Communion without God: Essay on Carlos Drummond de Andrade's Atheism

Abstract

This article examines various arguments in defense of atheism as presented by Carlos Drummond de Andrade. His sense of atheism is critical and humanistic, because, on one hand, reveals incorrect postures of the relationship with the divine and, on the other, promotes the creation of ethical and responsible values toward others and the nature. Similar to Jean-Paul Sartre, Drummond’s atheism asserts that humanity must be conceptualized without the mediation of external agents outside his own conscience. Religious practice is censored whenever it promises human salvation in an alienated and deterministic way. The issues surrounding the religious phenomenon are important and must be accompanied by critical sense. The appreciation of religion, represented by divine action, is the result of the projection of man in his desire for transcendence. Drummond’s humanism prevents him from seeing God where there is only man and the mystery of existence.