Why is atheism not just another form of religion?

Question

Please dont just state the obvious! If you just want to get points go to another section.

I'm not sure that a belief in God or deities has anything to do with this question.

Atheism may not be a specific belief structure in itself but atheists do , generally, believe in evolution just the same way as many reformed god worshipers believe in their own version of world.

Many scientists, notable Newton /Darwin, were religious about both their work and about God.

Many believers and non believers rationally question both their faith and evolution but most dont question either at all.

There are so many unanswerable rational questions that atheists have to take for granted.eg Where did the universe come from? and How did primitive life evolve from no life.

So... atheism may be more rational than religion but that does not mean people are not religious about it.

I think the main difference at the moment is that atheists do not directly identify with one another in a community. But with rampant religious indoctrination sweeping the world this may soon change.

Answer 1

The reason isn't in the belief, per se, but rather the cause for those beliefs.

Mythic religious worldviews -- regardless of whether those worldviews are ultimately correct or not -- are rooted in the latching onto an otherwise abritrary set of ideas with regard to objective reality. Whereas the atheistic worldview is rooted in the attempt to establish a worldview based on objective evidence (there being "little evidence" of God, God isn't included in the worldview).

In otherwords, the mythic believer does not first seek to understand the objective evidence in order to formulate their worldview (as does the atheist), but rather begins with the acceptance of a set of ideas and goes from there. Those set of beliefs are arbritrary with regard to objective evidence (i.e., the evidence comes from within the religion itself, not from without), and the objective evidence is inconsequential to their acceptance.

The mythic mind differs from the rational mind in that the mythic mind hasn't yet fully seperated the objective from the subjective, and thus still conceives of the objective world as one that is fundamentally concerned with the subjective one. The mythic believer will almost invariably have a sense of the objective (i.e., God) looking over them, peering into their subjective world, and that what they think and feel can have serious consequences objectively (e.g., heaven or hell). The rational mind has made this separation, which is what led to the birth of science because once this separation was made it became possible to devise a method by which the subject was removed from the process of understanding the objective. This fundamental separation is what can lead to the feeling that what one feels/thinks is of no concern to the objective universe, which paves the road to atheism. So atheism is basically rooted in a different psychological capacity, one that makes a strong division between the subjective and the objective.

Furthermore, in my opinion, mythic religion is essentially a collective social agreement for the people of that particular culture to accept the same, or similar, sets of ideas in order to provide social cohesion, law and order. The "objective" status of those ideas, per se, is of little consequence to the common acceptance of them, because their objective status had little to do with providing society moral guidelines and common membership. All that was required was that most people believe in the same things, and that those things provide rules of conduct for the members of that society/culture that strengthened the society and allowed for a basis for establishing laws that individuals would accept not merely externally, but internally.

So we see many similar qualities to all the worlds religions with regard to ethics, ritual, social hierarchy, and ettiqute, because those were the things religion was, in a sense, designed to provide. But what we don't see is any evidence that the set of objective ideas in each religion provided actually corresponded how things actually work objectively. Put differently, morals and codes of conduct don't require that the sets of ideas correspond to objective reality, they just require that the majority accepts them and participates in them.

The "objective" way things work (independent of how that is being defined by the religion) has no consequence to the effectiveness religion, so religion tends to be self-justifying. In otherwords, it is true because my holy text says it is true, and that is true because I have accepted it as true. Acceptance of a set of ideas (aka, "faith"), regardless of whether they have rational or scientific backing, is all that is required for religion. Athiesm, on the otherhand, requires evidence, such that if evidence of God's existence were revealed, the atheistic worldview would very rapidly crumble. This is, again, because the atheist, having made the strong separation between subjective and objective, places their faith in "facts" whose truths are understood to be independent of how the individual may or may not wish or fear things to be.

Once science came onto the scene, there was an actual basis for examining whether the beliefs or set of ideas handed down by the mythic structures had some relationship with the facts of the universe. Thus, increasing numbers of individuals felt that it was not sufficient just to blindly accept a doctrine, but rather felt that it should be examined whether that doctrine was just an arbitrary sets of beliefs collectively agreed upon, or whether those beliefs really did reflect upon how things work. And, as many people went through this process of examination, many became atheist.

In otherwords, the athiest worldview is not a set of beliefs collectively agreed upon in order to create social harmony. It is not a worldview accepted arbitrarily with regard to objective reality (i.e., on faith) that is thus impervious to substantial alteration in the face of evidence. It is not a set of beliefs that people embrace solely because it makes them feel better about the meaning of life (though it may have that secondary effect). It is a set of beliefs that rests upon empirical and rational evidence, such that if that evidence were to dramatically change, the worldview would either die or have to adjust dramatically to fit the evidence.

So the essential difference between atheism and mythic religion is that the former views reason as a measuring device for the validity of ideas which form the basis for their worldview; and the later views "faith", or the arbitrary acceptance of ideas with regard to their objective status, as sufficient . . . and so such ideas form the basis for their worldview.

There is much more to it of course. The fact that atheism as a worldview is not rooted in the source concern for social cohesion means that the worldview itself does not provide any social guidelines with regard to ethics, rules of conduct, or ritual. All the world's religions do. The world's religions have a variety of patterns that seem to be common throughout the religions, from dogma to religious texts, from ritual and praxis to public prayer . . . none of which are present as a form of atheistic religion.

So, in short, the reason atheists don't share in any of the patterns we see throughout mythic religion is that the causes for their beliefs are fundamentally not rooted in the mythic mind, but rather in the mind of reason.

Answer 2

Religion is a belief in a higher being responsible for the creation of everything. Whether if be Jehovah, Allah, Buddha or any other 'god'. Don't forget that religion is a man made concept to justify and explain things beyond our comprehension. Man has had to have this justification because of the, to him, inexplicable happenings ion the world. For example in ancient times the were gods for almost everything, the gods of Winter Spring, Summer, Autumn, the sea, the air, love, war, the sky and so on. All these things could not be understood my many so he put the natural occurrences of the world down to the work of the 'Gods'. Eventually as knowledge became more widespread and the inexplicable became explained most of these gods were abandoned. They were replaced by teachings and philosophies preached by the new gods, Jesus, Mohammed, Confucius and so on. Since atheism is a denial of the existence of any 'gods' it cannot be described as a religion merely a lack of belief or 'faith'.

Answer 3

I think the concept of Atheism is just as foolish as the concept of Religion.

Both sides claim to KNOW something that they can't know.

Atheists claim to know that there is no God, which they can't humanly possibly know, and religious people claim that there is a God, which they also can't know.

Both sides are equally fanatical about their views.

That's why I'm Agnostic. Agnostics acknowledge that we can't possibly know. There is absolutely no way in hell I can say that there is no God. And I equally can't know that there is one.

Agnostics are the most rational. Atheists seem to deny the existance of a God out of spite. Religious people...well, they're just religious. But I can sympathize with religious people because at least they get hope through their faith, which helps certain people who may be sick or lonely etc.

Answer 4

As Felix has pointed out correctly, atheism IS a religion, but one that reflects justifying your actions in terms of how they affect this world, not to please a God and get your rewards in another life, ie Heaven. They do not believe there is definitely no God, as t_o_n_i_montana has suggested, he is mistaken due to religious propaganda.
It is due to the Roman Catholic church's abusing the language, and propaganda that nowadays people have become ignorant of the real, true meaning of many words and terms used incorrectly today. Cathartic, Celibate, Atheist & Agnostic are just 4 examples of words that people think they know the meaning of, but are purely compounding an urban myth.

Answer 5

Atheism is not just another form of religion because by definition it is not. I think those believing in some forms of higher beings want to justify themselves by classifying atheism as a different religion. Atheists come to the conclusion that there is no god. Period.

Answer 6

Atheism is not a religion because it is not a set of beliefs. The only thing atheists have in common is that they do not believe in god. Their worldviews can differ totally. One may be an atheist naturalist (one who does not believe in anything supernatural), while another may have a buddhist philosophy, while another might be a secular humanist, while another may be a pantheist (one who refers to the laws of nature and physics as god) etc...

Answer 7

Atheism is the mental decide, that You believe in no God or Higher Being.

Religion is a mental binding to the good things (best is GOD) and avoiding the bad things You know!

Answer 8

Religion-a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

atheist-a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.

Answer 9

A religion must honor a higher power, whether it be God or a false god, but atheism is godless, nothing to honor or worship. Atheism is a concept or and idea and not a religion.

Answer 10

Religion IS the belief and worship of a Higher Being...whoever that may be....Atheists don't believe, so they are nothing...in a class of their own, but it's not a religion. It's just a group that doubts ALL that is TRUE.

Answer 11

It can not be a religion because religion usually believes in God or a supernatural power .. It can not be a religion because if it is it will loose its glory and main principles of life and faith in man alone.