Is Atheism Classed As A Religion? What are your views?

[Alex Cicala 0]

History:

 

Atheism comes from the Greek word (aethos) which was applied in ancient times to anyone who was thought to believe in false gods, or doctrines that conflicted with current established religions/beliefs.

 

The first people to self-identify as themselves as "atheist" appeared in the 18th century.

 

Today, about 2.3 percent of the world's population describes itself as atheist, while a further 11.9 percent is described as nontheist. Up to 65 percent of Japanese describe themselves as atheists, agnostics, or non-believers; up to 48 percent in Russia; and between six and 85 percent within the European Union.

[sourced from Wikipedia]

 

My Views:

 

As an atheist myself, I don't believe in any religions or such nonsense. I believe in science, but none of that Scientology stuff.

I believe that Life as we see today was brought on by evolution, and that the planets and galaxies are remnants of what happened many years ago, As most studies would already state.

 

Although I can consider that some religions like some forms of Buddhism are, lets say "aethiest", because they don't believe in any such god. Atheism is to not believe in sorts of religion, although just too accept that people do believe in them.

 

There are many forms of Atheism as well, like the type of Atheism where you don't even care one bit about religion or belief and just carry on in life. Then there is the one, which I class myself as, that is in the middle where you understand about religion and you know about science.

 

Then you can be into Strong Aethiesm where you argue about how all religion is utter rubbish and point out the weak spots in the religions, eventually breaking them down.

 

My final point which will reinforce my topic sentence, is that I find that Atheism is not classed as a religion, but is the category of people who do not believe in a constant understanding of a god. And that an atheist is just someone who has knowledge of religion but does not follow it.

 

Please post your views...

Edited May 21, 2012 by moderator (see edit history)

[rayzoredge 2]

Want the easy, short and sweet answer?

A religion is defined as a set of beliefs. Therefore, atheism is a religion.

Lazy link for a definition of religion

I actually remember bringing this up in another thread on Xisto... can't remember which one, exactly, but I'm sure you could find a more detailed explanation there. I would go find it now, but I'm being lazy at the moment.

[frozen.fish 0]

Amen to that! Religion can be whatever you believe in.. Yet in the end, we have only one creator and he is waiting with arms wide open for whatever "evil" you did here..

[anwiii 17]

although a religion can be defined as any one strong belief, i believe that when talking about any higher power, most if not all religions have rules set in within the religion. in that sense, i don't believe atheism could be considered a religion or even a strong belief for that matter

Want the easy, short and sweet answer? :XD:
A religion is defined as a set of beliefs. Therefore, atheism is a religion.

Lazy link for a definition of religion

I actually remember bringing this up in another thread on Xisto... can't remember which one, exactly, but I'm sure you could find a more detailed explanation there. I would go find it now, but I'm being lazy at the moment.

[truefusion 3]

although a religion can be defined as any one strong belief, i believe that when talking about any higher power, most if not all religions have rules set in within the religion. in that sense, i don't believe atheism could be considered a religion or even a strong belief for that matter

In that sense, one can say that religion itself would not be considered a strong belief too, for one need not believe in a rule in order to follow or obey it. Nevertheless, the definition emphasized by rayzoredge did not include "strong" but "a set of," which means there are other senses to consider. But if an atheist has one belief that differs from another atheist, that is not a problem. Just do what people have done with other religions: place them in sects or denominations. The easiest to separate, however, i would say is Buddhism, or at least what first comes to mind.

[anwiii 17]

do you follow me around just to prove me wrong? get a life if that's the case. have you ever heard the expression that someone studies or does something religiously? "strong" is embedded and assumed in the word "religion". now i didn't make that up so you go point outdated logic to the people who did. so i do believe religion is a belief....but if it was just a belief, it we wouldn't need to call it religion. so yes....STRONG belief, usually with rules to the belief(which would normally make that belief stronger). now i say rules, because religions are based on faith, not fact for the most part when taking about any higher power....so the faithfull need those rules as a guide when they aren't basing their lives on fact or even the logic based on fact to believe in even a theory. spirituality could be considered a religion except that it's not based on a group of people. just one. cults don't have a big enough following or (believers) to support their belief as a religion.

now get off my back and stop twisting my words to suit YOU. you know exactly what i was saying. and you never ever talk about what you believe your own self. you just like to discredit others.

in the end, anyone can make up a definition or even look a definition up and believe in that one definition. to each their own. so your logic to discredit someone elses belief right now is a mute point on your point buddy.

also, aren't you a christian? how is a christian supposed to understand a true atheist point of view? also visa versa. let's examine though where the ward originally came from and who defined that word and who this person was who originally defined this word. was this person a non believer or was it a believer who wanted to further seperate the human race by a label. even in YOUR post you are talking about seperation. why i am not an atheist or even religious. there is something to be gained from everything. not just one set of beliefs...wether religious in nature or not

***poof***

In that sense, one can say that religion itself would not be considered a strong belief too, for one need not believe in a rule in order to follow or obey it. Nevertheless, the definition emphasized by rayzoredge did not include "strong" but "a set of," which means there are other senses to consider. But if an atheist has one belief that differs from another atheist, that is not a problem. Just do what people have done with other religions: place them in sects or denominations. The easiest to separate, however, i would say is Buddhism, or at least what first comes to mind.

[truefusion 3]

do you follow me around just to prove me wrong?

If that were the case, i would be responding to you in every topic you post in. You just so happened to post in a topic that it could be expected from me to keep an eye on.

in the end, anyone can make up a definition or even look a definition up and believe in that one definition. to each their own. so your logic to discredit someone elses belief right now is a mute point on your point buddy.

This i don't see as a problem, since this applies to anyone suggesting a definition. Meaning even the term "religion" is futile to bring up even for Christianity and religions with their own rules and gods (or without gods), which in turn means there's no such thing as a "religion."

how is a christian supposed to understand a true atheist point of view? also visa versa.

An Atheist converting into a Christian and vice versa. In other cases, they could just tell each other in the simplest terms what their stance is and run off of that. I'm always being told (though i don't have to be, since i understand it) the "I go one God further than you" statement. (Note, i excluded the remainder of your argument because of the quote above this one.)

[IamAg 0]

Whoever edited that Wikipedia post you quoted there is wrong the true definition or meaning is " atheism is the lack of beleif in gods, or the lack of theism "Also , it is described as a relgion because a religion is basiccaly "the constant, or mutual belief amongst people"

[anwiii 17]

blah blah blah- where's your personal beliefs without all your arguing??? do you ever have a personal opinion about anything or do you need someone to post FIRST before you can argue someone elses post

If that were the case, i would be responding to you in every topic you post in. You just so happened to post in a topic that it could be expected from me to keep an eye on.

This i don't see as a problem, since this applies to anyone suggesting a definition. Meaning even the term "religion" is futile to bring up even for Christianity and religions with their own rules and gods (or without gods), which in turn means there's no such thing as a "religion."


An Atheist converting into a Christian and vice versa. In other cases, they could just tell each other in the simplest terms what their stance is and run off of that. I'm always being told (though i don't have to be, since i understand it) the "I go one God further than you" statement. (Note, i excluded the remainder of your argument because of the quote above this one.)

[longtimeago 0]

As an atheist myself, I don't believe in any religions or such nonsense

My friend please remember one thing, being and Atheist is fun .. may be from your side. As long as everything goes right you may feel that beliving in God is not necessary. But when something goes terribly wrong then that is the time when you are gonna look back at the words which have used.

Nonsense

On the other hand i just want to tell you something. Look what is a religion ? Who created it ? Did God Create Religion ? Nooo is the answer. Look Christianity is NOT A RELIGION. It is a relationship between the individual and the Lord God Almighty. Because of some one is gonna be born in a Chistian Family he is not a Christian. When every one is born he/she is born as a sinner. Its the relationship between the individual and God which really matters. Many often I because of my failures fail in this relationship with God. It is his unfailing mercy and Love which restores this relationship. For when we fall his mercy is there to pick up up.

So the answer is A|theism is not a religion and i would personnel y request you to put you to come out of that.

[rob86 2]

I don't think Atheism is a religion. For example when I think of some cult like the Mansons or something, I don't consider myself a Non-Mansonist because I don't agree with what they believed in. Regarding Kris Kringle, I don't consider myself a Non-Santa-ist. I also don't consider myself a Non-AmonRa-ist. Does anyone? So I don't consider myself a "Non-religionist" or Atheist. I just consider myself a human being living on this world! I PERSONALLY have no reason to believe that I'm wrong about the lack of existence of a God, because if I knew I was wrong, then I'd convert pretty quick!It's not that I'm comparing the big religions to violent cults and santa claus in an offensive way, and I don't mean for that to offend anyone, they are just big name things that most people don't believe in I can use for an example. From my personal experiences, I find it hard to believe in Christianity or Islam or Hinduism etc more than I believe in things such as Zeus or Amon Ra, or whoever. I respect those who strongly believe in God, and I'm completely open to the possibility that there is one, but I'm not getting much proof. Most of my friends and some of my elder family are strongly religious, and not even the same religion. Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Catholics, whatever, I've talked to them all with an open mind and tried to understand why they believe so strongly in something and it never makes any sense to me and I don't feel what they say I should be feeling.And with this explanation I'm not talking about semantics and blah blah blah. I could whip out a dictionary and say Atheism is a system of beliefs regarding the in-existence of a God therefore it is a religion. I'm talking about how I FEEL about the word Atheism and what it should mean. More accurately, to an Atheist who does not believe in any supernatural or religious stuff, I don't think Atheism and Religion should even be words, they should be "Extinct" -- like the other thread on word extinction on here! We should all just be human beings, believing in the common denominator , our selves!, and stop labeling everyone. But yeah I know religion is a sensitive topic and I sure don't mean to offend anyone with my lack of belief, my beliefs just come from my life experiences and I could be completely wrong and going to hell, which would suck!

[KansukeKojima 0]

In my opinion, I think it is reasonable to classify atheism as a religion. However, I think that it is really irrelevant whether or not we do. I don't see a point to classifying atheism as a religion or not classifying it as one. Regardless of that, lets take a look at the definition of religion:

 

From Dictionary.com

 

re⋅li⋅gion  [ri-lij-uhn]

–noun

1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

4. the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.

5. the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.

6. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice.

Definition one, I think, does describe the atheist position. Why? They do indeed have a set of beliefs regarding the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. The cause is usually believed to be a scientific explanation of the origin of life, the nature of the universe is usually regarded as a set of random occurrences, etc., and (depending on the atheist) it is often believed that the universe has no purpose other than to fulfill our own desires, etc.

 

Definition two also adequately describes the atheist position. Just take a look at YouTube for evidence of this. There is essentially an "army" of atheists, many of whom support each other in their endeavors such as disproving theism etc. Many of them share extremely common beliefs about the world and I would say that the vast majority of atheists all share the same core beliefs about the world.

 

Definition six is also another point I believe describes the atheist position. Many atheists make a point to demonstrate their atheism and they actively denounce and attempt to refute theism. In essence, their atheism is a point or matter conscience in which it becomes a ethical system to proliferate.

 

In my opinion, the actions and core beliefs of atheists demonstrate that they do have a religion in the "dictionary-style" of the word. They do not believe in a God, but the definition of religion accurately describes some of their core beliefs and their actions. Though this be my conclusion, I do not think that it is really an important issue - and the issue that need be discussed is the issue of truth. The issue that needs to be discussed is whether or not there is a God and if there is, who is He?

 

Cheers,

Davis

Edited June 12, 2009 by KansukeKojima (see edit history)

[PhoenixGFX 1]

Quick and Simple, Religion is the belief in a God.I think Atheism is just a way of life, not a religion.

[sheepdog 10]

Might as well add my 2 cents worth here. Yes, Atheism is a religion. It is a belief, that there is no God, just as other religions are a belief that there is a God. The very defination of religion as KansukeKojima pointed out with his excellent post seems to me to make it perfectly logical to consider atheism a religion. And I'll go one further.I believe animal rights activisim is also a religion. They worship animals, giving them the same statis as a human being. (despite the biblical references to man having dominion over animals) Much like other religions who will wage war on others of different religious beliefs, animal rights activists wage war against all who would use an animal in any way, from as a sourse of food, fiber, entertainment, or companion. They are without a doubt, zealots with a cause. They wish only to enforse their beliefs on others, one way or another.

[Baniboy 3]

I think there is a little too much playing with words and assumptions here...
Atheist is non-theism. Theism in itself is not classified as religion, it's belief in a deity, religion is a specific belief in a deity. And even if it was, atheism would be as much a religion as not-mountain biking is a hobby. Atheism describes one position and one position only, and that is non-theism, or lack of belief in a deity. The more religious people argue over this, the more moronic their arguments get. You (probably... and hopefully) don't believe that I have a retarded monkey in my room that makes me Latte every morning. You have been to my room and there is no sign of monkeys not to even mention retarded ones. You don't believe me because I can't justify my position, but you don't say that it's impossible, so are you holding a belief? Not believing in something doesn't equal to believing it doesn't exist.

Culturally atheism means a lack of belief in any gods and is not itself a positive assertion that there are no gods. The lack of assertion of knowledge is known as agnosticism, "a" again meaning "without" while "gnostic" means "knowledge," and can refer to a theist or an atheist. The positive assertion of knowledge, either of the existence of gods or the absence of gods, is gnosticism and can also be attributed to theists or atheists.

Now those the the meanings of the words.
After clearing that out, let's talk about the real issue. The real issue is religious people trying to point their fingers at atheists and tell them it's a religion because they don't have good arguments to play with.

They worship animals, giving them the same statis as a human being. (despite the biblical references to man having dominion over animals)

They don't worship animals, sheepdog. Treating a living being like you would like yourself to be treated is called empathy, and you don't need Jeesus or the bible to figure this out on your own. So how do you feel about using your puppies as food? No? Also, using the bible as some kind of an absolute science reference book isn't very smart.