Atheists. If you had to choose?

Question

I do not believe in any god/gods, but I was posed the question,
As an Atheist:

"If you had to practice a religion which one would you be most drawn too and why"?

I thought about it a while, I teetered on the edge of some sort of spiritual land based tree hugging type of thing but in the end I had to go for Buddhism because it is not a religion based on 'Faith', it is a peace based philosophy based on self focus and learning.
In addition, because Buddha is not a god, Buddha was a man who walked the Earth about 2500 years ago.
I like the idea of learning from a man who got something right rather than learning from a book based on the words of a deity that bases itself on faith.

I’m an Atheist, but managed to answer this.
What about the rest of the ungodly out there in Yahoo land.

If you had to make a choice
(please feel free to think up your own argument as to why you have to make this choice)

What would you chose?

Ah Seow,

Thanks for the text book. NOW
If you would like to answer 'in the spirit' of the question

Answer 1

I would probably make the same choice, but I tend to consider that a soft answer. You call Buddhism a religion at one point and a philosophy at another. I side with the second term. Buddhism is the obvious choice if you group it with religions. Consider it diet religion, all the moral flavor with 0 gods. I would also choose Buddhism if I didn't feel like it was cheating. (Cheating in the sense that I don't consider it to be religion. I don't at all challenge it's validity.)

Choosing from God religions, I could find myself choosing a polytheistic view. I think it's interesting how people so easily dismiss the possibility of multiple gods. At a time, monotheism was a revolutionary concept, and I have to wonder how many people think it's right just because it's the more 'modern' version of religion. When you have mutliple gods, none of them can be perfect. Otherwise you have one god with a bunch of subordinates. I think this would be a nice point to recognize with religion, that perfection isn't necessary for effectiveness. Also, with multiple gods in the world, it would mean creation was a team effort, thus teaching the value of teamwork.

I reserve the right to change my decision at any point ^_^

Answer 2

I became atheist when I was 14 and stayed that way for about a year, then I took history class and learned about Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha at which point I realized how much of his philosophy I agreed with. So then the next Christmas I got a book about the Buddha and his teachings. I read it through and practiced meditation and thought about the theories, I can't say I'm enlightened obviously but I believe I'll be closer in my next life. One thing that I like about buddhism was the denial of a permanent self. I always heard people talking about a soul and it sounded like magic bullcrap, as far as I could tell we were made of cells and no soul cell had been discovered. But the one thing that really brought me into it was the freedom, no blind faith involved, question everything and don't believe anything until you have realized it, not even if the Buddha told you it was true. Besides that like you said he was a real man found in quite a few old writings and was pretty long before any notion of Christ or Christianity, he just offered guidance without empty threats of hell or promises of heaven, just a genuine good person.

Answer 3

Atheism is not a religion in the sense that Christianity, Islam, and, Judaism are. Atheism is not generally perceived as offering a complete guideline for living as do most religions.

Jainism, Buddhism and Taoism are consider non-theistic faiths.Their followers are atheists.

So "Seeker" is wrong that atheists do not have religions.

Check: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/atheism/types/index.shtml

Types of Atheism

Humanism
This philosophy of life understands the world without using any supernatural ideas.

Secularism
An atheist philosophy that emphasises that no-one should be disadvantaged for not having a religious faith.

Rationalism
An approach to life based on reason and evidence.

Buddhism
A way of living based on the teachings of Siddartha Gautama.

Humanistic Judaism
A form of Judaism which does without God.

Christian Non-realism
A form of Christianity which does without an external God.

Postmodernism
A view of religion without God, and without any absolute values.

Unitarian Universalism
A religion of individual belief, most of whose members adopt a non-realist position and focus on humankind as the source of religious authority.

Jainism.
An ancient religion from India that teaches that the way to liberation and bliss is to live a life of harmlessness and renunciation.

Answer 4

It's a trick question. A true atheist wouldn't pick any religion.
____________
Response: religion is not philosophy - religion is a social institution, period. I agree that I like Buddhism, for I am not an atheist. However, Buddhism itself has many factions and offsprings, just as Christianity does. So I stand by my answer, Ah Seow, that an atheist would not pick any religion. They could/would choose a philosophy if given the choice.

Answer 5

I totally agree with you. I'd consider myself agnostic. I was born and raised a catholic in Ireland, but decided that the whole thing was ridiculous. I'd also go with a religion that had no deity but with a positive outlook on life and the people around you. I might be wrong but I think Buddism believes in reinacarnation. I'm afraid I'd have to draw the line on that one. Anything supporting supernatural ideas I just can't beLIEve. Know what I mean?

Answer 6

i very much agree with you. buddhist is the first religion that i would follow, if i had to. its faith, not human manipulated religion. its peaceful and harmless, mostly based on philosophy. it teaches you to find your true self, to live the real life away from todays world of materialistic things. they have self control, self possession and are truly faithful and they do not judge. they measure a person by what is really on the inside and not by materialistic components that surround a person.
with each religion that i have studied, i have found things that i agree with and things that i dont. my beliefs (if you could call them that, or better, my ideals) match up the most with buddhism.
after buddhism, i would choose gnosticism. the belief in god without organised religion, where it is between god and yourself and no one else telling you what is right or wrong.

Answer 7

If I were made to join a religion, say by a law, I'd pick up just any of them at random, and I'd pretend I believe in it, just like most "believers" do now. I'd become one more hypocrite. But I wouldn't care which one it is. I'd probably choose Catholicism, which is the predominant church in Argentina, my country. Anyway, I don't think I'd last much like that.

Answer 8

Well, I would go for Taoism (with Buddhism as a close second) if I could get away with it. Of course, since they do not entail the dogmatic adoration of some diety, the case could be made that they are not really religions... which is alright with me.

Answer 9

I would choose a Land or Sun based religion as we do actually rely on these things. I like the sun god Ra.

Answer 10

I would DEFINITELY choose Buddhism. That's because find it nearly impossible to believe in faith, but I love nature and respect animals, and everything else that exists on Earth. So I would most definitely choose Buddhism.

Answer 11

Pretty good choice, but why would you limit yourself to the one belief?

Someone once asked on here (different forum): who do you think is the most successful person in the world?

My answer was the Dalai Lama because success cannot be measured by material gains.