Do you believe that atheism is a "religion" unto itself a type of non-relgion,relgion? Someone recently told me it took more to an atheist than to be a believer I dont agree but, I'm wondering I've heard that they want to start a "church of atheism" isnt that what we're against in the first place? Not trying to start a fight but I'm interested in what other ppl think. Personally I'm an atheist and my husband is agnostic
I'm a Christian, but I think atheism can be, for all practical purposes, a religion. Buddhism is ordinarily considered to be a religion, and in its classical form it has no belief in God. Naturalism and scientism are founded on a quasi-religious faith in science,and secular humanism is based on a quasi-religious faith in humans. The American Humanist Society and similar organizations represent attempts to find secular substitutes for theistic religion, complete with coming of age ceremonies, etc. But just not believing in God isn't a religion.
No. It's an opinion. I do not believe in religion. This is MY opinion. I don't "practice" it like the religious people do. It's just an OPINION.
If atheism is a religion, then abstinence is a form of sex. The etymology of the word atheism should be enough to explain what it is. (A) = Non, without, (Theism) = Belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world, thus A-theism = Non-Belief or without-belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world. Theism by itself is not a religion nor does it require one. At the very least, Religion = A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader. (Atheism has nothing of the sorts) A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion. (in this instance it is a colloqueal term and not what we generally call religion, but there certainly are theists who show a "zeal" for their position). And in the more common vernacular of the word, Religion = Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship. Hopefully this clears this question up for at least 1 week LOL. When some theists make this claim, it is nothing more than an attempt to make atheism on par with theistic irrational beliefs. Atheist in general have only one thing in common, the LACK OF BELIEF in gods. Every other belief is open from one person to the next. There are groups of atheist who gather on a regular basis, but how does this make it a religion? Its equal to members of the "Loyal Order of The Moose" having meetings, yet no one makes the claim that Moose Members are a religion. Atheistic groups like American Athiest aren't worshiping anything nor are they laying down doctrine and dogmas. Seemingly, their only agenda is to protect everyones constitutional rights to the principle of separation of church and state and fighting decrimination against athiest.
Fuck no its not a religion. It has none of the dogma that comes along with religion. All kids are born w/o a belief in a god(s), like everyone is.. and remain that way, until kids start taking them to bible camp or something of that nature. Luckly enough for me I never was pushed into doing that, and still as I was when I was born.. without any supernatural beliefs. What about the people that never even heard of religions, over in other countries. They're atheist by default, and may never hear anything religious wise. BUT they are in a religion??? HHAHA Yeah riiiiiight.
This is getting Absolutly ridiculous. Ever since somebody has come up with the notion there is one sovreign God of this universe this planet has been completly freaking insane. A cosmic luny bin where everybody is a freaking tele-vangelist with the Whole "truth" figured out perfectly. And you can be saved too if the price is right. Im gonna start a church too. Mickey Mouse is gonna be the pope. At least then I'll have a laugh from time to time. ... The "truth" is there is only one ... ONE ... universal truth, and is religions had it figured out there woudn't be RELIGION(S) or CHURCHE(S) now would there? Note the plurals. The goverments created washed down verisons of the truth they called reilgions to keep us stupid like children to eventually come up with this ultimate one "NEW AGE", that brings everything under one umbrella which of course will be more BULLSHIT used to enslave us and pacify us further. Seek not salvation or beliefs damn it. SEEK THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS IN THIS WORLD OF LIES ... TRUTH. "AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE"
I think that if you are traveling at the speed of light And you stick your head out of the window It will explode
Well said Itsdarts, atheism is simply the absence of theism, the absence of belief. Unfortunately atheism is often misunderstood to be a positive belief that god does not exist. This could technically be called "strong atheism" and is a position of faith - belief in a proposition in the absence of evidence supporting that proposition. In practice few atheists are of this "strong" variety because it is a logically unsupportable belief due to the fallacy of negative proof: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Most of the strongest and most vocal atheists (Richard Dawkins is always a good example) certainly do not believe we can prove there is no god and are atheists in the weak sense of 'non-theists'. We live our lives in the total absence of religious faith because there is simply no good reason to invoke it, but we cannot prove there is no god, just like we cannot prove there are no giant space turtles, no unicorns and no invisible teapots orbiting the sun - and why we want to? The idea is so very silly
To be fair, people have been doing crazy shit in the name of religion long before monotheism (at least in the western judeo/christian/islamic sense.) Televangelism is arguably a watered down version of sacrifice, a tradition common to pretty much every culture worldwide. Giving 10% of your income to a charismatic preacher with a bad hairdo is less fucked up than throwing slaves or virgins off of pyraminds. Unless, of course, people disagree over the truth, or have limited understanding of it. It's a bit like that old cliche, that when you hear hoof-beats you think horses instead of zebras. The other side of that is that people who live near zebras will think of zebras, or camels, or whatever hooved animal they live in proximity to.
