Q:

Is atheism a requirement for a consistent existentialist philosophy?

Søren Kierkegaard is generally considered to be the "father of existentialism". This always bothered me, since to me Sartre and Camus are the defining figures of the movement, and it seems that there is no room for God in an existential worldview.
Kierkegaard was focused on concrete reality and the individual so you could say that there are elements of existentialism in his philosophy, but is that enough given that he held a faith in a power outside the self which provides immortal value?

A:

Perhaps a better question to ask is the inverse: whether traditional religion is compatible with existential philosophy; Kierkegaard's existential beliefs certainly affected his view of the role of religion, to the point that his theology was extremely controversial among his contemporaries. Existentialism doesn't necessarily require the outright rejection of the possibility that a God exists; just the rejection of the notion that we must place God before all else in choosing how to live our lives.

A:

God is negotiable under existential tenets, as is any other exigency. Just as neither the weather in Brazil nor the affairs of Peter Pan bear much impact on a day to day accounting of life for me, neither does god; it is not to say the same for others' accounting.

A:

An existentialist philosophy is nothing more than a philosophy who's subject is human life and the human experience. The substance and particulars of existentialism cover a wide spectrum of beliefs and ideas.

