Level 1 Atheism: Question the efficacy of ritual

Level 2 Atheism: Stop visiting temples. I "believe in a higher power". Not in deities and pretty stories

Level 3 Atheism: One can be moral without believing in a higher power

Level 4 Atheism: What's so wrong with incest? Sodomy? https://twitter.com/entropied/status/1302377511095918593

Now I don't argue that all of us reach Level 4.

I've dabbled with Level 1 and 2 often enough. So have most of us at some point in our lives

But we course-correct. Orthopraxy keeps us in line

Some reach Level 4. But that's a small % of "atheists"

In fact, so many religious values have so deeply percolated society, that most atheists are wedded to them, and cannot get rid of them

They think of them as "secular" values. Eg. Monogamy, sexual restraint, desisting from gratuitous violence

So Level 4 may not be reached at all

But you might reach Level 4 over many generations of living in an atheistic society

It cannot be "tested" in our times. Only someone writing in the year 2500 can write a true history of Atheism

It's too soon to pass judgment

Now we do have very distinguished "Atheistic" schools in India.

Jainism still remains pretty strong.

Not sure where I should fit it in.

It remains a "religion" that subscribes to Level 3 atheism

And Jains are not showing signs of slipping into Level 4

But the experience with Atheism elsewhere shows that it is indeed a slippery slope.

So Jains are an exception. Not the rule