No they are not.
You can make an Ateist monk and be fine.
Try making an Ateist Communer.... 
or DK....
Religion rules as mutch of a monks life as it does for a warrior.
You are mistaking monks with weastern monk witch are clerics. Eastern Monks are diferent. Buhhuda isnt a God, its just an more enlightned human. A thing to achive.
In the definitions of the words, I see little difference between monks and clerics (different religions, different methods). Clerics are vulned to their align..like mentioned would be rebalancing. Monks should be able to go neutral if blms can go neutral. That is just my opinion though.
Most the reasoning behind why things are is based on pk balance, rather than reason/history/etc
What I'm saying is that code-wise, these things date back to long before you could BE atheist. I personally agree that things should be changed. I'm just trying to explain why they are as they are.
allowing even 1 more race into monk would end that class as it was known up till now, and not in a fond or good way really because the RP lends a monk to be human, and it has stood ALL these years to let a human be a monk %50 of the time and pretty much say "hey, i'm a monk and human is the race to be now eat it!" isn't that too niche? then isnt the class too inefficient to take up a class space? no, it's been fine for 5+ years now. make whatever CLASS changes that might be warranted, but all the other races have multiple power combos, if the staff buffs monks they should especially keep the races the same.
neutral clerics aren't really that good. i played one to 50, and let me tell you, without -significant- overhauling, they are worthless.
sometimes we search for the answers to class/race issues in the wrong places. monks should one or the other. either you enlighten yourself through self-sacrifice, or you did it with the blood of others.
Mine was in the context of the present, as in they now can be of those religions, so why can't they be neutral. I guess that wasn't clear enough. I realize when they were implemented, the system was different, now though we have a new system and should give neutral monks a chance.
WC
I still would like to see a nature monk. They would have the same power, abilities and skills, just be of a different perspective. And I think that the mud as a whole needs characters with different perspectives (RP wise). Neutral monks could be done.
Different races are another issue. The PK balance would shift a bit, but honestly how much? An elf monk would be able to make 500 mana beads a few ranks sooner. At 50 that makes no difference, and with the right eq. any monk can make 500 mana beads very early. Humans are more strength dependant, elves are more dex dependant. In terms of a monk, it would sacrifice offence for defence, and still have lower hp. I think that elves are a good choice to go into monks.
I tried a neutral monk of in the savant halls, but they would never give me nuetral.. it was denied quite a few times I might add 