Is being an atheist not a form of religion?

Question

We have so many divisions in religion - Catholic, all the Protestant denominations, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhism, etc. Is not the choice not to believe in anything just another form of religion?

Answer 1

Wow! It seems to me that a lot of people here failed to do any research on this subject. I'm going to actually use some viable references here so you can be sure I'm not speaking from my own beliefs. This is black and white...

Atheism IS in fact, very much a religion. It has nothing to do with god, or gods, or lack of a god in any way. My first link is to Dictionary.com (Random House Unabridged Dictionary). There are 9 separate entries, and NONE of them mention God anywhere. Here is one of the entries:

a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

All religion is, is a set of beliefs. That's it. Atheism is the belief that there is no god. Dictionary.com's definition of atheism is:

the doctrine or belief that there is no God.

I really don't understand why this has been such a long standing debate! Furthermore...it blows my mind that SO many people believe that it ISN'T! I honestly do believe that the vocal Athiests in the US just want to keep this debate standing so they won't be effected by the separation of church and state. If you want to push the beliefs of Jews, Christians, and Hindus away, why are the beliefs of Athiests excluded?

The only true "belief system" (for lack of better terms) that is not a religion is Agnostic. If you are Agnostic, that means you literally don't care whether or not there is a god. The only reason that isn't a religion is because it doesn't involve any beliefs!!

Answer 2

webster unabridged-religion n. 1. the beliefs,Attitudes, emotions, behavior, etc., constituting Man's relationship with the Powers and Principles of the universe 2. An essential part or a practical test of the spiritual life. 3. An object of conscientious devotion or scrupulous care. 4. Obs. Religious Practice or Belief - Syn. faith,cult, denomination,church,and sect denote a particular System of religious beliefs or the persons that adhere to it. A Cult is an agglomeration of practices,Not necessarily theistic; e.g. Wycche,Atheist, Agnostic. Note #3 and Synonym-Cult

Answer 3

Atheist are compared to a child whose mother died after nursing him a few months. Men were left to raise him by themselves on a lonely island until he grew up and could think rationally. He had never seen a woman or any female creature; and now he asked a man, 'How were we brought into being?'

He answered: 'Each on of us was created in the belly of a person, of our kind but female...then he went on explaining the reproductive cycle... Until the he reaches a certain stage of growth; then an exit opens below in his mother's body, and he leaves through it and grows until maturity.'

"The orphan will then inevitably ask did this small living moving and growing being in his mother's belly eat and drink? Did he inhale and exhale from his mouth and nostrils?' And the answer will be 'NO'

The orphan will be easily prove that these things are impossible anyone who is unable to breathe even for a short time will die and cease moving therefore how can someone be enclosed in a sealed sack for months and remain alive and moving?

If one swallowed a bird the bird would die upon reaching the stomach, still more so in the intestines! Likewise a person who doesn't eat or drink water will undoubtedly die in a few days. then how can person live fore months without food and drink?

A person who eats but does not excrete wastes will die in agony how then can a person live months without excreting ? If one's stomach had a hole in it he would die within days; how then can you think that the fetus navel was always open? How can it be that during that period his eyes can be closed and his hands and feet bent over but after birth all his limbs are in perfect condition?'

In this way the orphan will draw the comparison with all his organs, and arrive at the conclusion that man cannot possibly come into being in this fashion."

Just as the orphan was unable to accept the truth about birth because he had never heard about it or seen it beforehand, so atheists cannot comprehend the way Almighty God conducts His world will not only be amazed to hear The truth but also incapable of fathoming it still less accepting it.
Bottom line Atheist are foolish, naive and suffer from Cognitive Dissonance. Definitely not religious. Anyways the word religious is a bogus word.

Answer 4

The basic (very basic) definition of religion is a Belief in a Higher Power. Atheists do not have a belief, therefore it is not a religion.

Answer 5

I believe so because they practice religion every day by inquiring about God and answering God questions 24/7 on this forum but I'm sure an atheist will tell you differently and some will say that they are a religion because it takes alot of faith to not believe in nothing.

Shalom
=0)

Answer 6

You have to define religion... you may very well mean something other than what people take it as. But here are the definitions of the two:

religion: n. 1. belief in God or god's 2. system of worship

and atheism: n. belief that there is no God

(definitions from Websters New Pocket Dictionary, copyright 2000)

So it would seem to me that one is the antithesis of the other... but I leave it to you to decide

Answer 7

I believe that being an atheist is not believing in God, not in any religion so no it is not a form of religion

Answer 8

No, religions are defined by their faith. Atheists are without faith by definition. For some unknown reason, christians like to claim atheism is a faith, but you can't have faith in a negative. Just a probability that something doesn't exist.

You wouldn't call not-believing in leprechauns your religion, would you? Or not believing in Zeus a religion?

Answer 9

in itself? no... however, many people accept dogma, doctrine and unquestioned beliefs regardless of whether they claim to worship a God. in this sense, many beliefs can be derived from this non-belief.

edit: to say one doesn't believe in God, gods or some essence beyond the physical world is to make a committment to a metaphysical belief system - that's not neccessarily religious.

Religion, as regards colliquial speech (to those of you who are stuck on simple, normative definitions... i thought atheists were pluralistic and waited for all the evidence?...), generally means a committment to dogma, tradition, and beliefs that go without queston.

now im not opposed to scientific evidence myself (whether its the theory of evolution or gravity for the matter), but i am not a scientist and can't explain these things with great detail; nor can most atheists.

most atheist believe theories like evolution (which many of us Christians prefer to regard as pluasible - but yet unproven absolutely), and do so without question... because they wish to explain things with the assumed belief that God, gods, and/or a metaphysical essence does not exist.

Thus, we get a belief system that seems a lot like religion to me. eg- for some, atheist logic might go: "i dont believe in god, therefore god's existence cant explain human origin, therefore i must accept evolution without questioning its validity or possible mistakes ."

Answer 10

No. Religions by definition have a belief in a higher truth. Atheists do not. We believe that what you see is what you've got, that anything 'higher' is just what we bring to the picture.