François-Marie Arouet (1694-1778), known by his nom de plume M. de Voltaire, is known for many memorable aphorisms, such as Si Dieu n’existait pas, il faudrait l’inventer (‘If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him’), contained in a verse epistle from 1768, addressed to the anonymous author of a controversial work on The Three Impostors. Far from being the cynical remark it is often taken for, it was meant as a retort to atheistic opponents such as d’Holbach, Grimm and others.
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Atheism in its scholarly meaning – a belief in the non-existence of the supernatural – strikes me as wholly irrelevant, whereas any political ideology, any surety in one’s correct judgement about the future effectively requires a leap of faith.
Real-world Western “atheism” acts as a smokescreen to purify traditional Christianity of its Aryan influences.