I'm not sure I agree with this as I don't see how it would aid the survival of the religious meme by morphing into atheism, since if successful then religion will disappear and atheism will no longer be an idea even worth discussing.
Also amongst things that has made religion such a stubbornly persistent and long-lived meme are the fact that it provides man with feelings of security, comfort, empowerment (in a world where he is largely powerless), meaning, direction etc... (and for the stewards of the religion and their partners amongst the rulers - power to control and manipulate others.)
Atheism provides none of these.
Yes. This is part of the point. I think Luthiel surmised this very well here:
For those who are "actively" atheist in response to a religious background, even in as small a way as to simply have chosen it over religion, atheism does seem to exist in the mind as an evolution of religion. However, I would say there is one key difference between atheism and religion as mind parasites: atheism is not contagious. It doesn't get passed on between generations like religion does. At least that's how I see it, as I don't think atheism is prevalent enough yet to see exactly how it behaves. Most atheists I know are first generation atheists, and I don't see them actively passing on atheism to their children. They are raising their children in environments devoid of religious/non-religious ideas. That's not to say they don't learn about or understand religion; it simply doesn't apply to daily life, much like ancient mythology. The only role I've seen it take in their personal lives is when they interact with children of religious families; otherwise it is simply a non issue.
If atheism is the next evolutionary step of the mind parasite of religion, then I believe it is the last one before extinction. It does not provide an inherent symbiotic relationship with the human mind, which it would need in order to survive. Atheism itself only provides a benefit in the context of religion, and by making religion irrelevant so it makes itself. That mind real estate it so desperately wants to hang onto will soon be occupied instead by science, humanism, rational thought, and the like, all of which exist independently and have no need of a host to survive.
Of course it won't happen all at once. Evolution is a slow process. The religious mind parasite has survived a long time through many stages of evolution, and atheism may be its last ditch effort. If so, it's finally done itself in.
To be clear, I’m not saying that the
idea of atheism (as in, the actual thoughts that occur in our minds) is a religion, or even that it maintains those attributes of the religious meme that made it successful. I’m saying that they may stem from our previous preoccupation with ideas regarding God, religion, etc.
For those ideas to continue to occupy the time and space in our minds as they do, they needed to do so as atheism/agnosticism rather than as a manifestation of religious belief.
With that said, what will likely follow is probably a lot like what Luthiel described: Thinking about atheism simply does not do the same things that thinking about
religion does. There is no comfort to be had, no support through hard times, and no real and serious mechanism for trying to convert (infect) others. Therefore, it is likely an adaptation that will eventually die out. (Or, it may morph into something else entirely, like renewed and adapted faith, which may allow it to survive.)
Topic: The Religious Mind Parasite