do people realise that atheists can be religious, eg. Jainism, Taoism, Buddhism?
some say that they are more philosophies on life, but the mysticism and profound spirituality often ties it closer to religion then mere philosophy
just because one doesn't believe in god/gods doesn't mean they cant believe in fairies or souls or magic or daemonic sacrifice of virgins.
Buddhism is based around the teachings of Buddha. kind of like Confucius but less mind bending and more "religious" in nature
Buddhisms driving force is
-Karma (from Sanskrit: "action, work") in Buddhism is the force that drives Samara?the cycle of suffering and rebirth for each being-
I already realized that atheism has been associated with those religions even before you brought up this question. This means now that I can focus on the good bits since you have opened the gates: attacking Jainism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
Technically we can, but come on. Hardly anybody who self-identifies as an atheist also calls themselves a Jainist or a Buddhist. Or vice verse.
The only requirement of being an atheist is that you don't believe in god. But in practice, a lot of us are just plain skeptical of spirituality in general, including non-theistic spirituality.
Just like the people that are only good because their God told them to be, it just doesn't mean the same thing if you sacrifice a virgin because your God said to. Atheists do it because THEY think its a good idea.
Good luck. I've tried in the past to convince people in this forum that religion is defined by scholars of the field as "belief in transcendence rather than gods only" and that therefore, one can be both an atheist and very religious and faithful to a religion tradition -- but I've always been shouted down (despite a D.Phil. from Oxford in this field of study). Yes, the cop-out "that is a philosophy of life, not a religion" is the rationalization of the uneducated. (Indeed, I have been surprised that it tends to be the atheist participants here who are most adamant about that. They apparently don't like the share the "atheist" label with anybody they consider "religious", such as Zen Buddhists. Facts don't matter.)
Buddha doesn't demand you believe anything. He said to find out for yourself if the drama is true. And the driving force I would say is freedom from suffering (not the end of it but a different way of processing it.) Karma and Samara are more sidebars.
By definition, religion centers around a deity or many gods. There are exceptions, but then they aren't religions. They would be philosophies or beliefs which make certain claims upon reality.
An atheist is a person who does not believe in a particular deity. A theist is one who believes in a god or gods. I do not understand how that comes into play here. Despite the fact that you may call yourself spiritual, you cannot change the fact that you do not believe in a god. You may be spiritual, you may be religious, but to what end?
do people realise that atheists can be religious, eg. Jainism, Taoism, Buddhism?
