At least in the sense of being protected under the First Amendment. I realize an atheist would not call his belief a religion, but rather an absence of religion: but that's just what zero is in mathematics.
2007-09-11 02:16:11 · 34 answers · asked by auntb93 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Sheesh, you don't read! I said in the context of being protected by the First Amendment. And I'm not sure numbers have nothing to do with religion. The number of gods you believe in defines monotheism, bitheism, polytheism: why not atheism as a protected belief. I acknowledge it's not a real religion in the same sense as the ones that have one or more gods they believe in.
2007-09-11 03:29:17 · update #1
Although the federal government has "classified" baldness as a hair color and atheism as a religion for the sake of bureaucratic bean counters, neither are protected under the "freedom of religion" portion of the U.S. Constitution.
However, the first amendment also covers "freedom of expression" and the same rights that were given to believers in any religion were also given to non-believers where this is concerned.
And just for the record, zero is the cardinal number indicating the absence of any or all units. Atheism is not Nilism or Zeroism. It is not the belief in zero number of gods but the total lack of belief in the existence of the Divine. But if Bald is a hair color, then Atheism might as well be a religion.
2007-09-11 08:23:02 · answer #1 · answered by Richard 7 · 9⤊ 0⤋
There are a lot of things that I am not. Do I need a name and a category for every one of of them? Many people do not play golf. Would you call an "Agolfer" an athlete? Dogs don't drive cars. Does that make them Acarists? Would you call them " green"? Without the concept of religion existing separately, the concept of atheism would not exist either, as there would not be anything to contrast it to. Can you imagine calling atheism being a religion if there were no concept of religion or God anywhere in the minds of all of mankind?
2007-09-11 02:53:51 · answer #2 · answered by Boris Bumpley 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I might be wrong, but mathematically zero represents nothing or the absence of everything. Zero is a place holder for nothing until there is something. Therefore zero is not a number, merely a place holder for so that we can understand that there is nothing.
Atheism is the absence of religion or the belief in nothing religiously. How can it be a religion if it believes in nothing?
2007-09-11 02:30:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Question; Is atheism a belief in total ignorance (zero witnesses), simply a belief in self (one witness; self), whereas True Christianity (and Judaism; Islam also) is belief in the True God who advocates 2 or more witnesses (Jews Deut. 10-20, Christians Matt.18:16, 2 Cor.13:1)?
2007-09-11 02:41:23 · answer #4 · answered by jefferyspringer57@sbcglobal.net 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no zero is not a number.. it is a line between positive and negative, as in -1, 0, 1.. but zero is a number and has value when used with other numbers as in 10, 20, -180, you get it. i did my best to barnie style it. now for what you are saying, can an atheist call atheist-ism a religion, nope, can it be called a cult? maybe.. but that's probably as far as it goes.
2007-09-11 02:45:15 · answer #5 · answered by RuG™ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Any strong belief is a religion, you don't need a holy book, prayer or a priest to make a religion.
It is however is a philosophical position, but in truth, isn't that just what a religion is? If atheists do not believe in a god, then how they define a religion is the same as how they define their own standpoint, ie just a school of thought constructed by man.
There are even religions that worship nothingness, such as nihilism.
2007-09-11 02:22:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
Since 1 is a number, isn't religion a piece of Dutch cheese? After all, religion implies the existence of cheese and cheese is used by many religious people.
2007-09-11 02:29:05 · answer #7 · answered by Dharma Nature 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How can atheism be a religion? There are two problems with that statement. First, religion is man's INDIVIDUAL view of God. Second, atheism doesn't recognize a higher power or God at all, so how can it be an individual view of something they believe doesn't EXIST?
2007-09-11 08:14:05 · answer #8 · answered by bigvol662004 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheism is not a religion. However, it is a religious viewpoint. Atheists should be entitled to the same level of protection as any religious believer.
2007-09-11 02:24:50 · answer #9 · answered by Valarian 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
One can twist the definition of any word. If one does that excessively, words have no meaning. Have you read Alice in Wonderland's conversation with Humpty Dumpty. he tries to make words mean anything he likes, and she disputes it. So do I. Your statements are illogical. mathematics has nothing to do with religion essentially. "A" is "no" and "theos" is "god" in Greek. Atheism is not a religion, regardless of how much or why one tries to distort language.
2007-09-11 02:37:29 · answer #10 · answered by miyuki & kyojin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋