Atheism:religion or not?

[Foetus In Fetu]

Contingent

They say that dreams reflect your sub-conscious concerns.

Haha, that could be fitting (not to "atheism: religion vs. belief" but to the situation in general).  

[Quaru]

Lesidia

in the afternoon

Atheism to to religion as 7-up is to cola. It's not a religion.

I like your analogy. although I would have used sprite instead of 7-up. More people know about it. biggrin

Except 7-up is the "Un-cola" thereby more appropriate.

Quote:

I don't personally beleive that it is, but if you happen to have a cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion, then, well, whatever floats your boat!

And I've heard people say that this is the case. I usually then say that I don't pursue it with zeal, I simply do not believe. If god himself suddenly appeared in front of me, I would have no choice but to become religious. If I can prove to a religious person that they are believeing in a false pretense, they'll tell me to shut up, and keep on with their beliefs. That's what makes it a religion.  

[E_Night]

Foetus In Fetu

This is technically off-topic but I just remembered I had a dream last night that I was talking to someone about atheism and religion and that they kept refering to atheism as a religion and I kept insisting that it was a belief (or lack thereof) and they kept insisting that it was a religion even after I explained why it is not several times.

don't you just hate it when dreams are repetitive? Maybe you had this dream because deep down you yourself is not sure. Or that it could be predicting that you'll be here discussing it now. Hmmm... Or it could mean nothing and it just was dreamed  

[Aurayvn]

Yeah, that's basically it. Atheism isn't anti-God, it's Godless. It doesn't involve God (or at least it shouldn't). I think it's a world view that doesn't involve any supreme beings...
Anti-God would be like...Satanists or something.

Well, there's my two cents.  

[Kharybuce]

Aurayvn

Yeah, that's basically it. Atheism isn't anti-God, it's Godless. It doesn't involve God (or at least it shouldn't). I think it's a world view that doesn't involve any supreme beings...
Anti-God would be like...Satanists or something.

Well, there's my two cents.

Anti god kids piss me off so bad. They give atheists a bad name. I don't like seein' people spen so much time on religion cause they could be doing better things like living, but I'm not gonna spit in their face and call them stupid (though I may feel that way sometimes), because I don't like upsetting people. Plus hating on religion is the same as believing it, since you're wasting so much time and energy on it. Ya hearin' me. When I became atheist I said "no more time will be wasted on it" and i didn't.

Back to the topic. Atheism ain't no religion. It doesn't have a philosophy. Nor any dogma. That'd be like saying people who don't believe in using q-tips is a religion.  

[Grand Moff Locket]

Aurayvn

Yeah, that's basically it. Atheism isn't anti-God, it's Godless. It doesn't involve God (or at least it shouldn't). I think it's a world view that doesn't involve any supreme beings...
Anti-God would be like...Satanists or something.

Well, there's my two cents.

To worship Satan you must believe in him, thus you must believe also in Abraham's God. wink

What that's saying is you're gonna need a new term, since, around these hurr parts, anti-God is a badly worded anti-theist. Anti-theists actively state "there is no god" whereas "weak atheists" simply don't say there is a god. I am an anti-theist.  

[[Satan]]

Actually I became an Atheist to escape religion. Religion is not just a belief, It's believing in a kind of deity. Thus, I'd say it isn't a religion.  

[Athelwulf]

s0ul caper~

Would you consider atheism to be a religion or an anti-religion? It could be a religion because it is what you believe. But there isn't much of a bible or anything attached to atheism that would make it a religion. I want everyone's opinion here. 3nodding

There's a difference between believing something doesn't exist and not believing something exists. Do you believe unicorns don't exist? Or do you not believe they exist?  

[Athelwulf]

a**l Jesus

Something I found off google XD
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ATHEISM IS NOT A RELIGION OR A FAITH!

[Snip]

Here's the URL for that article: http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/atheismreligion.html

I don't know if you got it from there originally, but, well, there it is.

I like the analogy it gives: If Atheism is religion, then albino is a suntan. cool  

[Digital Leviathan]

Break up the latin basis of the word "atheism". a - "without/none/lacking" theism- "religion". Meaning, atheism is a lack of a religion.  

[Imedos]

Atheism is not a religion for one sinple reason:

Religions are based in the idea of a god or higher power, and the salvation of the soul and things related to that.

Atheism as it says itself is the lack of a belive in a god or higher power.

3nodding There it is  

[Nardone]

i dont think its a religion.. i think the whole point of atheism is to not have any kinda belief system.. its more of a way of thinking then a religion.. but this is a really arguable topic..  

[LimeIzMyFaveColor]

Atheism =/= Religion  

[Swifter Taylor]

It depends. Athiesm is a lack of belief, so it's not a religion as such.

The reason why athiests are the target of "missionaries" is becasue we don't have a religion. If Athiesm was a religion, we'd be left alone, much like Buddhists etc.

The only way Athiesm could be termed a religion is if it was defined as belief in evolution. Which it isn't. You don't have to believe in evolution to be an athiest, and vice versa. So clearly Athiesm isn't a religion.  

[Celestial Fireflies]

I found this picture while stumbling Atheist/Agnostic, and thought it related to the discussion at hand lol :