basis that can withstand scrutiny; all rational proofs concerning them are untenable. What remains are “testimonies” and religious experiences, but these happen to be objects of study for abnormal psychology and brain science. That is to say, the non-existence of ghosts, gods, and their realm is an ironclad fact. Affirming this fact is truth, reflecting correct understanding. In the past and present, there is no existence of ghosts, gods, or their realm, and there certainly will be none in the future. Labor created humanity and also created the world. The production of material wealth and the reproduction of human beings themselves ensure the functioning of society and promote historical development, while continuously improving people’s livelihoods and bringing well-being. No one in the world lives by the grace of ghosts and gods; hoping for a pie to fall from the sky is mere wishful thinking. Therefore, we place our hopes on rejuvenating the country through science and education and on relying on labor and creation.

但科学无神论敢于肯定，鬼神及其彼岸世界是没有的；鬼神论没有任何经得住考察的事实根据，有关它的一切理性证明无一能够成立；剩下的是“见证”、宗教经验，但这些恰巧成为畸形心理学和脑科学的研究对象。就是说，没有鬼神及其世界是铁定的事实，肯定这一事实就是真理，就是反映了正确的认识。过去、现在没有鬼神及其世界的存在，未来也肯定不会有。劳动创造了人，也创造了世界；物质财富的生产和人自身的生产，保障着社会的运转和促进历史的发展，也不断地改善民生，带来福祉。世上没有一个人是靠鬼神赐予生活的，指望天上掉馅饼只是痴心妄想。所以我们把希望寄托在科教兴国和依靠劳动创造上。

Yet why is it that, while the entire nation is devoted to rejuvenating the country through science and education and building a moderately prosperous society, waves of belief in ghosts and gods ceaselessly assail us? Apart from external causes, I suspect this may be related to the situation since reform and opening up. The shift from taking politics as the command to taking economic construction as the center, from a planned economy to a market economy, from relative isolation to opening the national door — the economic base, social relations, superstructure, ideology, and even values and moral standards have all undergone a transformation that is, in another sense, earth-shaking. Over thirty years have passed, and many major questions still await answers. Within the scope of our present discussion, at least two trends of thought among cadres and intellectuals deserve attention: one is the revolutionary repentance school [6], which repents the path it has taken and negates everything in the past. Single-mindedly seeking longevity and immortality, it has cast aside the materialism and atheism it once taught others and thrown itself into mysticism. This is roughly the reason for the prevalence of special powers [7]. The other school has lost confidence in the current governing line. But it still places particular importance on governance, so it seeks help or refuge in religion. Its theoretical representative is the famous article “Marxist Views on Religion Should Advance with the Times” [8] — the crux of this article is to reinterpret the ruling party from serving the people into being the ruler of the people: humans all retain bestial nature, and treating them with human nature will not work, so ghosts and gods must be used to frighten them into behaving — very strange, yet this article has instead received praise from some religious believers. Among them, some may have done things that weigh on their conscience and harbor fear, so they go to pray to the Buddha and worship the gods, comforting themselves while deceiving others. From this arises a trend of thought that takes religion as the fundamental remedy for maintaining social harmony. Unfortunately, the religious terrorists of the Tibetan

然而为什么在全国人民致力于科教兴国，建设小康社会之际，鬼神论会一波波不停息地向我们袭来? 除了外部原因之外，我想可能与改革开放以来的形势有关。从政治挂帅转到以经济建设为中心，从计划经济转到市场经济，从相对封闭到打开国门，经济基础、社会关系、上层建筑、意识形态，一直到价值观念、道德准则，可以说是另一种意义上的天翻地覆。迄今30多年，仍有许多重大问题等待回答。就我们现在讨论的范围讲，在干部和文化人中至少有两种思潮值得注意：一种叫革命忏悔派，他追悔他所走过的道路，他否定过去的一切。一心想长寿不死，连他教导别人的唯物论和无神论全扔到了一边，热衷于神秘主义。这大约是特异功能流行的原因。另一派是对今天的执政路线失去信心。但他们还特别看重执政，所以就求救或求助于宗教，其理论代表就是著名的《马克思主义宗教观应该与时俱进》——此文的要害是把执政党从为人民服务解读成人民的统治者：人都留有兽性，用人性对待他们不会奏效，所以就得用鬼神吓唬他们，让他们规矩起来——很怪，这篇文章反而受到某些宗教信仰者赞扬。其中还有些人，或许做了亏心事，怀有恐惧，所以要去求神拜佛，一面自慰，一面骗人。由此形成一个思潮，就是把宗教当作维护社会和谐的根本良策。可惜藏独疆独的宗教恐怖分子以及基督教反华势力不给他们面子，所以回头来又要用“土教”去制衡“洋教”了。

None of these advocates of mysticism and religion has ever seriously discussed scientific education, serving the people, or being responsible to the people. On the contrary, they attack science and show exceptional zeal in introducing religion into schools. They divert mainstream public opinion away from delivering cultural knowledge, science and technology, and universal education to the masses, and from raising the nation's cultural and scientific quality. Instead, they beautify ghosts and gods, vilify science, disrupt education, and deceive and fool the people, creating a situation where right and wrong are indistinguishable, and good and evil are unclear. They exaggerate the public nature of the decline in social morality, attributing severe practical problems to matters of religious belief. What kind of social interest do they represent? This requires observation and analysis.

所有这些神秘主义和宗教倡导者，没有一位认真谈过科学教育，为人民服务，为人民负责，倒是攻击科学，向学校引进宗教表现特殊积极。他们转移主流舆论向人民大众送文化知识，送科学技术，普及教育，提高民族文化和科学素质，而是美化鬼神，丑化科学，搅乱教育，愚民骗人，弄得是非不清，善恶不明。他们夸大社会道德滑坡的公共性，把严峻的现实问题归结为宗教信仰问题。他们代表的是一种什么社会利益? 须要观察分析。

IV. The disciplinary construction of atheism is a necessity of the situation, a call of the times, and should also be a long-term strategic layout.

四、无神论的学科建设，是形势的需要，是时代的呼声，也应该是长期的战略布局

We should increase our efforts, combine this with building and defending the core socialist values, and unite all scholars across the country who are committed to this cause. We should strive, within a relatively short period, to produce some targeted and substantial works, at least enough to clear up the confused ideological understandings.

我们应该加大力度，与建设和捍卫社会主义核心价值观结合起来，联合全国一切有志于这一事业的学者共同奋斗，争取在较短的时期，写出一些有针对性、有一定分量的论著来，至少能清理一下混乱的思想认识。

Online editor: Jia Fei

网络编辑：嘉扉