Is atheism just another belief system?

Question

Do you consider atheism to be a belief system or even a religion? If so, why?

Answer 1

NO. I'll explain why...

What you're basically asking is whether or not atheism is a "religion". It isn't. There are several characteristics which best define religions and atheism utterly fails to even remotely match any of them.

Belief in Supernatural Beings: Few religions lack this characteristic and most religions are founded upon it. Atheism is the absence of belief in gods and thus excludes belief in gods. Atheism does not teach the existence of such beings and most atheists in the West do not believe in them.

Sacred vs Profane Objects, Places, Times: Differentiating between sacred and profane objects, places, and times helps religious believers focus on transcendental values and/or the existence of a supernatural realm. Atheism excludes believing in things that are “sacred” for the purpose of worshiping gods, but otherwise has nothing to say on the matter — neither promoting nor rejecting the distinction.

Ritual Acts Focused on Sacred Objects, Places, Times: As with the very existence of a category of “sacred” things, there is nothing about atheism which either mandates such a belief or necessarily excludes it — it’s simply an irrelevant issue.

Moral Code With Supernatural Origins: Theistic religions typically claim that morality is derived from the commands of their gods. Atheists have moral codes, but they don’t believe that those codes are derived from any gods and it would be unusual for them to believe that their morals have a supernatural origin. More importantly, atheism doesn’t teach any particular moral code.

Prayer and Other Forms of Communication: Religions teach you to talk to gods. Atheists don’t believe in gods so obviously don’t try to communicate with any.

A Worldview & Organization of One’s Life Based on the Worldview: Atheism doesn’t promote any one worldview. Atheists have different ideas about how to live because they have different philosophies on life. Atheism is not a philosophy or ideology, but it can be part of a philosophy, ideology, or worldview.

Answer 2

Atheism is not believing in a god or gods.

You could be in a persistent vegetative state and meet the criteria for atheism - if you have no beliefs or thoughts of any kind, then you obviously don't believe in a god.
Would you say that someone who is brain-dead is following a belief system because they don't believe in God?

Some people are apparently confused about what "atheism" means. While there is such thing as Strong and Weak atheism, the question just says "atheist" which is all-inclusive and means "lack of belief in a god or gods".
There are no beliefs that an atheist is required to hold. They do not need to believe that the universe was created by the Big Bang, or that humans descended from primates. They are not required to care where the universe or humanity came from. The ONLY requirement for atheism is not believing that there is a god.

Answer 3

I am an atheist, and I hate the word atheist. It makes it sound like a belief system or even worse a religion. There is a new wave of atheism out there and it is one that recognizes the danger in organized religion, and the mass delusion this world suffers from in believing in "God". Unlike a Christian or a muslim, who believe they have it right and there is no other way, an atheist feels that if you are religious you are part of a problem way bigger than most people realize, all we ask is that you stop and think about your delusion, and maybe you can be healed. Humanitarian is a better word for Atheism than Atheist. "Can't someone look at a garden and wonder in it's beauty without thinking there is a fairy at the bottom of it?"

Answer 4

To a point. It is a belief in that the total lack of evidence supports three basic ideas.

Atheists look at the universe and the lack of evidence for a god. We take that lack of evidence to believe that there is no god. Only a few are hard atheists and say it is impossible there is one. Most are like me and say that it is very unlikely.

Agnostics look at the lack of evidence and say that the nature of the universe makes it impossible to tell if there is a god or not.

Deists believe that the universe implies a god, and the lack of evidence either means that he is not interested in us knowing, or that he is too big to care. I disagree with this position, but mostly for philosophical reasons.

I personally see these as the only rational conclusions. The belief part comes from picking between them. There is nothing backing up any of the other claims so Thor is as likely to be real as God or Allah.

Atheists arrive at their conclusion by looking for the evidence and picking a logical, rational, and consistent position. Not by reading text written by religious zealots.

Answer 5

Atheism isn't a perception that god would not exist; it relatively is the lack of ability of perception that he does, that's fairly a diverse element. a loss of an apple does no longer mean you have an orange. Gnostic atheism is basically the perception that there is not any god (or perchance greater wisely, the declare to *comprehend* that there is not any god), yet no longer all atheists are Gnostic. previous this single place, atheists commonly have very diverse perspectives on very nearly each thing else. the only element you would be confident they agree on is they have not got self assurance in god. whether it became into reasonable to define atheism as believing god did no longer exist (ignoring for the 2d that it fairly is incorrect), that still would not make atheism a perception gadget, for the easy reason that a gadget demands better than one element. If a set can basically be pointed out with the aid of a single perception then they have not got a perception gadget, they have one shared perception. with the aid of your definition, Christianity, Islam and Judaism must be seen all one faith, as all of them declare to have self assurance interior the comparable god. What defines them as diverse religions is the gadget of different ideals they have geared up up around that one middle perception, and that's the reason they are defined as perception *structures*. whether atheism must be defined as a perception, it relatively is nonetheless all it may be - one single perception. No gadget in sight.

Answer 6

Atheism is not a belief system. Atheist are those who do not believe in God, bases on the fact that there is no evidence for his existence.

Answer 7

It is certainly a belief system, but "another" is probably an inapt description. It has the distinct advantage that, unlike religious beliefs, an atheist's beliefs are based on evidence and have demonstrable consequences -- i.e., they are actually useful.

Answer 8

Atheism certainly is a belief. Not a religion, per se, nor a 'system'. Just a belief.

Answer 9

Of course it is a religion! A religion is a system of beliefs pertaining to questions to which as of yet we don't have a discrete answer. It requires faith, like any religion; faith that what one believes is true; faith that there is no God, et cetera. It has opinions concerning the genesis of the universe, the genesis of the human race, a supreme being, etc. It has all these things and is thus a religion.

Let's take a look at the definitions of "religion".

A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

Answer 10

no, Atheism does not fall under the definition of Religion.

No Deity, No routines, No dogma, no belief...

I gotta tell ya, not doing all that stuff is a real load off..


EDIT: "No Religion" : I hear you brother! (own and read that book btw..)