The article deals with the history of the creation of a series of decorative panels “The Soviet way of life” (1983-1986) from the collection of the State Museum of the History of Religion, created by artists from the village Mstyora. The discussion on the essence of atheism, unfolded in the Soviet social science literature of the period of “developed socialism”, was indirectly reflected in the concept of the new Museum exhibition on the atheism in contemporary society. Some authors searched for the “positive” content of atheism, developing the so-called “theory of scientific atheism”, others, relying on the traditions of European free-thinking, considered atheism only a negation of theism and a feature of the materialistic worldview, suggesting searching for “positive” content not in atheism, but in science, culture and new civil traditions.