Is atheism a religion?

Yea im athiest and my mom seriously cried when i told her i was athiest and that i wouldnt celebrate christmas. Most of my family is religious, well except my dad, and they have pretty much disowned me because of it. I dont have a problem with them being christians but i think its just funny that they either see me as a threat to their faith or whatever that they have to disown me. But o well never wanted to be apart of that crap family anyways they all stabbed me in the back so whatever.

Also Kadayi i gotta say i have been arguing that exact same thing with both religious and non religious people who believe you are born known right from wrong. But what always wins me the argument is " what about the guys in africa that cut the legs and arms off of babies?"
:dozey:
 
Originally posted by mchammer75040
Yea im athiest and my mom seriously cried when i told her i was athiest and that i wouldnt celebrate christmas. Most of my family is religious, well except my dad, and they have pretty much disowned me because of it. I dont have a problem with them being christians but i think its just funny that they either see me as a threat to their faith or whatever that they have to disown me. But o well never wanted to be apart of that crap family anyways they all stabbed me in the back so whatever.

Also Kadayi i gotta say i have been arguing that exact same thing with both religious and non religious people who believe you are born known right from wrong. But what always wins me the argument is " what about the guys in africa that cut the legs and arms off of babies?"
:dozey:
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I'm not religious at all and we celebrate christmas .. there is nothing really religious about putting up a tree and stuff.
 
Originally posted by LoneDeranger
there is nothing really religious about putting up a tree and stuff.
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there is when you pray to the tree for purity of essence, and sacrifice virginians to it so that you may be blessed with a quick temper and good standing! i love christmas.
 
Originally posted by LoneDeranger
I'm not religious at all and we celebrate christmas .. there is nothing really religious about putting up a tree and stuff.
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Yes but it is based on the Christian faith christmas, plus my family is super religious to the point its annoying...i have respect for them but they need to respect my beliefs when they ask me to hold hands and pray..ugh
 
They say Christmas is Jesus' birthday.
But you don't have to be Christian.
Christmas is more of a family and friends thing than religion.
Companies use it to drive people into a frenzy of buying things.
I feel sorry for what Christmas has in a way become.
 
for my family christmas is spiritual...not religious.


there is a big differance.
 
Well, in Soviet Russia there was no real "christmas" christmas, we just celebrated New Year. But there was a tree and everything, presents, etc.
 
Written by an author who knows his stuff:

'Atheism Is Also A Religious Position,' Dorfl rumbled.

'No it's not!' said Constable Visit. 'Atheism is a denial of a god.'

'Therefore It Is A Religious Position,' said Dorfl. 'Indeed, A True Atheist Thinks Of The Gods Constantly, Albeit In Terms Of Denial. Therefore, Atheism Is A Form Of Belief. If The Atheist Truly Did Not Believe, He Or She Would Not Bother To Deny.'

-Terry Pratchett
 
Originally posted by Brian Damage
Written by an author who knows his stuff:

'Atheism Is Also A Religious Position,' Dorfl rumbled.

'No it's not!' said Constable Visit. 'Atheism is a denial of a god.'

'Therefore It Is A Religious Position,' said Dorfl. 'Indeed, A True Atheist Thinks Of The Gods Constantly, Albeit In Terms Of Denial. Therefore, Atheism Is A Form Of Belief. If The Atheist Truly Did Not Believe, He Or She Would Not Bother To Deny.'

-Terry Pratchett
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As much as I like Terry Pratchett, I must say that's complete and utter garbage. When you have people shoving religion down your throat, you have to have a rebuttal prepared and ready for when somebody brings up the conversation.

I myself am a worshipper of the four fundamental forces of nature. They are my only god, as they are the only reason I'm here.
 
Are you talking about Earth/Air/Fire/Water, or Electromagnetic/Gravitic/Strong Nuclear/Weak Nuclear? :E

And I still think it's an accurate rendering of the situation.:p
 
Atheism is literally defined as "the lack of religion, but has a strong / willing system of central beliefs, usually straying from that of others...". Err, well at least that's what I think (not a direct quote, just kinda' made it up.)

But Satanism on the other hand, is the worshipping and praying (meditating, whatever else you can do... sacrificing?! O__o) to Satan... a higher being of power. Therefore, in my honest opinion, those two main reasons alone make Satanism a religion.

By the way, I'm a strong Catholic / Christian. Just so you know my opinions aren't really bias or anything like that.
 
Originally posted by Brian Damage
Are you talking about Earth/Air/Fire/Water, or Electromagnetic/Gravitic/Strong Nuclear/Weak Nuclear? :E
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The second one. :cheese:
 
Lol, I could only imagine.

"Our father, who art in atmosphere,
Hallowed be thy gravity,
Thy pressure come,
Thy will be done,
On Earth as it is in space..."

do_Ob
 
"We give thanks for thy oxygen,
And for the gluons which bind us,
Also for the electrons which link our atoms,
And for Schrodinger's cat,
Though none may understand it..."
 
"Because Schrodinger's cat is a cat,
And cat's don't have penises...
Oh shit, do they?

Amen"

:D :D :D
 
"And for the great Brian Damage,
Whose response to that sort of post is,
'WTF?'"
 
IMO a religion is a set of beleifs in some higher power.

Athiests only beleive that a higher power doesn't exist...therefore it isn't really a religion..but just an opinion.

Satanism is a religion sorta I guess...
 
Zeros is a number, Atheism is a religion. Just because i dont have a belief system created or enforced by others doesnt mean i dont believe in something. Im fairly certain that all atheists believe in something, its just not a structured something we talk about once a week,
 
Yes but just becuase you believe in "something" doesnt mean that your beliefs are a religion. And while many atheists may share common ideas such as evolution and naturalistic cosmology these are external beliefs from the context of atheism being a religion. For atheism to be a religion, atheism in itself would have to be a religion. But atheism in itself is just the lack of a belief, not the positive affrimation of the negative concept that in fact "no" gods exist. Sure there are strong and weak atheists, and perhaps one could say that strong atheism has somewhat of a belief structure, but weak atheism (which most smart atheists are, knowing not to make claims they cant back up) makes no proposition or set of beliefs, so therefore it is not a religion.
 
Dictionary Definitions:

Atheism is:

Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.
The doctrine that there is no God or gods.
Godlessness; immorality.

Religion is defined as:
Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe


These are EXACT opposites. You can not be a member of an atheist church... You can have an ideology of atheism, but it doesn't make it a religion. Religion is a BELIEF IN GOD!

Stupid mortals. When I strike you down from my van down by the river, you will hear my cry then. That day there will be gnashing of teeth and clawing of foreskin. You will run in terror at the horrors you shall behold....

BEWARE!
 
Couldn't be bothered reading the entire thread, this might have been said, but I'll mention it here just in case.

Being an atheist means you do not believe in a God, it doesn't mean you don't have a religion. There are religions that do not worship a god or gods, meaning it's possible for an athiest to be a member of a religion.
 
Originally posted by mchammer75040
Yea im athiest and my mom seriously cried when i told her i was athiest and that i wouldnt celebrate christmas. Most of my family is religious, well except my dad, and they have pretty much disowned me because of it. I dont have a problem with them being christians but i think its just funny that they either see me as a threat to their faith or whatever that they have to disown me. But o well never wanted to be apart of that crap family anyways they all stabbed me in the back so whatever.
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I'm a spiritual Christian, and I can certainly say what they did to you was very wrong. No-one should be disowned for conflicting religious views, it's just not right. I'm sorry about what they did, Hammer. Please, don't think their actions represent the rest of us. I can say I'd welcome you into my house for a couple of drinks anytime, you seem like a nice guy. Then again, you might be British; So I guess I'll have to prepare some tea & crumpets. ;)

BTW: Christmas was originally a Pagan holiday, celebrating the Solstice -Thus the reason present are under a tree.
Upon Constantine's religious campaign, and other forms of ancient domination, the holiday became a Christian one to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
The Christians changed the name, and added religious symbols and the star of Bethleham to the top of the tree. Bethleham was where Jesus was born, for those of you who don't know. The giving of presents is to represent good will, and wen the three Kings gave gifts to the baby Jesus.

And that is Ghost's brief run down of Chistmas, bitch. :)
 
Originally posted by Detharin
Zeros is a number, Atheism is a religion. Just because i dont have a belief system created or enforced by others doesnt mean i dont believe in something. Im fairly certain that all atheists believe in something, its just not a structured something we talk about once a week,
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All Hail The Mighty Something!

Seriously though, if an athiest denies the existence of a god, then I am not an athiest. But I don't necessarily believe that a god exists, so I am not religious. So what the hell am I ?

For clarity I have decided to name it: "Sitting On The Fence"-iest. This is the new term for people that believe in something but are not exactly sure what it is.

I am a Sotfiest (abbreviated) :)
 
Originally posted by mchammer75040
Your wrong and crazy. Satanism is worshipping the devil, athiesm is the absence of belief in any god. Meaning if you are not introduced to the concept of god your athiest by default, so you are literally athiest when your young intil your old enough to sing those hyms and understand the concept of whatever religion. I dont see how you get off on comparing the 2, is it because athiest(which i am) supposedly dont have any morals? Im not flaming just wondering cause i get that alot.
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I wasn't comparing the two, just using them as examples. Atheists have morals just as anyone else.
 
To me, a discussion about god is like a discussion about Santa-Claus. There's no proof he does or doesn't exist.

Anyhow, even if god existed, I don't think he'd want the attention religions claim he deserves. Through logical conclusions, you will determine that the meaning of life cannot be about finding wether he exists or not, nor can life be about praising him. You can quote me on that. If you come to another conclusion, I suggest you think again.

ON TOPIC: rec said it very well:
Being an atheist means you do not believe in a God, it doesn't mean you don't have a religion. There are religions that do not worship a god or gods, meaning it's possible for an athiest to be a member of a religion.
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I agree
 
Originally posted by Brian Damage
All bow down before the almighty PHYSICS!

:E
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I'm supposed to be in Physics right now :p

But it was cancelled.... see, even Physics bows down before the almighty RED TAPE!
 
what is the definition of religion?, because atheism is a belief in scientific theory it has nothing to do with santanism or witchcraft, atheism is the belief in no god or gods, satanism is belief in god and satan and you wish to worship satan instead of god. i am a strict atheis scientologist. i have studied all major religions, wrote papers on them aswell.
 
Originally posted by MrD
All Hail The Mighty Something!

Seriously though, if an athiest denies the existence of a god, then I am not an athiest. But I don't necessarily believe that a god exists, so I am not religious. So what the hell am I ?

For clarity I have decided to name it: "Sitting On The Fence"-iest. This is the new term for people that believe in something but are not exactly sure what it is.

I am a Sotfiest (abbreviated) :)
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that's called agnostic...when you want to believe in something but you're not quite sure what.
 
Originally posted by oldi1knoby
Religion is defined as:
Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe
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THERE IS NO ONE DEFINITION OF RELIGION.

if you ask someone who is a religion major or anyone who seriously studies religion in general and not one specific religion, they will tell you that there is no one good definition.

religion means so many things to so many different people that it can't be defined by a sentence or two in a dictionary.
 
Actually, Agnosticism is a "Neutral" religion. Agnostics believe that god can neither be proved, nor disproved. So technically an Agnostic can believe in the existence of God, just not in evidence of it. Where as people like me are stubborn, and believe there is obvious evidence. :)
 
Sure, Atheism should be recognized as a religion. Not because it has the trappings of a cult /religion, but because it is a belief system. Much like zero wasn't considered a number, because nothing could not be counted. Later on people understood that zero was number the same as 1. The primary basis of the word "religion" is based upon the predisposition that there IS a higher power to believe in. Later definitions apply "religion" as a broad belief system, which Atheism would be.

You ARE NOT AN ATHEIST AS A CHILD. Children believe in all sorts of higher powers, magic, supernatural. That is not Atheism! Atheism is a choice/belief that there is no higher power, no god (lower case G). Children believe in the easter bunny, tooth fairy, monsters under the bed and Santa Claus is downright reverred. They perform all the rituals that each belief encourages.

Satanism isn't recognized because most of the places you are looking are ruled by judeo-christian societies. Notice you point out Satanism but not worshippers of Zeus, Thor or Ra. Each of those are valid religions...as valid as worshipping God/Jesus/HolySpirit/Allah/Buddha/Confucious/etc. Yet your j-c exposure teaches you that that Zeus is not a god, but a story, part of a "mythology", not part of a "religion". You would be silly to worship Zeus-- which there is no scientific proof that Zeus existed yet many people worshipped him, and great temples were built for him. The knowledge of who he was and the stories of him have endurred as long or longer than most of J-C writings. These gods have inspired people.
 
Satanists are just Christians, Jews, or Muslims (or any other type of monotheist for that matter), they just root for the other team.
 
religion doesn't equal belief system

i don't think something can be a religion without rituals and gatherings and a mutual community of people who believe the same things as you. atheism lacks this...

sure, all atheists believe in one same thing. there is no God or gods. but that's where their similarities end. from that point, there can be so many differences between atheists that it becomes rediculous.

atheism, since it is defined by the lack of belief in something specific, is therefore not something specific.

here's one definition of religion:
a behaviour, process or structure whose orientation is at least partially supernatural.
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supernatural things like magic or ghosts are not higher powers...sure they are things beyond normal human perception. but they are not "A higher power"

religions are guiding forces in the communities they are practiced in.
you can't practice atheism...you can be an atheist, but you don't do anything that only atheists do...it's just not an actual religion.

like i said...belief system != religion
religion is more than that.
 
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