If Atheism is not an "-ism", not a religion, not an ideology, not a philosophy, not a belief system, creed or

Question

world view, according to the link, then just what is atheism?

http://atheism.about.com/od/definitionofatheism/p/AtheismReligion.htm

I feel that if you disbelieve in something, then that means that you believe in the opposite, and that makes it a belief system. And it matters because it just confuses me.

Like if you DON'T BELIEVE in God, then that means that you DO BELIEVE God doesn't exist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
This refers to atheism as a philosophy.

Answer 1

Most atheists, like the smug writer of that about.com POS, will vehemently deny that atheism is a religion, generally by claiming that 1) atheism is nothing more than lack of belief in a god, and 2) religions all believe in gods, so atheism can't possibly be one of those.

And y'know, that's all just total crap. Xians say "by their deeds you shall know them," heathens like myself believe that people ARE their deeds, and even an atheist like Sartre believed that existence preceeded essence, which is another way of saying pretty much the exact same thing.

I watch from the sidelines while the fundies and atheists have at each other, and it's pretty much the same ol' same ol' from BOTH sides. Blind religious devotion and an inability to consider other points of view. So right *there* I'm already putting atheism in the "religion" column . . . but truth is, and watch the atheists here on Y!A if you doubt me, religion is defined by DOGMA . . . and atheists have one. Actually, two:

1. That atheism is categorically NOT a religion, but based *entirely* on logic and rational thought.
2. That ALL religions are superstitious fairy tales and man-made illusions.

As neither of those points can be objectively proven . . . many, if not MOST atheists are simply "taking them on faith alone" . . . like a *religion.* I recently noted (and chuckled) that when a fundy here asked how sex could have possibly evolved, the atheists were smug, dismissive, abusive . . . and vague. It was a pagan, Frater Pan, who actually answered the question by covering the actual process by which sex had, or at least could, evolve from single cell organisms---clearly, lucidly, and correctly.

The atheists were, apparently, just taking it on *faith,* and waving the "E" word around with about as much understanding of the concept as most fundies demonstrate when waving the "J" word around.

Pot? We have a Mr. Kettle on the line for you . . . *G*

Answer 2

Atheism is definitely a belief, the belief that there is no god. A 'religion' is a system of beliefs based on believing there -is- a god, so atheism is definitely not that. I think Christians who label atheism is a rival religion are being disingenuous, they are only trying to confuse the issue.

Maybe there shouldn't even be a word for someone who doesn't believe in god. I mean there's no word for someone who doesn't believe in witches or in ghosts or flying saucers. If you sincerely believed that we were being visited by flying saucers, and someone else didn't, what would you call him? A skeptic, maybe? You wouldn't be able to say then that he -does- believe we're being visited by -someone-.

Answer 3

Atheism is a lack of belief in the existence of deities.

I'll break down the word so that you might better understand:

a (prefix): without, absent
theism (noun): belief in the existence of a god or gods

If you want to break down theism further:

Theos is the Greek word for "god" and "ism" indicates "belief". So "theism" is "god belief" and atheism is "without god belief".

Answer 4

It's the religion of everything from nothing and the rabbit outta the hat without a hat or a magician. And the religion of a man falling into a hole needing a ladder to get out so he goes home gets a ladder jumps back in the hole then uses the ladder to get out. Does that make sense?

Answer 5

Atheism specifically means not believing in God.

Answer 6

Atheism, as a philosophical view, is the region that the two affirms the nonexistence of gods or rejects theism. while defined greater extensively, atheism is the absence of concept in deities, on the different hand referred to as nontheism. even however atheists are oftentimes assumed to be irreligious, some religions, mutually with Buddhism, have been characterised as atheistic

Answer 7

Atheism is merely the absence of belief, which in no way implies that it is a belief in something else.

Answer 8

Well, technically any "ism" is defined as the state of being...Barbarism= the act of being barbaric, etc. So being in the mindset of atheism is to be without belief in any particular higher power.

Answer 9

Atheism is for finite minds. Beyond their sphere of knowledge. Study logic.
We all have 'spheres of knowledge', your own 'knowledge bubble'. Outside that is WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW.
God or some superior being could be outside that sphere of knowledge.
Some people choose to limit their knowledge bubble, and stay in their comfort zone, either by fear or bias.
This in itself is of a religious content, if you listen to the atheists and evolutionists when they start their ruthless attack on Christianity (something that is not harming them).
It is something outside the knowledge, or comfort zone, so they attack.
They say that Christians live in fear and are biased.
Welcome to the crowd with the rest of us religious people, BROTHER:)

Answer 10

The lack of a specific belief, i.e. the belief in the existence of any god and all the other superstitious garbage that goes along with it.

To call atheism a religion is like calling "bald" a hair color.