I was just having a discussion about this with my dad. Do you think that Atheism is a religion?
I am just curious as to what other people have to say about this one. Thank you for answering. Please don't be too rude to others Thanks
Atheism is the belief that there is no god. So merely the fact that it is dealing with god or God, then it could be considered a religion. Atheism is not the belief that there is nothing...that is nil ism. I think that if we talk about whether or not atheism is a religion we have to go into what defines religion...
"there is no right or wrong way to be an atheist"- Hahahaha, yes there is...if you believe in a god, that is the wrong way to be an Atheist.
Fire, "ATHEIST - someone who does not believe in a God ? any God ? not just the Christian one. But that does not mean they do not hold strong moral or religious beliefs!"
First off, I am not ignorant, I clearly know that the term Atheist means someone who does not believe in a god, which is why I said "a god or God" in my Additional Details. And I never said that being an Atheist means that you can't have moral or religious beliefs, I happen to believe Atheism is a religion and that a value system or moral code doesn't necessarily come from a religion. I have no issue with people of other religions or Atheists, I am a Christian. I only have issues with people like who automatically accuse others of being "ignorant" when you have no grounds to do so.
There is no definition of religion that would cover atheism but not things like being a fan of a particular sports team or political ideologies. Atheism has no creed, no holy books, no sacred places, no clergy and no dogma.
It's not a religion, as a religion is a set of spiritual beliefs and atheism is the absence of said beliefs.
(Technically, atheist only means that you don't believe in a god, and it is theoretically possible to not believe in god but still believe in souls/mysticism/etc. However, the same critical thought processes that lead to the denial of a god most often lead to the denial of other unexplained phenomena as well. Either way, it certainly isn't a religion.)
No. The only thing it has at all in common with religion is that it's a viewpoint on the matter. But that doesn't make it a religion. It's not a belief, it's a rejection of someone Else's suggestion.
Atheism, in a broad sense, is the rejection of belief in the existence of deities (Gods). In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist.
No, their is no unifying doctrine that all or most atheists follow. The only thing that we have in common is the lack of belief in god, in spiders out from there. Though it's not uncommon for atheists to agree with each other in some regard.
Nope. Atheism, by definition, is a lack of a belief in a god or gods. Religions all worship some kind of supernatural being. Also, religions are organized and tend to have meetings where people gather to pray to their favored all powerful being(s). Atheists don't have special atheist gatherings and if they did, they wouldn't be worshiping anything.
no it is not a religion
there is no bible or qua ran or holy scroll
there are no objects of worship
there are no guidelines or rules
there are no days that are different than any other days
there is no right or wrong way to be an atheist
there is no recourse for an atheist to enter a holy place
there is freedom from all of the above, if one wants it
an atheist may never talk to another atheist
or an atheist may meet regularly with other atheists
in a lot of ways it is really damn nice,
but it is definitely not a religion in any senses of the term, it is the exact opposite
(the church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is just a joke, if you didn't pick up on that already)
Atheism is faith, without evidence, that God does not exist and that the Universe was formed by chance. Actually, given that the definition of "God" is what ever created the Universe, chance is the atheist God.
Yes, I know that that is contradictory. If atheists thought critically, they would figure out that if chance were the creator, chance would be God.
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Wouldn't someone who has no beliefs be agnostic?
edit for Fire
"Where do you think Christianity got it's ideas of a soul and afterlife from for goodness sake?
"They stole it from the pagan tribes and peoples which existed hundreds and thousands of years before Christianity!"
The New Testament is not the first instance of God "making himself known." God sent prophets to all peoples from the beginning of the human rice. People twisted what these prophets revealed into pagan religions. (Exodus 32:1-6)
However, anti-theists definitely have a belief system.
Most atheists aren't needy. They have no need to come on a site like Yahoo! Answers to argue against religion any more than they haunt the holiday site to argue against the Easter Bunny.
What you may be noticing are anti-theists. These are people who BELIEVE God does not exist (despite lack of proof) and who use science improperly as their own personal club for smacking religion, particularly the religion that most challenges their sense of self. They tend to have a desperate need to do so, take offense at any challenge of their beliefs, whether you were trying to do so or not, and try to shore up their self-image by attacking people who are religious, like any bullying tactic by people.
No, atheism is not a religion. They tend to be well-educated, and have no beliefs.
However, the group I spoke of? Not religious, but definitely enslaved to their beliefs, like any fanatic.
Religion is a "yoke" a bonded condition of person&deed. An Atheist does not find himself 'bonded'
to a deity. He is not committed nor covenanted to a god or God. He has made no agreement with the same. Listens to none of the like. Does not act to please nor obey such a thing. Has his own set of rules. does not live by faith and supernatural charity. There is more to believing in God than talking about 'religion'. There are many forms of Religion but not all talk about God per SE.
Definitely not! Not only is it not a religion, the act of referring to atheism as a religion is a truly nasty and thoroughly objectionable practice perpetrated by believers who think it will make us mad to have atheism referred to in a manner which we deem insulting.
In my case, it works, it DOES make me mad as hell. Atheism is NOT a religion. To me, it is a total joke that these preposterous people ALSO want to claim that Christianity is a "relationship, not a religion." HA! If anything deserved the moniker "religion" it is Christianity.
So Christians: YOU have a religion, WE do not. Deal with it.
ATHEIST - someone who does not believe in a God ? any God ? not just the Christian one. But that does not mean they do not hold strong moral or religious beliefs! They can follow any religion that does not have a god and there are a lot of those!
Like BUDDHISM ? Religious teaching from Buddha and his followers that by destroying greed, hatred and delusion (the cause of all suffering) man can attain perfect enlightenment!
Where do you think Christianity got it's ideas of a soul and afterlife from for goodness sake?
They stole it from the pagan tribes and peoples which existed hundreds and thousands of years before Christianity!
From the stone age through vikings, Egyptians, Maoris, Aborigines, American Indians and especially the Chinese, they all had elaborate funerals and grave goods to speed the soul into the next life with comfort!
Add Christians and Muslims together and they amount to just under a third of the world population the majority of the rest is made up of atheists and religions without gods!! So they are in the majority here!
Do you think that Atheism is a religion?
Thanks 
