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Here is a interesting read I found on atheism that exemplifies to some extent the root philosophy and 'substantial' meaning of the word.
Here is how it works.
People absorb the environment around them. From this environment they sort out what they 'believe' on everything.
They sort what they believe as acceptable in one bin vs what they believe as unacceptable in another bin.
What they believe is the controlling factor in what and how they 'conduct themselves' throughout life.
Hence the substantial definition of religion is a 'belief that one acts upon'.
This is centered upon how the mind works in and of itself, not the final product or outcome of the process, though the outcome proves the process.
In other words if the final product is atheism or christian makes no difference, if a person governs themselves with regard to their beliefs no matter where derived it is when the will commits to action that it becomes officially 'their' religion.
In both cases the mind went through the same fundamental process as described above.
I struggled to think of the appropriate language that could be a work around to the premise and have not come up with any other construction that made sense. Despite who or what we are it boils down to a set of personal 'beliefs'.
Everything we consciously process is a 'belief', whether those beliefs are true or false notwithstanding.
In other words atheists 'believe' God does not exist. Use of the negative results in the same and is purely semantic.
Here is how it works.
People absorb the environment around them. From this environment they sort out what they 'believe' on everything.
They sort what they believe as acceptable in one bin vs what they believe as unacceptable in another bin.
What they believe is the controlling factor in what and how they 'conduct themselves' throughout life.
Hence the substantial definition of religion is a 'belief that one acts upon'.
This is centered upon how the mind works in and of itself, not the final product or outcome of the process, though the outcome proves the process.
In other words if the final product is atheism or christian makes no difference, if a person governs themselves with regard to their beliefs no matter where derived it is when the will commits to action that it becomes officially 'their' religion.
In both cases the mind went through the same fundamental process as described above.
Atheism Is a Religion
Or at least it requires a God for you not to 'believe' in.
This does not prove God exists, but it does show humans are wired or biologically predisposed to believe in something. When I interviewed him for this article, Newberg said his research demonstrates that "we are wired to have these beliefs about the world, to get at the fundamental stuff the universe is about. For many people, it includes God and for some it doesn't. Your brain is doing its best to understand the world and construct beliefs to understand it, and from an epistemological perspective there is no fundamental difference."
So, whether you make sense of the world as an atheist and don't require the God postulate to complete your understanding, or you are a theist and your feelings and experiences tell you something greater is there, biologically speaking, that big blob of gray Jell-O in our skulls is like a giant arrow pointing us in the same direction. I believe that is delicious. And religious.
Atheism Is a Religion - Reason.com
I struggled to think of the appropriate language that could be a work around to the premise and have not come up with any other construction that made sense. Despite who or what we are it boils down to a set of personal 'beliefs'.
Everything we consciously process is a 'belief', whether those beliefs are true or false notwithstanding.
In other words atheists 'believe' God does not exist. Use of the negative results in the same and is purely semantic.
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