Is Atheism a Religion?

Question

this document says it is: http://www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org/Press%20Release%20122105%20final%20.pdf

GAgirl said "4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith"

does atheism fall under this category?

Answer 1

we put it down when it askes ones religion because there is no space for "no religion." plus its easier to say. no athiesm is not a religion.

Answer 2

Atheism is a lack of religion and is not to be confused with a belief in intelligent design. If you have a belief in intelligent design, you are not an atheist. Intelligent design says that the universe did not come into being through random events and chaos. Rather, it is the product of a design by a higher intelligence. It takes the best of creationism and evolution and combines them.
Atheists discredit everything that cannot or has not been proven. It is the most close minded of all beliefs. Most atheists feel that things "just are" and they don't bother to even ask the questions "why" or "how". The know, deep down, that if they do ask those questions, the only answers they will get are religious or spiritual therefore they just dont ask them.

Answer 3

The word religion is typically associated with a structured belief systems centered around the worship of a supernatural being.

So, unless we want to say that almost anything is a religion...no atheism is not a religion. There is no unifying structure to atheism other than all atheists don't believe in a god and there is obviously not worship or belief involved.

Probably good not to look at ID sites for information on atheism...they are biased...look at a philosophy site next time.

Answer 4

It seems as though many Christians, if not all, like to categorize everyone else into the fray of their own Christian faith. Either you are for God, or against God, arrogantly purporting that God is real, and if you don't believe you are simply hellbound.

Atheism:

a- (2): prefix, meaning without, not.

Theism:
1. belief in God: belief that one God created and rules humans and the world, not necessarily accompanied by belief in divine revelation such as through the Bible.

2. belief in god or gods: belief in the existence of a god or gods.

Atheism, intrinsically, is not a belief structure of any kind. That's like someone who establishes a religion based on leprechauns, going around telling nonbelievers that their nonbelief in leprechauns is a religion. There is no dogma to atheism. No practices. It is not a belief. It is a disbelief towards what seems preposterous. An atheist can believe in different things from other atheists, but the common ground is that no atheist, by definition of the word, subscribes to a belief structured on any sort of deity.

It is not the counterpart to Christianity, as so many Christians would like to believe. Satanism is a counterpoint to Christianity. Atheism is the sheer neglect of any faith in a higher being or beings, not a practiced religion, not even a philosophy. We just don't believe in the Almighty. That's it.

Answer 5

Merriam - Webster Online defines religion as: the service and worship of God or the supernatural, commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance, a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices, scrupulous conformity, a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

So if atheism is a principle, and one definition of principle is assumption, than atheism is a religion because atheist assume there is no deity.

Answer 6

maybe this will answer your question....

Are agnostics atheists?
No. An atheist, like a Christian, holds that we can know whether or not there is a God. The Christian holds that we can know there is a God; the atheist, that we can know there is not. The Agnostic suspends judgment, saying that there are not sufficient grounds either for affirmation or for denial.

Thus to be an atheist is not to have a religion or religious beliefs and here's why...

the def of religion:

(1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural
(2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Answer 7

NO. religion is an unquestioning belief in a certain idea of a world system, usually involving a God or Gods. Atheists do not believe or worship.

A better question might be "Is science a religion?" We seem to accept what science tells us even when we have no direct experience or evidence. Scientist are like priests preaching their "knowledge", some are contradictory, but they all ask us to believe... unquestioning.

Answer 8

Propaganda.

God only exists with faith and belief.

Athiests don't have to BELIEVE in anything, or have FAITH in anything.

It's like saying that 2+2=4 is a religion. You believe it because it's provable and true. It exists without your faith or belief.

I don't have to have faith in Atheism to make it so. It IS so, the facts prove it to be so. It's the delusional that say different and that 2+2=5.

Answer 9

Under what definition of religion could atheism possibly meet the standard?

LATER ADDITION: I've just posted this question for the community. Based on the standard in your link, I could equally say that being a user of shaving cream is a religion. He used the word religion in a way that makes no sense in the common parlance.

Answer 10

Yes it is, it is the belief of something that cannot be proven... usually if you are an Athiest then you believe in the Theory of Evolution, that is also a religion... the belief in something that cannot be proven...

Hey, I thought they didn't allow religion in public schools.

Well I guess since they do they have got to be fair and teach Creationism too.

But no, they are too closed minded... they would never be open to teaching about God, I guess they are just too closed minded to do so...

Answer 11

Both atheism and religion are belief systems. Atheism is the belief that there is no supreme being or god, whereas a religion is the belief in a supreme being.