[Locked] Atheism is not a religion

Taken from Dictionary.com

Religion

"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."

It depends how you look at it i guess. Hell if some people think Scientology is a religion than Atheism is as much too. Atheism's superhuman agency or God could be the laws of science eg. gravity. Actually now that i think about it if you substituted gravity as the God in the equation of religion, than Atheism could easily be argued as a religion by dictionary meaning.

I for one think of Atheism as not a religion.

No, Atheism could not not be argued as a religion. Atheism does not concern the noted "purpose". or "cause" of the universe directly. Atheists can believe in a purpose or a cause, but that does not mean that Atheism is also connected to that cause or purpose. It a term, as I have already stated, used to describe the belief that there is no god.

Atheism: The doctrine or belief that there is no God.

I beg to differ.

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing,"

"Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists why we exist."

- Stephen Hawking.

Now try quoting Steven Hawking to some other self-proclaimed atheist who hasn't heard about the fella before.

Not all atheists are Science-y people.

Atheism is not a religion, but it's a belief nonetheless.

Neither of those quotes prove your statement correct, the only relation they have is that Stephen Hawkings is an Atheist, which means he believes there is no god, and that he believes that the Big Bang created the universe.

Atheism is not a religion, Atheists however can be religious. Do you understand now? Because I will not repeat myself again if you cannot simply see the term for what it is.

"Believing" in gravity can also not be argued as a religion. It has no relation to the purpose of our universe, only the cause and nature. Furthermore, you can know that gravity exists, or you cannot, it is not a belief. There is actual scientific evidence and it is a fact that it exists and is a governing law of our Universe.

I already know this and have stated i do not deem atheism as a religion for many reasons including the ones you've listed. I'm just trying to look at it in a new light and make this topic seem less one sided and boring.

This topic is one-sided, nothing in the world can change that. I don't know about boring, I found it quite entertaining to show some of my basic knowledge and end a debate that (Had people done some research on their own in the first place.) could have been avoided.

As for ways to explain to someone that Atheism is not a religion. I believe I have shown a proper example myself.

You'll find holes in every persons argument no whether which side you are for. I can find some in yours, but i'd rather not as i cbf.

TBH i actually hate arguments and debates over opinionatedness things like this. It's nearly impossible to assert something as controversial as your own religious beliefs onto a person no matter how correct they might be.

I can assure you there are no flaws in my argument because I was not arguing, I was stating fact. Furthermore, I suggest you stop acting like you know more than you really do. It's unsightly and protrudes an unintelligent image.

"Atheism is not a religion, Atheists however can be religious. Do you understand now? Because I will not repeat myself again if you cannot simply see the term for what it is."

This isn't an argument? Please tell me what is then.

I never said i knew a lot about ethics and philosophy, you're the one making assumptions and demeaning me. Would you be happy if i added IMO to every post i made? I thought it was quite obvious that my posts were of my own opinion. I'm not trying to oppose something onto a person proclaiming my opinion is greater or more intellectuality sound than theirs. All i'm doing is stating my own opinion/s and giving food for thought for other people to take into consideration whether they want to or not.

And i'm ending it there as this is already far off-topic.

IMO

Soo apparently you read very little of anything I wrote and decided to call me wrong.

Atheism is not an organized religion. That much is true.

However, it is a religious denotation. You can try and argue it's not, you'd be wrong.

Which means that it is, in a way, a religion because it is about expressing a view on the universe and its origins and so on. That view being that there is no deity falls in the category.

So to recap. Not an organized religion, but because it used as a religious denotation it expressed a view on the universe and the origins and would, by technical purposes, be a religion.

Oh and, do I really need to point out what is freaken wrong with the analogy you used?

NO! ATHEISM DOES NOT EXPRESS ANY VIEW ON THE UNIVERSE, THE ORIGINS OF ANYTHING, OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT!

Have you people no common sense?!

Let's say you'd make a world map depicting the spread of Hepatitis, by type and frequency. And if there was a place without any Hepatitis, is then having no Hepatitis having some kind Hepatitis "by technical purposes"!?

The "world view" that is used by most atheists, Scientific Naturalism, is what explains origins, gives a view on the universe, etc.!

Learn to differentiate between Atheism and Scientific Naturalism! This is basic philosophical education!

By kalistean's extra special definition of religion, that would fall under one.

Whether or not you believe in a deity is a view on the universe. It's not necessarily the origins, though most often it includes it. I never said anything about Scientific Naturalism. Maybe you should stop try to shove words in my mouth, MMMMKAY?


edit:



Cool story, except it totally falls into the definition from the dictionary.

That is, if you'd like to interpret "a cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion" as "a belief in the why", then SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURE.

I never said that you ever mentioned Scientific Naturalism. THAT exactly is the problem, because you don't know that not believing in a god, and believing that the Universe originated from the Big Bang, are two different stories.



Whether or not you believe in a deity is only a view on deities.

Or even better, if you statement was true, you could deduct me someone's view on the universe by the simple fact that he does not believe in a deity?

So, person A does not believe in Ganesha, what is his view on the universe? Can you answer it!?

This is as bad as those 'science is a religion' slogans that I dealt with in High School. I suppose I should start using the term 'my religion is no religion' instead of atheism, even though it sounds completely stupid.

"No God ,no Buddha,no Angels"


Hard to answer...I see there are a lot of arguments and fights here..I'll have to say NO...Atheism is not a religion..If religion means to believe ,to pray and to uphold traditions in the name of a god then Atheism should not be called a religion,cause you don't have to do anything if your an atheist..Since you don't believe in any deity you don't have to fear some divine punishment like HELL or something

I retract my previous words. You obviously have no idea what you are talking about and thus, I have no reason, care or interest to participate in this conversation any longer.

P.S.The topic was veered off after the original poster had his request completed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.