Atheism is no more a religion than apple pie is a bus crash. Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.[1] Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature. The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system, but religion differs from private belief in that it has a public aspect[citation needed]. Most religions have organized behaviors, including clerical hierarchies, a definition of what constitutes adherence or membership, congregations of laity, regular meetings or services for the purposes of veneration of a deity or for prayer, holy places (either natural or architectural), and/or scriptures. The practice of a religion may also include sermons, commemoration of the activities of a god or gods, sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trance, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, music, art, dance, public service, or other aspects of human culture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities.[1] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[2][3] Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist.[3][4] Atheism is contrasted with theism,[5][6] which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.[6][7] The term atheism originated from the Greek ἄθεος (atheos), meaning "without god", used as a pejorative term applied to those thought to reject the gods worshipped by the larger society. With the spread of freethought, skeptical inquiry, and subsequent increase in criticism of religion, application of the term narrowed in scope. The first individuals to identify themselves as "atheist" lived in the 18th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism to further clarify... People who self-identify as atheists are often assumed to be irreligious, but some sects within major religions reject the existence of a personal, creator deity.[159] In recent years, certain religious denominations have accumulated a number of openly atheistic followers, such as atheistic or humanistic Judaism[160][161] and Christian atheists.[162][163][164] The strictest sense of positive atheism does not entail any specific beliefs outside of disbelief in any deity; as such, atheists can hold any number of spiritual beliefs. For the same reason, atheists can hold a wide variety of ethical beliefs, ranging from the moral universalism of humanism, which holds that a moral code should be applied consistently to all humans, to moral nihilism, which holds that morality is meaningless. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism#Atheism_and_irreligion
It's a religion. It's organized, it is based on a belief, and it seeks to tell others about it's belief. That's the irony of most atheists, and they don't even see it, wikipedia links aside.
Atheists worship the goddess Athena, who sent down her only son Odysseus to rule the seas and to smite Troy.
Why do atheists fight so hard regarding atheism as a religion? Seriously, they are so funny man. You can have a religious belief that god does not exist. Embrace it and fight a different fight. Denny is spot on. They are a religion with evangelists like the ones argued in other threads. So if the government said you cannot be an atheist. Where would it fall to be unconstitutional? Freedom of press?! Lmao. You guys should set up churches and non-profits. Then you can write off everytime you purchase "god is not here" books and self help evolutionary survival of the fittest life seminars.
Atheism cannot exist outside the context of religion. If religion didn't exist, neither would atheism. Logically it is worship of no god(s).
That's just crazy talk. Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.[1] Evelyn Underhill (2001) defines worship thus: "The absolute acknowledgment of all that lies beyond us—the glory that fills heaven and earth. It is the response that conscious beings make to their Creator, to the Eternal Reality from which they came forth; to God, however they may think of Him or recognize Him, and whether He be realized through religion, through nature, through history, through science, art, or human life and character."[2] Worship asserts the reality of its object and defines its meaning by reference to it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worship
It's amusing, but also frightening, how few people have the courage to face such an obvious but harmless truth.
whats next? "science is a religion" "math is a religion" "language is a religion" "dinner is a religion"... if this is the best the religious people can do, let them have it, you always have the "you believe in fairy tales" card, which is much better in my opinion
So many "Christians" don't want to call themselves "Religious". So if you found a Christian telling you they aren't a "religion"; how would you respond?
You act as though Christians are on a mission to make Atheism a religion. LOL! I got news for you. Most Christians don't really care about atheism that much. You are complaining about Atheists screaming "WE AREN'T A RELIGION!" They are the ones you need to massage... P.S. I love believing in what many atheists believe are "fairy tales". At least we are proud of being a part of a religion. Atheists are too damn scared to be even considered an organized belief. LOL
by definition atheism (and theism) just reference one's state of belief. neither term references worship or religious affiliation.
LOL I hear that! I think the argument is hilarious, IMO. Why wouldn't the atheists embrace the "religion" label and get some tax breaks in process. Be proud that you don't believe in a God. And get some benefits from it too!
depends on your definition of religious. if you define a religious christian as necessarily a fundamentalist, or a chuch-goer or something else specific, then yeah lots of christians aren't religious. whatever. this is essentially just a semantic debate anyway. my point was atheists do not (necessarily) "worship" their lack of belief in god, any more than non-bigfoot believers worship their lack of belief in bigfoot. SOME militant atheists certainly treat their position as an evangelical cause, but MOST people who fall under the definition of atheist do not.
Nah, I'm more interested in the Blazer turn-around, than argue silly semantics. Just tossing my two cents.
