2 atheist questions.?

Question

1. is atheism technically a religion? or more of a belief? and then so what exactly is a religion?

2. is it common for atheist to say "oh my god"? its a common phrase....even thought it has god in it.

Answer 1

1) No. It's a lack of religion. Like not-playing-cards is not a card game.

2) Yes. It's a common phrase. Ever said 'holy cow'? Does that mean you're Hindu now? Of course not. You probably didn't even think of the connection. Same with us.

Answer 2

1. No and No
2. I do it sometimes. I can't speak for all atheists and neither can anyone else but I suspect quite a few say it. It's a common phrase. Heck in English we call a day Wednesday does that mean we worship Odin.

To expand on #1 the word defines itself. The prefix 'a' means not or without. So It isn't a religion because you need a belief system and by definition it's a lack of belief. Now I guarantee there will be any number of people including those who claim to be atheists who are going to misdefine atheism. Such a simple word gets so misdefined so easily.

Answer 3

1. Atheism is a belief. For it to be a religion, it would have to have some sort of guideline. Atheists are only united by the single belief that there are no deities. Anything else is valid--some atheists believe in magick, for example, while others don't.

2. I've heard many atheists say "oh my God." It's a common phrase of interjection.

Answer 4

Atheism is a lack of belief in gods.
Atheists belief all sorts of things, but not in gods.
A lack of belief is not a belief any more than not having an apple is a type of apple.

A religion is a system of belief and tradition that generally involves the supernatural and is an attempt at explaining life the universe and everything based on revelation, as opposed to empirical evidence.

We atheists enjoy taking the Christian god's name in vain, but thats mainly because we grew up with it.

Answer 5

1. Not a religion. Not even close. Think of Santa. Do you believe Santa exists? Of course not. You actually believe Santa does not exist.
Now lets make up a word that we can call people like you who do not believe in Santa.
DisSantaist? Good enough. And of course you practice DisSantaism. Excellent.
Now lets say DisSantaism is a faith, a religion even because you believe Santa does not exist. After all believing something does not exist is just as much belief as believing it exists.
See how easy it is. From simply not believing in Santa being real now we have you practicing the DisSantaist Religion.
Of course you will never get any more gifts from Santa. You must be very Evil. Why are you rejecting the gifts that Santa offers you so freely?

2. It is an idiom. A common phrase. I seldom use it myself.
I tend to choose words that are a bit more rude. I am more likely to refer to parts of peoples anatomy, bizarre interspecies sex acts or other verbal oddities. I am certain you understand. "OMG" is for school girls. "WIBSBAT" is just as valid.

Answer 6

1. Depends on how you define religion. Most religions involve the supernatural, which atheism does not. But if you simply define religion as a set of personal beliefs, then I suppose so. Some atheists feel really strongly that atheism is not a religion (no 2 atheists are alike, no rituals, no rules), but I personally think it's just a semantic issue - call me and my ideas what you like, as long as I'm getting the point across I don't care.

2. I say OMG all the time. As well as "My lord", "GD!", and "JC!" (sometimes "JF'nC!") Again, it gets the point across.

Answer 7

1. No and no. Atheism is not a religion, and not a belief. Unless you consider the negation of a belief a belief in itself. Religion is a belief in some metaphysical doctrine that involves ritual as a means to some kind of salvation. Most religions have a god, but not all of them do.

2. Yes. Everyone's been exposed to this phrase, all their lives. So it's easy to say it without thinking about it. Besides, many atheists started off as believers, so it's understandable that they don't break the habit of referring to "God" in this manner.

Answer 8

1. I look at atheism as more of a philosophical stance than a religion because of the lack of a single holy book, dogma etc. And to answer another question that might come up, I consider Budhism to be more of a way of life than a religion because of its lack of a single holy scripture and dogma.

2. Yes. "Oh my God" is a very common phrase. One I use a lot... on Saturday nights. ;-)

Answer 9

It is not a religion, in that if by that you mean an organized place where people go

2. Truly the only thing that atheists have in common is that they do not believe in supernaturalism... sky daddies, and sky fairies, and the like. But many of us pray, and to god, but many of us define god differently.... perhaps as Paul Tillich described god..."god is not a being, god is being itself". So god then becomes all sorts of things that humans feel.... love, life, self awareness, kindnesses toward others, hatred of war, and lies, because god then is one's essential nature... one's goodness, one's godness. So, generally we dump the fairy tale crap, the superstitious crap, the folk lore and legends, and concentrate on how we can leave this earth better than we found it.

Your definition of god is toooo narrow hon, way too narrow. There is god... it resides in us all... all of us who think and feel, and want things to be better for everyone. God for sure isn't the god of Abraham or the god of Islam, or jeeeessuuuuuus. And we don't need religion to be moral. Indeed, a really careful reading of the bible will turn anyone into about anything but christian, jewish. islam or anything were people say " God talks to me...."

Does this help?

Answer 10

1. Atheism is a stance on an issue. Lack of belief in gods. I have a religion, but not a theistic one, so I know the difference.

2. Actually, I say "Oh My Gods" but then, I'm Pagan and my gods are archetypal.

Answer 11

1) It's a lack of belief in gods. It's not a religion or a belief. A religion is a belief system focused around worship, prayer, rituals, faith, and the supernatural.

2) Yes.