Is Atheism a religion, and is it spiritual?

Question

Christians, what are your thoughts on Atheism.
Atheists, are you a religion and are you spiritual?

Answer 1

Atheist checking in, and speaking for just myself, not the Vast Secret Atheist Conspiracy - not that it exists, of course...

I don't think of atheism as a religion. Religion, to me at least, expects its followers to take certain beliefs on faith. There's no way to test them. Some religions actively discourage its followers from questioning or testing the faith. If you have a holy relic - maybe a chip of bone from some saint - would your church let you run carbon-dating tests on it? Would they let you inspect it for DNA, or look for samples of pollen that might give a clue where it came from?

As an atheist, however, I tend to believe in scientific research. Yes, I said belief. I can't learn all of what science knows, or even a small part of it. But I know that the scientific process allows others to test one person's claims, to repeat his tests, to run others that the originator did not, to see if it stands up to the claims. If a theory is proven wrong, it is modified or discarded. Try that with a religious belief.

Am I spiritual? Not in the sense that I believe in a spirit world. I appreciate nature, and mysteries, and things that fill me with awe. But I don't ascribe them to supernatural causes or motivations. It's just a natural process that I may not understand.

Answer 2

Atheists are more spiritual than all the current religions followers .
Atheism is a vision , a way of thinking so it is spiritual

Answer 3

Although atheism in itself, like theism, is not a religion per se, it could potentially be considered to be part of a persons spirituality. There are indeed religions that hold an atheist theology (Buddhism is one that comes to mind) and contrary there are individuals without religion that hold a theististic spirituality.

Most skeptical/scientific/material atheists don't hold any spirituality at all and in general when one is speaking of atheism or atheists this is what they are referring to.

Remember: life is not merely black and white.

Answer 4

It's not a religion, but atheism can indeed be spiritual. The only requirement to be an atheist is not to believe in a supreme being. You can still believe in ghosts or spirits or even be spiritual.

Answer 5

No, it's a logical conclusion based on the fact that we have a clear picture of the evolution of religion from early polytheistic and pantheistic religions, and also know the reasons why the first religions evolved, to explain natural weather phenomena that baffled early man.

Compound this with ever increasing evidence against all organized religion, and you have around 99% of top scientists proclaiming disbelief in a personal deity.

It depends on how you define spirituality. Early eastern religi0ons defined it as a quest to master the mind (think Buddhism.)

Answer 6

did you know that originally Pagan simply mean persons without a religion who served no god? Christians pressured pagans into religion and defamed those who refused by claiming they practiced murderous rituals as an excuse to execute them.... We are all born spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical... because religions (catholics, christians then others..in that order.. but especially catholics) monopolized and control and guarded spiritual information, so violently... that today we are ignorant of what spiritual even means... the spirit ... everything on earth.. from stones, water, plantlife, bugs, animals emits information about itself... this information is fed to nature which chooses a path ... this causes evolution... so when people leave religions they begin to heal spiritually... but in that healing they can't help but find themselves linked to something bigger than themselves... religions are quick to take credit for it... which leaves us with only one word for it.. god... often with this limited view people are pushed back into religion for they begin to seek understanding of it... but when we take god out of the picture and recognize nature as that influence we can see a clearer picture.... we are spiritual... but religions claim ownership of it... that's like someone saying I own your hand... and you go through life beleiving that someone else owns your hand ....

Answer 7

Atheism isn't a religion, but rather a lack of a religion, and it isn't spiritual, in most cases.

Of course then again, atheism really only means a disbelief in God, or gods, so there can be atheistic religions with spiritual facets, like Wicca, but most atheists don't practice a spiritual religion.

Answer 8

Atheism is similar to organized religion in that it is a designation of ones beliefs. For someone to answer their religious designation as a non-believer still designated them as an Atheist. As with any interest or belief, there are organized groups that form and try to define the area they feel they belong to.

Answer 9

Atheists, are you a religion and are you spiritual?
NO

Atheism, as a philosophical view, is the position that either affirms the nonexistence of gods or rejects theism. When defined more broadly, atheism is the absence of belief in deities, alternatively called nontheism. Although atheism is often equated with irreligion, some religious philosophies, such as secular theology and some varieties of Theravada Buddhism, also lack belief in a personal god.

Many self-described atheists are skeptical of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many self-described atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as humanism and naturalism, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere

Answer 10

Is it a religion? No, religion implies a coherent group, theism isn't a religion, only a vague belief shared by a diverse people, likewise atheism isn't a religion.

As for whether individual atheists are spiritual, it depends upon the atheist, but usually isn't the case.