Why Atheism Is A Religion

well of course i agree, which was after all, my point.
it wasn't aimed so much at athiests, other then the few who adamantly insist a god can't possibly exist,
as at certain fanatical "christians" who insist buddhism can't be a religion because it doesn't worship a god.

 

^
It's not just christians who doesn't see it as a religion. Seems there are also atheist buddhists that claim buddhism isn't really a religion because there is no god in it

 

Three things are necessary to qualify as a religion;

1. deity
2. ritual
3. congregation

This is not just my opinion but from a world religions class. The reason the class did not cover Buddhism or Taoism is because they both have no deity.

Atheism lacks all three....

Oh wait, there's talk of building an Atheist temple in London! Ha, pretty cool










Author Alain de Botton announced plans to build an Atheist temple in the U.K., reports DeZeen magazine.A collaboration with Tom Greenall Architects, the structure will be built in the City of London.Dedicated to the idea of perspective, the black tower will scale 46 meters (150 ft), with each centimeter honoring earth's age of 4.6 billion years, notes Wired.

 

Did the class also gave the reason why a deity is necessary in order for a religion to be qualified as such?

 

Or why ritual or why congregation? No

It wasn't a philosophy class, we were studying the major world religions.

Whats your point? Do you have your own definition? Why don't you just tell us what your definition of a religion is.

 

Without a deity, a system like buddhism falls better into a classification of philosophy, or cultural outlook, or something like that. Not to be confused with people who worship the buddha as a god; they are playing the game of buddhism as religion as well. Just as there were people who worshipped communism as a god, and as people worshipped the state as a god, or racial purity, or individuality, whatever. That's a human foible that is general to all systems of thought and not directly linked to buddhism.

Some christians argue that jesus was not god, and in fact they aren't sure if god exists / don't care about that. They want to follow christ's, the man's, human teachings, making their beliefs also more of a philosophy than a religion. They would be closer to the category which includes Kantians, Utilitarians, and Communists, than to the category which includes Catholicism, Hasidicism, and Islam.

This is only a point of classification though, and of course many scholars and sources call buddhism, any buddhism, even atheistic buddhism, a religion.

That makes more sense at least than calling atheism a religion. Atheism is a null class. There is nothing that all atheists have in common except for not being part of a religion, by definition.

 

i have one:
1>it tries to tell people not to act like ass holes
2>it gives people a sense of connectedness with something greater then themselves.
3>it reminds people, at least individually, that they're NOT the biggest baddest thing in the universe.
4>it gets people together, to meet each other
5>it gets people together, to share a sense of comaradarie.

in short, you don't need the idea that there's some big invisible guy who can kick your ass, to figure out, that the universe, or even just the planet, is a whole lot bigger and badder then any of us are ever going to be

 

Same thing, no god, no religion.

Imagine... //00\\
J
~

 

Buddhism is a religion. Period.

 

It's still a class of people who share a common belief, and will recruit people at the snap of a finger, especially Christians

 

Merry Christmas, Atheists. May you all contemplate why you even celebrate it at all.

 

My point was just the question on itself. I'm interested if there's a reason for that and if the class gave it.

I usually just go by the dictionary's definition. It often makes plenty of sense. Personally I classify buddhism as a religion as well though so I guess that's why I wondered what's the reason behind it.

I agree, it doesn't really matter if some other people differ in how they classify atheism or buddhism. It seems there are different ways of being a buddhist (some can be said to be religious), just like there are different ways of being a christian (or atheist, or agnost for that matter). It seems the great majority agrees there is no sense in perceiving atheism as a religion (actually, it seems the topic starter is the only one who thinks otherwise) and if we are all wrong about that it should be explained with a convincing argument. OP maybe thinks he already did that but I don't think a saw a convincing reason why it is so.

Most atheists who celebrate christmas do so out of tradition, often their friends and family still like to celebrate it. Hell, some atheists might dig the values around christmas themselves too or like it just because of the atmosphere. It is celebrated anyway, why not join in (esp. if your family would like it). Sometimes it is more about the people around you than acting fanatically on your beliefs. Some may celebrate it just for the good food

 

Actually, Christmas is definitely centered around Christ, whether you believe in him or not or buy into any of the claims about him or not.

Atheism is a religion because it very much gives a sense of "us" and the Christians are "them". American Atheist's page is more about Christianity than it is about Atheism.

To me it's a religion because it's just another doctrine on the ultimate state of reality. The heart of religion is making some ultimate claim about the nature of reality. It's a set of beliefs agreed upon that distinguish these people from other belief systems.

 

What does it mean to be an atheist and celebrate christmas? I am an atheist, and I get a few days off from work, my family makes a lot of delicious food, we give each other presents, and we enjoy some time to relax.

That's all it's ever been for my whole family, and it's something we look forward to all year. We don't need to believe anything on insufficient evidence in order to participate in this holiday.

Many atheists don't celebrate christmas, at all; for example, many jews are actually atheist, so even culturally they are not interested in the christmas holiday. Other atheists deliberately do not celebrate christmas in order to distance themselves from a religiously rooted holiday in which they have no belief or investment. Other atheists might contemplate the teachings of christ, and or buddha, and or lao tzu, and appear to be engaged in some manner of celebration even bordering on religious. Other atheists might have a festivus pole in spirit of mirth. That's the thing about atheism; it isn't a unifying worldview with certain values and certain beliefs; there is nothing that all atheists have in common except for a lack of belief in god. Past that, it's anyones guess what a particular atheist thinks or feels on any given subject. You can have atheist serial killers and you can have atheist buddhas; atheist communists and atheist capitalists; atheist materialists and atheist idealists; atheist dualists and atheist monists; atheist heliocentrists and atheist geocentrists; atheist pepsi drinkers and atheist coke drinkers . . .

Merry Christmas!

 

We have already discussed that Atheism isn't merely a "lack of belief", but also a belief that there is no God, and to me, the only difference between the two is a use of words, and nothing more. This underlying belief on the nature of reality is what defines it as a religion.

 

You can also have Christian Coke drinkers and Christian Pepsi drinkers...

 

' since there is no evidence , God does not exist ' is the foundational statement of a cult .
I don't know if the Cult has been referenced by a name yet . Any suggestion ?

 

The Unholy Sepulcher of the Endless Salad Church

 

My position on god is the same as my position on unicorns; i don't see any evidence for it, and you'd think we'd have seen some by now, so I think the lack of evidence is evidence of a lack. Not final, irrefutable evidence, that's impossible.

But the same kind of certainty that you also have about that invisible second head growing out of the top of your head.

 

You believe what you want to believe, in the end, but you're still believing. Whether the historical Jesus existed or not is rather irrelevant for me, and there are plenty of arguments for the existence of Jesus as well. The Christ energy is something that's eternal, and Jesus was just a form that it took, whether mythical or historical. Whether Buddha existed or not is the same dynamic, isn't it?