Is atheism a religion?

[rojse]

funnily enough, rojse, i actually thought about what you had posted after i wrote that, and it occurred to me that by saying it was funny, that you were in fact giving your opinion of my post. it wasn't productive, but i will allow for the fact that it was pertinent to the subject at hand.

makes sense to me!

Not the opinion of your post in particular, RageOfTyrael, but the opinion of the argument that atheism is a religion. I've read the arguments for this too many times not to see the humour there.

 

[rojse]

Just to show that I can make a meaningful contribution to a thread, RageOfTyrael, I would ask you what would happen were we all to agree that atheism was, in fact, a religion?

 

[rageoftyrael]

not a whole lot, actually. see, by the definitions i was going by, a religion is nothing more than a shared set of beliefs, to an extent. we don't really have that, which is why i conceded we aren't a religion. but if we were, it wouldn't actually mean anything.

 

[Neo-Logic]

Religion doesn't need a supernatural element.

God is not super natural?

 

[Neo-Logic]

Atheism is to religion as a puppy is to a nuclear bomb.

One is men's best friend, and the other can destroy the world. I'm referring, of course, to my puppy-nuclear bomb clause. :angel2:

 

[MissAlice]

One would have to define what the word god meant if we're talking about atheism as a religion....which is downright silly.

Also not all atheists are up to par or even worship science just as there are people of faith who do in fact keep up with science as strange as that may sound to you folks.

I've heard various opinions from different people and maybe not enough like this here forum but even religions without the dualist notion define the word god in so many definitions. I remember one guy saying his idea of god was not some guy in the sky but rather that which ascended himself.

But even if atheism is a religion......I guess atheists belong here just as much as the average "religious person"....

 

[Magic Man]

God is not super natural?

That depends on which god you're talking about. Some are, some aren't. Regardless, though, you can have religion without god anyway.

 

[IThinkFree]

To propose that "Atheism is a religion" implies that it takes as much faith to "believe in" Atheism, which is a logical impossibility, as it does for any faith-based (read: accepting ideas despite a lack of evidence) religion. The OP's original definitions include the word "belief", which is a loaded word out of the gate.

Here's the difference between believer and non-believer:

The religious mind has a confirmation bias. I'd link that but I can't for another 14 posts. They will admit to it, albeit not always so easily. That confirmation bias is, "God is the answer to everything."

"What caused life on this planet?"
"God did."

"What happens when we die?"
"God judges you."

"What is love?"
"Jesus is love."

These may sound oversimplified, but for the religious mind, imagining a different answer, despite evidence to the contrary, is just short of impossible. Their mind always returns to that answer.

The mind of logic, reason, and deduction of evidence has no such bias. I let my answers take me where that leads, no matter what the result. If there was repeatable, verifiable, non-biased evidence of God's existence, I would conclude that there is a God, in a second. I don't call that faith; I don't call that "belief" because I'm always testing it. Always. It's in a constant state of flux for me. Not agnostically so, however.

The religious mind, however, is provided with evidence to the contrary (of their beliefs) on almost A DAILY BASIS, yet they still believe. That's the difference.

People of Faith reading this right now, I'm sure, are thinking "But there is evidence for God's existence."

No, there isn't, but that is not pertinent to this thread.

So, bottom line Atheism is not a religion because it does not accept things on faith. Yes, there are some people who think of Atheism as a religion, in that they are fanatics about it, but I prefer to call myself a freethinker more than I am an atheist. My freethinking just got me there.

 

[Madhuri]

God is not super natural?

Not all religions have belief in God/gods.

 

[dogsgod]

Not all religions have belief in God/gods.

But they do have a belief in the supernatural.

 

[Hitchey]

But they do have a belief in the supernatural.

Some atheists have a belief in the supernatural. I once believed in ghosts, while being an atheist.

 

[Kenect2]

rageoftyrael, thanks for starting this thread.

Atheism in an ideological sense is clearly not a religion.

However, in practice, it seems that many atheists behave as if atheism were a religion.

 

[gnomon]

rageoftyrael, thanks for starting this thread.

Atheism in an ideological sense is clearly not a religion.

However, in practice, it seems that many atheists behave as if atheism were a religion.

Not in the least.

 

[Alceste]

However, in practice, it seems that many atheists behave as if atheism were a religion.

So, we get up early on Sundays to go listen to a big lecture on how to be a good atheist and sing some inspirational atheist songs, throw a few bucks in the atheist-preaching-funds-pan, then we drink tea and eat cakes together?

 

[blackout]

So, we get up early on Sundays to go listen to a big lecture on how to be a good atheist and sing some inspirational atheist songs, throw a few bucks in the atheist-preaching-funds-pan, then we drink tea and eat cakes together?

Is that how religion behaves?


I have been at religious forums for... a year and a half?
And I still don't know what constitutes "religion".

I don't even know weather my own personal thing
is "religion" or not.
Or if my approach to self and life is "religious".

It's safe to say though, that in practice, I don't do any of the things you've listed here Alceste.

 

[Troublemane]

I suppose what the OP is trying to say is, belief there is no God is still based on subjective criteria such as opinions. They may be considered informed opinions based on objective data, but to conclude that there is no God period-- to rule out any possibility that there could be one?-- requires either powerful faith or willful ignorance of alternate possibilities. Both of which are qualities you find among hardcore followers of a religion.

Once atheists start trying to proselytize people, standing on the street corner claiming that Christians should stop believing what they believe because its just wrong, then Atheism will have crossed over into evangelical atheism....:angel2:

 

[Madhuri]

But they do have a belief in the supernatural.

I do not think that that is a prerequisite for religion.

 

[monta]

I would define religion as a system of rules by which a person abides and is agreed apon by a group of people. I fully maintain that some people who self identify as atheist have created a religion for themselves. I have personally encountered atheists who have told me I am not an atheist, because, despite the fact I don't believe in a god, I don't believe religion is inheirently evil. I believe the adherents of a religion are capable of using it to enable their desire to commit atrocities, but that religion is just a beard they hide behind, in this case. Some atheists behave as though Hitchens is the messiah and Dawkins a holy prophet, it grates mightily on me, to the point where I cringe at the mention of their names, despite the fact that both have some very good points.

My own admitedly egotistical belief is that I am more of an atheist because I don't believe religion is evil, you are buying into the idea that it is an external force seperate to humanity and not an ancient philisophical construct, which was necessary to impart knowledge and advise to a largely illiterate and rustic society, but is not relevant to our society. I know this is insulting to people who feel it is deeply relevant, but my belief shouldn't interfere with you, as part of my belief in the irrelevence of religion is that it should be practised by whomever choses to do so.

 

[Thief]

Maybe I missed it?
Did anyone use the word faith?

By definition, faith is belief in a Supreme Being.
Religion is what you do about your faith.
With this in mind, atheism is not a religion.

However.....
I saw a news report, wherein prisoners were seeking to have their non-belief raised to a status of religion, legally.
I'm not sure how this would improve their prison life, but they were pursuing the possibility.
I don't know how far they got with it.

If they should prove successful, then any group having a belief held in common could formalize a church.

Under current law, the founder of such a movement, with written creed in hand, and a dozen followers close behind, could apply for tax exemptions and other privileges.

 

[Hitchey]

Atheism in an ideological sense is clearly not a religion.

However, in practice, it seems that many atheists behave as if atheism were a religion.

Like some others I too wonder how it is that atheists act as if atheism were a religion. Mind explaining?