Atheism is a religion [W:1586,2242]

[vash1012]

Look up the word ideology, why don't you? I'll help, In my words, a system of beliefs.

Already did. Actually read what I write please..because I literally already wrote what you just said and explained why that does not apply to atheism. To summarize, atheism is a single belief. A single belief cannot be a system. Atheism does not inherently dictate that you must buy into string theory or the big bang or evolution or natural selection or anything. The only belief that makes up the idea of atheism is that there is no god. 1 belief is not and never will be a system of beliefs (ideology) or a system of beliefs generally pertaining to a deity (religion)

 

[AGENT J]

Already did. Actually read what I write please..because I literally already wrote what you just said and explained why that does not apply to atheism. To summarize, atheism is a single belief. A single belief cannot be a system. Atheism does not inherently dictate that you must buy into string theory or the big bang or evolution or natural selection or anything. The only belief that makes up the idea of atheism is that there is no god. 1 belief is not and never will be a system of beliefs (ideology) or a system of beliefs generally pertaining to a deity (religion)

ding ding ding ding, We have a winner.

facts win again.

 

[vash1012]

WHY ARE SOME WAYS OF THINKING ALLOWED IN AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND OTHERS NOT? Especially when all ways of thinking are based on few facts? Allowed in government even though these ways of thinking become a disproportionate way for the country to think? In other words, allowed in government even though the majority of Americans disagree?

List of atheists in politics and law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of the self-professed atheists in politics in the US. Only a few of these were actually in government.

There are more Christians in my City Council than there are publicly professed atheists in the entire United States elected government.

I think you are confusing secularism with atheism. These are not the same thing and they are not even related.

 

[KokomoJojo]

The first amendment also protects the right of 'freedom from [someone elses] religion' by preventing the government from instituting a state religion.

clarified that since no one who makes any type of moral decision is free from their own religion.

 

[KokomoJojo]

Already did. Actually read what I write please..because I literally already wrote what you just said and explained why that does not apply to atheism. To summarize, atheism is a single belief. A single belief cannot be a system. Atheism does not inherently dictate that you must buy into string theory or the big bang or evolution or natural selection or anything. The only belief that makes up the idea of atheism is that there is no god. 1 belief is not and never will be a system of beliefs (ideology) or a system of beliefs generally pertaining to a deity (religion)

Your premise is flawed.

The same could be said about the christian religion in reverse, it is a single believe in god therefore is not a system.

The use of the word system refers to as I have said countless times in this thread, is making a choice, the belief it is correct, then commuting it to action.

For instance you believe cheating on ones spouse is not in the best interest of a relationship, therefore you do not cheat on your wife.

That in addition to every other moral or decisions of conscience are the system, and stands by itself, separate from any 'ism' you wish to attach to it.

Life is a composite of millions of beliefs, does not matter which ism is attached.

 

[spud_meister]

The use of the word system refers to as I have said countless times in this thread, is making a choice, the belief it is correct, then commuting it to action.

So what actions does atheists commute?

 

[Manc Skipper]

They go to work, they come home again..... I don't believe that those actions are atheism-related.

 

[vash1012]

Your premise is flawed.

The same could be said about the christian religion in reverse, it is a single believe in god therefore is not a system.

Nope. Atheism doesn't have a book full of rules. It doesn't have a community that at least pretends to live by those rules and it doesn't have any listed consequences for breaking those rules. Even if you choose not to cheat on your wife because of divorce laws on a rational basis, if you are a Christian, you have committed a sin that could land you in hell for eternity if you don't ask for forgiveness. Not a single belief. Its a set of beliefs. IE: A system

If you're only belief is a belief in the existence of a God then you are probably agnostic and not Christian. Agnosticism is probably not a religion either

 

[vash1012]

That in addition to every other moral or decisions of conscience are the system, and stands by itself, separate from any 'ism' you wish to attach to it.

Name me a real world situation where I make a conscience based decision that is directly influenced by not believing in God. In the absence of religion, the motivations for my conscience are based on something other than religious influence, but it is never, NEVER based on me not believing in God.

I have never said "Well, I'd really like to cheat on my girlfriend, but considering I think there is no higher power, I will/won't do that."

 

[Moot]

clarified that since no one who makes any type of moral decision is free from their own religion.

I do. I make moral decisions every day and religion hardly ever enters my mind.


PS: don't ever alter or change my quotes again.

 

[KokomoJojo]

So what actions does atheists commute?

"then commuting it to action"
commute LOL

was supposed to be "then committing it to action" :mrgreen:

 

[KokomoJojo]

I do. I make moral decisions every day and religion hardly ever enters my mind.


PS: don't ever alter or change my quotes again.

you dont have have to claim any religion to make a moral decision and commit to action.

Could use your pet rock or nothing at all. If it is a decision that is based in what is understood in philosophy as moral or ethical and you govern yourself accordingly then it squarely falls into the "your religion" category.

Its the decisions and resultant action that fulfill the elements of what a religion is, hence its your personal religion with no gods, no title, no name etc.

 

[KokomoJojo]

Name me a real world situation where I make a conscience based decision that is directly influenced by not believing in God. In the absence of religion, the motivations for my conscience are based on something other than religious influence, but it is never, NEVER based on me not believing in God.

I have never said "Well, I'd really like to cheat on my girlfriend, but considering I think there is no higher power, I will/won't do that."

as I just explained to be a religion does not require a god, or to be religious. It requires the fulfillment of a set of circumstances. Belief in god is irrelevant to being religious, though anyone who believes in god generally understand their beliefs make them religions.

 

[grip]

I don't consider myself very religious in the classical sense. No denomination or particular believer in ALL of scriptures being 100% accurate, though I do believe that the more recent parts are probably a source of some historical value. IMO, it's not realistic to call the whole set of recorded events a complete fantasy.

What I find particularly bizarre is the attempt of many atheists to try and frame all people, who have some belief or room for doubt, to be either an extreme believer (dogmatic) or the other, as complete non believer. Growing up in the 60-70's, I rarely saw or heard of hardcore atheists and saw the extreme religious thumpers as a small percentage, compared to agnostics. To a large degree, it seemed people lived their day to day lives without much thought about deities and the divine, except in rare extreme circumstances. When asked, many would just reply, "I don't know, maybe there's a God?" Which seemed a more reasonable answer than emphatically, it's all hogwash without a shred of evidence. That's merely blurting out the obvious.

I guess it's simpler to have it one way or the other, and would probably lean towards atheism myself had I not had some unexplainable experiences.

 

[blarg]

atheism is not a religion jus like monotheism is not a religion just like polytheism is not a religion

secular is not religious by definition

we all do secular things we cant help it the secular is all about the world we live in by definition

 

[blarg]

yeh combined with some form of human secularism, that is their established state religion, the rest the state discriminates against.

do you want to be able to make your religion into law?

 

[AGENT J]

Your premise is flawed.

The same could be said about the christian religion in reverse, it is a single believe in god therefore is not a system.

The use of the word system refers to as I have said countless times in this thread, is making a choice, the belief it is correct, then commuting it to action.

For instance you believe cheating on ones spouse is not in the best interest of a relationship, therefore you do not cheat on your wife.

That in addition to every other moral or decisions of conscience are the system, and stands by itself, separate from any 'ism' you wish to attach to it.

Life is a composite of millions of beliefs, does not matter which ism is attached.

no this factually can not be said if one is trying to be accurate LOL

thier post stances and yours is factually incorrect.

 

[Tim the plumber]

It depends upon the atheist. I do think some of them pursue it with a zeal that is religious. However there are others who literally don't believe in anything.

Nobody believes in nothing. We all believe in the existence of the real world.

But there are those who only believe in sensible stuff and think that the supernatural is BS. They are called sensible people.

 

[vash1012]

as I just explained to be a religion does not require a god, or to be religious. It requires the fulfillment of a set of circumstances. Belief in god is irrelevant to being religious, though anyone who believes in god generally understand their beliefs make them religions.

YOU say it doesn't require a god to be considered a religion.

The Dictionary defines it as follows:

re·li·gion
noun \ri-ˈli-jən\

: the belief in a god or in a group of gods

: an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods


THEN there is the colloquial definition:

:an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group

What is the example sentence for this definition?

"Consumerism is the new religion"

This is not a religion in the traditional sense. It is a colloquial use of the word meant to be a metaphor.


You can ignore the standard definition of the word all you want, but you are incorrect, fundamentally, logically, and factually.

 

[voyager1]

I don't even know what "being religious" means. Consider for one that most Christians pick and choose what they want to believe in their Holy Bible, which they claim is the word of God. Yet they pick and choose what out of those words they will follow. We atheists are at least consistent, and before I would debate any Christian on the existence of God, I would need to know which parts of their own faith they ignore. That one point makes debating religion vs atheism as a fools errand IMHO.

 

[Koros]

I find it so interesting that many (not all) religious people seem to both want and don't want atheism to be a religion, at the same time.

They want it to be a religion so they can argue against things like teaching science in public schools. If they do that, then the same prohibitions that exist which restrict teaching Young Earth Creationism in public schools would apply to science.

But, they don't want it to be a religion, because then Atheists would be able to organize, create tax shelters in the form of "churches," and even start up private schools in which bibles/qurans/etc are banned.

In the end, however, it is a pointless endeavor. Only by defining "religion" so broadly as to completely abolish the word can anyone make any sort of logical argument than Atheism is a religion.

 

[cabse5]

Sigh. Listed are numerous beliefs of atheists:
belief 1: there is no god(s) - nothing to believe in
belief 2:religion should be stricken from government
belief 3: the universe was randomly created by Mother Nature.
belief 4: man is the only cause of global warming (not sure why this belief is held by a majority of atheists).
maybe because of belief 5: atheists are heavily influenced by secular authority figures?
Maybe you guys aren't the 'lone wolves' you profess to be?

There are more beliefs, but I only needed to list more than one...

More than 1 belief. A system of beliefs. An ideology. Very similar to religion.

 

[DDD]

Yes as I said before, there is a bunch of people whom need a nanny figure and thus they created a figure of "God." An atheist does not needs an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent nanny figure watching after them from above, thereby they simply did not create such a meaning to follow in their lives.

That is the difference. The religious create the "God" figure in their lives, maintain it, and support it for the benefit of religious leaders. The atheist do not create such a "God" like meaning, nothing to maintain, let alone support.

 

[cabse5]

Yes as I said before, there is a bunch of people whom need a nanny figure and thus they created a figure of "God." An atheist does not needs an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent nanny figure watching after them from above, thereby they simply did not create such a meaning to follow in their lives.

That is the difference. The religious create the "God" figure in their lives, maintain it, and support it for the benefit of religious leaders. The atheist do not create such a "God" like meaning, nothing to maintain, let alone support.

That's special.. and pretentious.

 

[DDD]

That's special.. and pretentious.

Which part?