Why is it so easy to offend atheists by pointing out that their belief system is also a religion?

Question

OK to follow-up:

A's priests - liberal teachers and judges.
A's sacraments - abortion, gay marriage.
A's church - public schools, U.S. court system, liberal media.
A's zeal - murderous hatred toward anything/anyone who holds different views.

A's "gods" - Darwin, Nietzche, Camus

A's "bible" - Origin of the Species

A's "commentary" - The New York Times

I have to give some credit here: Despite the overwhelming negative responses, the rating for the question (thus far) is even (+9, -9) though I suspect that is b/c most of the respondents can't yet give an up-or-down vote. Hmm...reminds me of the Democratic tactic of failing to give conservative judge nominees a fighting chance.

The Webster definition of religion is 3. a cause, principle or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

M-W Dictionary definition of religion: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.

Answer 1

They think that religion is a belief in God, instead of being (M-W Dictionary) a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith. They came to a decision to believe, and accept in principle, that there is no God. The intelligent ones realize this, while the others a offended and think we are ignorant.

Answer 2

I am not offended, but what you write is simply not true. Liberal teachers and judges are not my priests, although I am quite liberal in my views. Abortion is not a sacrament for me, and is something I would never do myself because I couldn't live with it. Gay marriage is no more a sacrament than other marriage. Schools etc. are not a church, and the religious people go to schools as well and live under the law including the court system. I don't feel any murderous hatred to anyone. Darwin, Nietzsche and Camus aren't Gods for me, not even very important people. I haven't read anything of their writings. Darwin's book is not a Bible for me, it was just the first draft of a scientific theory that was proven to be correct by many scientists. Some things are scientifically wrong in his book and I don't agree with many of Darwin's social views, and think that Darwinism is the last thing that anyone should use as a moral guideline, so it has in no way a Bible function, its function could only be compared to that of the first few chapters of the Bible. And I don't read the New York Times, but that's probably because I live in Germany.

Answer 3

The Webster definition of religion is 1.Belief in and/or reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe, 2. a set of beliefs, values and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader, or 3. a cause, principle or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion. While technically the third definition could apply to athiests, most of the athiests I am friends with don't seem to spend nearly as much time trying to convince everyone that God doesn't exist as the other way 'round.

Answer 4

I'm not offended, but I am amused at such an incorrect statement.

To quote someone else on the vast IntraWeb, "Atheism is a religion as much as not playing golf is a sport."

But, if atheism is considered a religion, then we are all part of an infinite number of religions, as the majority of people don't believe in Thor, in unicorns, or in the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Calling atheism a religion diminishes the meaning of the word, really.

Edit: Your follow-up does not make sense. Atheists do not subscribe to this "church" you've just invented.

priests - liberal teachers and judges
Nope, I don't accept the teachings of liberals. If they have something wise to impart (and everyone does), then I'll listen to that nugget, but I don't follow them blindly.

sacraments - abortion, gay marriage
Again, nope. Abortion is a personal matter, and I don't go around telling people to have abortions. I'd rather they didn't. I also don't support state-sponsored marriage. But, since it's being offered unfairly to the heterosexuals, might as well open it up. But I don't support these "sacraments."

church - public schools, U.S. court system, liberal media.
As a rule, I try to avoid going to court, so I can't "worship" there. I haven't been to a public school in a while, so I can't "worship" there either. I don't know how you can enter liberal media, but I'm pretty sure I haven't done that either.

zeal - murderous hatred toward anything/anyone who holds different views
That's a big negative. I don't want to kill anyone.

gods - Darwin, Nietzche, Camus
I don't worship any of those.

bible - Origin of the Species
Never even read it, though I guess that doesn't mean much since many Christians haven't read their Bibles. But I won't live my life based on this book either.

commentary - The New York Times
I don't recall religions having their own commentary. Regardless, this is not where I receive my commentary.

Sorry, but your "atheist religion" is simply a straw man. I'm sure it died gloriously at your hands.

If you're trying to make a point, then I suggest you start with something factual instead of trying to invent something for the sheer delight in single-handedly destroying your own creation and pretending you struck a blow against your enemies (whoever they might be).

Edit: Ah, picking and choosing your definition now. A fine strategy of someone desperate to validate a faulty claim. I will point out that I do not held onto a set of beliefs with ardor and faith. My atheism is not based in faith (is it faith when you don't have proof of Bigfoot?) nor do I pursue it with ardor.

You clearly just want to dismiss everyone's viewpoint that isn't like your own. That's your life. Seems rather empty to me, but I'm not in your shoes. Perhaps that's how you get off in life. Good luck with that.

Answer 5

Because its not a religion. I am sorry, I have been meaning to look for days in my old school notes. There is certain criteria to what is a religion and since they do not have a "god" or believe in a higher power, they do not meet it. Lots of things ARE religions, that would probably surprise many.

Atheism is the polar opposite of Theism...Godless or God.

I know I see people write, if they do not believe in God, they have to believe in Satan...and I wish it were so easy but its not. If you profess not to believe in ANY higher power than yourself, you are an atheist and its not a religion, and it does not make you evil or anything else, it just means you do not believe in God.

So I do understand why they get upset with others call it a religion. On the other hand, some of the stuff we see is so mixed up and confusing and downright awful that I can understand why people say that to them. Its sort of a Catch-22 thing.
cal

Answer 6

Well, it's probably because that is a misrepresentation of atheism.

As I've said before:


Why is there such an insistence that atheism is a religion?

It's not. It's not even a belief. It's Unbelief.

Do you define your religion by UNbelief? If you don't believe in the evolutionary theory, does that make your religion a-evolutionism?

Personally, I think that there is a drive to have atheism classified as a religion so that scientific theories can be classified as "religious doctrine" and they can prevent the teaching of evolution in public schools.

But that will not work, because there are lots of *religious* people like myself who see through that tactic.:

Answer 7

I'm not offended by your stupidity. A religion is an organization that teaches that we continue to live even though we're stone dead. This sub-microscopic " soul" soars off into the zillions of miles to "heaven" then inflates into a full sized person.
Atheists simply do not believe such superstitious nonsense.
If, in your mind having no religion is a religion, I don't think you understand anyway.

Answer 8

It doesn't offend us, it just keeps making people that make such a statement look very uneducated and ignorant. First, look up the definition of a religion, not what you think it is, the definition of the word. Next look up atheist and see what the definition of that word is. Then try in some convoluted, twisted, mutated, non rational fashion to connect the two and see how ridiculous that statement really is. I'm not offended, I just feel sorry for you.

Answer 9

It doesn't offend me. I really don't know how its looked on in America (I assume you're over there). All i can say is in UK atheism is not classed as a religion, and also its not frowned upon, as it seems to be in America. Completely different systems, and ways of life so maybe it is classed as a religion in you're country. Ive seem alot of Americans say it is on here but that's all i can go by. Call it what you like.

Answer 10

I think that most Atheists like to call themselves "free thinkers" and that religion is the absence of thought or controlled thought. It's very much the same black and white thinking that many fundamentalist Christians use to justify their beliefs. Regardless of what they think, Atheism is a religion. They believe there is no God based on lack of evidence just the same as I believe that a higher power exists because of evidence. We simply see the world differently. The fact that it cannot be proven that there is or is not a God makes Atheism a religion because they choose to believe there is no God by faith.

They have a code of conduct that they call the Social Contract and they have organizations and meet as other religions do.