In his new book, Religion For Atheists: A Non-believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion, Swiss philosopher Alain de Botton outlines an array of things that an atheist can adopt from religion to create a better society.

According to a report published in the USA TODAY News, Botton said that the starting point of all religions is that humans are weak and vulnerable and needing directions.

He added that as he looks at secular society, I see how they have been abandoned to make our own way through life and how challenging that is, the report stated.

He said that while he is not asking the atheists to adopt a belief. But, he said, atheist tends to ignore religion’s wisdom at their peril.

He writes that the modern atheism fails to understand how many aspects of faiths remain relevant even after their central tenet have been dismissed.

Giving an example, he suggests atheists can borrow the idea of weekly, communal meal found at the heart of the Catholic Mass.

He said that an atheist can make a pilgrimage, not to any religious site, but to places of renewal such as places of great natural beauty or silence or a secular retreat centre.