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Thread: Atheism is a religion

  1. #1

    Default Atheism is a religion

    Atheism is a religion.

    http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=religion

    "reˇliˇgion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (r-ljn)
    n.

    1. a. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
    b. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.

    2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.

    3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.

    4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion." (note the "or" in between "zeal" and "conscientious devotion")

    Atheism is by definition a religion if we go by the forth listed definition, as it is (sometimes zealously) devoted to the lack a God and the supernatural.

    Another arguement for this view is the idea of Zero (0).

    Zero is the idea of the lack of something. If the variable has no value, we define its value as 0. 0 is the lack of a number, yet it is still a number.

    Similarly, Atheism is the lack of a religion, yet it is still a religion.

  2. #2

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    Its true an Athiest is a religion. A religion of oneself. Athiest have a God, it is themselves, they have a belief and it is that there is no God or creator and that you should be your own God. They have beliefes that drive them just like other religions.

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    Lord Rahl's Avatar Behold the Beard
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    I've always thought of it as a religion as well. Even though they don't believe in a god or gods I they still have their own sets of beliefs. They believe we are god.

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  4. #4

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    I don't believe in god because there is no evidence that god exists.
    Does this make me a religious person!?

  5. #5

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    I do not fall under the fourth definition since I am not zealous (about religion anyway).





  6. #6
    LegionnaireX's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Quote Originally Posted by Juggernaut
    I don't believe in god because there is no evidence that god exists.
    Does this make me a religious person!?
    It does when your atheism influences the decisions you make for yourself.

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    Of course you can find a way to call it a religion but it is not. Although many atheists do share similar values and ideas often, they do not prescribe to something like the bible. Atheism allows for more free thinking and allows people to come to their own conclusions about things. There is not something such as the bible for atheists, something that tells us all what to think and nothing holds atheists together as one entity, 'atheist' is just a word saying that they are without a god, it does not mean anything else. When you think of a christian, you think of somone who follows the bible or the catholic church, generally. With atheism, atheist is just a word to describe a non-believer and carries no other meaning. You cannot accurately generalize atheist anyways because when someone becomes an atheist, they dont go off and read a book that is supposed to tell them what to do.

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    Quote Originally Posted by legionaireX
    It does when your atheism influences the decisions you make for yourself.
    But everything influences the way you make decisions, knowledge of history or science or anything can influence our lives, and so can a non-belief in god but not the same way as a religion does.

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    But you still hold a belief. A belief that we are alone and that there is nobody to guide us and that we make our own destiny. You make yourself God. It is impossible never to have a belief in something, you have to feel someway about something always.

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    How can an atheist believe they or humans are gods? The meaning of the word atheist contradicts that possibility, if you believe in any god at all then you are not an atheist. No atheism is not a belief, you can only believe in something existing, not in it not existing, all atheism is is a lack of a belief.

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    LegionnaireX's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Quote Originally Posted by Atheist Peace
    But everything influences the way you make decisions, knowledge of history or science or anything can influence our lives, and so can a non-belief in god but not the same way as a religion does.
    Actually atheism can affect your decisions profoundly because you don't subscribe to a moral code. You decide what you want to do and when you want to do it. You use your instinct or your feelings to make decisions and don't give them a second thought.

    How can an atheist believe they or humans are gods? The meaning of the word atheist contradicts that possibility, if you believe in any god at all then you are not an atheist. No atheism is not a belief, you can only believe in something existing, not in it not existing, all atheism is is a lack of a belief.
    You CAN believe that something does not exist. There is no way that you can say that you don't have a belief if you believe that God doesn't exist. The closest thing to not having a belief is being agnostic, because you don't have a particular belief at all on the subject.

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    That doesnt make it a religion and atheists can have a moral code without religion. Even though i know there is no such thing as right and wrong or a universal morality, i still have my own moral code which includes some of the things christians are supposed to have in their own.

  13. #13

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    I'm apathetic about this kind of topic and dont believe in any religion.... so i guess by that definition i'm atheist and not religious, thank you.

    There are no set beliefs no creedo, nothing. Think common sense and not trying to find a way to argue with people who dont believe in religion...... how does EVERYONE in the entire world use the world religion and religious? Now do you realize how completely and utterly flawed your pseudo-logic is. Your like a powergamer, but with words.
    Swear filters are for sites run by immature children.

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    LegionnaireX's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    That doesnt make it a religion and atheists can have a moral code without religion. Even though i know there is no such thing as right and wrong or a universal morality, i still have my own moral code which includes some of the things christians are supposed to have in their own.
    So you KNOW that there is no such thing as right and wrong or universal morality. OK, than can I come to your house and kill you? Would that be ok with you? Do you think you can come and kill me and everything is perfectly fine? I don't think so.

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    Well that would not be inherintly wrong, it would be construed as wrong by the laws of the US and by your religion and also according to my moral code it is wrong but there is not inherint right and wrong.

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    While right and wrong may be relative depending on the circumstances in which the said action takes place, that is not to say that right and wrong don't exist. I think that a sense of right and wrong is built into us. without laws or a moral code I doubt anybody in there right mind would kill or rape innocent people. People do not abstain from commiting crimes out of fear of punishment, they often abstain because they know it is wrong. And then there are those who do commit crimes, they often know that there actions are wrong but they choose to do them anyway. I doubt that if laws were repealed and moral codes destroyed that people would kill, rape and steal in excess.

  17. #17

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    I don't know, but according to those definations, I would not considering atheism a religion.

    1a. - Athiests do not believe nor revere any supernatural powers, I am not sure how this can interpreted otherwise
    1b. - Yea, belief in no God, but there is no worship involved

    2. - Atheism isn't a religious order, there is no head, nor no priests

    3. - Sure, we have a set of beliefs, but they are not based on the teachings of a spirtual leader, especially considering atheism has no spirtual leaders

    4. - Thats possible, although I don't think one point right makes atheists religious. Other groups show zeal, even politicial groups, that does not make them religions.

    I love how people try to make athiesm or agnostism seem religious, so that can make atheists/agnostics seem like fools. Instead of painting a BS picture of the other guy, work should be done on defending religion, instead of attacking atheism.


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    @legionairex

    Well i can only speak for myself but i would not do those things without laws because laws arent really what keeps me from doing it, as you sort of said. Still that sense of right and wrong is taught to us, it may seem to be natural but it is just because parents of course talk about what is 'right and wrong' when you are a kid to get you to behave and stuff but if you were left alone in the middle of nowhere from the 2nd day of your life and somehow survived, you would not have a natural sense of right and wrong until you thought about it and made a decision that you thought it was wrong.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Atheist Peace
    @legionairex
    if you were left alone in the middle of nowhere from the 2nd day of your life and somehow survived, you would not have a natural sense of right and wrong until you thought about it and made a decision that you thought it was wrong.
    also, in this situation. if you had been left alone since you're 2nd day of life until your death and you managed to survive into your 40's or so. then the thought that there is or might be a god would probably never enter your mind. of course this is case sensitive, some people may wonder if there were something else, some might try to make a god for themselves (Wilson in Castaway), and for some the thought of god would never enter their minds because they were never exposed to others beliefs.

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    LegionnaireX's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Quote Originally Posted by Atheist Peace
    @legionairex

    Well i can only speak for myself but i would not do those things without laws because laws arent really what keeps me from doing it, as you sort of said. Still that sense of right and wrong is taught to us, it may seem to be natural but it is just because parents of course talk about what is 'right and wrong' when you are a kid to get you to behave and stuff but if you were left alone in the middle of nowhere from the 2nd day of your life and somehow survived, you would not have a natural sense of right and wrong until you thought about it and made a decision that you thought it was wrong.
    In that case you would rather be uneducated and ignorant. But still I don't know if you would do wrong in excess. Do animals do wrong?

    Back to your post. In this case you have to wonder where the cycle of parental teaching began. If people were taught or shown what is right and wrong at some point, it wouldn't be from fellow man.

    Ever notice that you base your decisions on what to do by your gut feeling? What gives us this sense of what is right and wrong inside our own bodies?

    also, in this situation. if you had been left alone since you're 2nd day of life until your death and you managed to survive into your 40's or so. then the thought that there is or might be a god would probably never enter your mind. of course this is case sensitive, some people may wonder if there were something else, some might try to make a god for themselves (Wilson in Castaway), and for some the thought of god would never enter their minds because they were never exposed to others beliefs.
    How can you be sure. How do you know that knowledge of God isn't the default rather than lack of it?

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