Isn't being an Atheist a religion?

[s0meguy]

What if a guy believed in Jesus and had never even heard of a Christian? Is he a Christian? You can't just say "christianity is a religion by definition" and it's magically true. Sorry .
You should buy a better dictionary, not one of those discount ones.

so hold on a second, are you saying that christianity isn't a religion? and atheism IS a religion? WTF? it's unlikely that someone believes in jesus (as the son of god or some other nonsense) without knowing of christianity, but like i said, someone is a christian if they claim to be one, however outsiders will just call them christians anyway because they believe in key christian beliefs.

I really couldn't care much less about atheists and their childish beliefs

you're the one that believes in an omnipotent father figure that rewards you for good deeds, you can't see and have no evidence for. (aside from the childishness because of the father figure, see any parallels with santa and the like? in case it isn't obvious)

- if they want to live in a state of perpetual malnourished adolescence that's their prerogative.

some people become atheists simply for the sake of rebelling, but many more are atheists because atheism is actually the only reasonable stance on the existence of god if you base your beliefs on facts (or rather the lack of them in support of a god). If you're going to challenge that, then I'd like you to state some facts in support of the existence of the christian god.

You can also insert some random denigrations of religion if you want...it doesn't change the fact; atheism is a religion by its mutual agreed upon philosophy...or theology if you will.

calling the lack of belief in a god a religion is pretty asinine. you can believe it is a religion, but that doesn't mean that everyone else has to adhere to your definition of atheism and religion.

 

[lixluke]

Atheism is not the belief that there is no religion, everyone knows religions exist.

Atheism is the belief that there's no diety.

"Isn't being an Atheist a religion?"

How can being an Atheist mean a person is religious? That is like saying if a person believes in ufos they are religious and also like saying 'if someone does not believe in UFOs then that is their religion.

As far as i cat tell, you are calling something a religion for the simple reason that it has a name attached to it.

Literally, atheism is not a religion. However in their behavior and in common society, we call them a religion because most atheists are more self-righteous and devoted to their religion than most so-called religious individuals.

And everybody is pretty much right that atheism gets called a religion because of its association to religion. I don' think it's derogatory to call atheism a religion. It's just part of normal everyday conversation. Somebody might say his religion is Christian. Somebody might say they his religion is atheism or agnosticism. Are we going to throw a dictionary at them? No. Somebody's religion might be Christianity. Somebody else's religion might be Islam, Judaism, atheism, or agnosticism.

Where people really get confused is Buddhism. Some don't consider it a religion even though in this case, it definitely is.

 

[Norsefire]

Buddhism is an example of a non-theist religion, but it is still a religion nonetheless (not a philosophy).

Atheism isn't a religion; as spidergoat said, there is no doctrine for atheism. You can be an atheist and come from all walks of life, all philosophies, all cultures, etc, but you have no belief in a deity which makes you an atheist.

 

[GeoffP]

Technically being an Atheist is a religion right? I mean religion is loosely translated as a belief no? So if we (Atheists) believe there is no religion that is a belief yes? Which means that we do have a religion. Being an Atheist actually goes directly against our belief. Ironic no? Well, tell me what you think and if you think being and Atheist is really a religion .


- Isoke

Sam, stop it. Bad.

 

[lixluke]

Buddhism is an example of a non-theist religion, but it is still a religion nonetheless (not a philosophy).

Atheism isn't a religion; as spidergoat said, there is no doctrine for atheism. You can be an atheist and come from all walks of life, all philosophies, all cultures, etc, but you have no belief in a deity which makes you an atheist.

No it doesn't. Godlessness makes one an atheist. There are many nontheists out there who do not proclaim any Godlessness even though they have no belief in any deity. It isn't simply having no belief in a deity that makes one an atheist. Atheism is about Godlessness. The belief that there is no God.

 

[Norsefire]

No, it isn't; as I said, there is weak atheism and strong atheism (which is the affirmative belief that there is no god).

 

[Scaramouche]

Thirty definitions of religion: http://onelook.com/?w=religion&ls=a

 

[lixluke]

No, it isn't; as I said, there is weak atheism and strong atheism (which is the affirmative belief that there is no god).

Who cares what you said? We're not in kindeergarten anymore. We don't use absurd terminology like 'weak' atheism or 'strong' atheism.

In the adult world, atheism includes only those you define under strong atheism.
In the adult world, there is no label for those who have no belief on a matter. There is no label for what you define under 'weak atheism' as you cannot label somebody as part of an 'ism' who holds no position on a matter.

Somebody who simply has no belief in a matter cannot, at least in the adult world, be labeled under an 'ism'.

 

[Norsefire]

Somebody who simply has no belief in a matter cannot, at least in the adult world, be labeled under an 'ism'.

Exactly. The -ism, in this case, is theism. The prefix a means not or non, thus atheism is non-theism, which is a lack of a belief in a deity.

 

[lixluke]

Exactly. The -ism, in this case, is theism. The prefix a means not or non, thus atheism is non-theism, which is a lack of a belief in a deity.

'A' does not mean lack of belief. The 'a' means without a deity. The term atheism was created for those who consider existence to be without a deity.
Theism = with diety.
Atheism - without deity.

There is no such thing as placing an 'a' in front of an 'ism' to imply nonbelief in the ism. Only in preschool would they even consider such rubbish. In the adult world, nobody takes that rubbish seriously. Nobody takes the idea of 'strong' 'weak' atheism or agnistic-atheism seriously. All of those kindergarten terminologies are an absolute joke to anybody with any sense.

 

[Scaramouche]

15 definitions of "a-": http://onelook.com/?w=a-&ls=a

First three:

prefix not; without: atheistic.

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/a_1xx?view=uk

Without; not: amoral.

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/a-

in a particular place, condition, or manner
abed
adrift
aloud

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?lextype=3&search=a-

 

[lixluke]

Disbelief: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disbeliefthe act of disbelieving : mental rejection of something as untrue

Atheism: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheismdisbelief in the existence of deity
the doctrine that there is no deity


Atheism is the rejection of theism as untrue.
Atheism = No diety.
Atheism does not equal lack of belief.

There is no such thing as a usage of atheism to simply imply a lack of belief. It never has, and it never will. Atheism is the absolute rejection of the idea of a deity as false. That there is no such thing as deity. Anybody who claims to be atheist is claiming that there is no diety.

 

[Nasor]

A belief is a position on a matter. Atheism is the belief that there is no dieties. It's practically a religion.

Yeah, in the same way that "I don't follow football" is a favorite football team.

When people ask what religion somebody is, typically, an atheist will say he is atheist.

Yeah, in much the same way that people who don't follow football will say "I don't follow football" when people ask them what their favorite football team is.

 

[Scaramouche]

27 definitions of atheism: http://onelook.com/?w=atheism&ls=a

26 definitions of theism: http://onelook.com/?w=theism&ls=a

27 definitions of deism: http://onelook.com/?w=deism&ls=a

 

[lixluke]

Yeah, in the same way that "I don't follow football" is a favorite football team.

Yeah, in much the same way that people who don't follow football will say "I don't follow football" when people ask them what their favorite football team is.

No. One who doesn't follow football is not the same as one who beleives that football doesn't exist.

 

[Nasor]

No. One who doesn't follow football is not the same as one who beleives that football doesn't exist.

You are confusing the issue. The point is that having a total lack of X is not a type of X. Not owning a car is not a type of car. Not having a religion is not a type of religion.

But suppose for some reason a person didn't believe in football's existence, and said "I don't believe foot really exists" when asked what team was their favorite. Clearly, "I don't think football exists" is not a football team, just like "I don't believe in any gods" is not a type of religion. And as has been stated many times already in this thread (with plenty of references to back it up), a person with no religion is an atheist - they are "without gods."

 

[lixluke]

27 definitions of atheism: http://onelook.com/?w=atheism&ls=a

26 definitions of theism: http://onelook.com/?w=theism&ls=a

27 definitions of deism: http://onelook.com/?w=deism&ls=a

CAMBRIDGE
atheist: someone who believes that God or gods do not exist


ENCARTA
atheism: unbelief in God or deities: disbelief in the existence of God or deities


AMERICAN HERATIGE
Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods.
The doctrine that there is no God or gods.


WIKTIONARY
EtymologyFrench athéisme, from athée (“‘atheist’”), from Ancient Greek ἄθεος (atheós), “‘godless’”) < from ἀ- (a-), “‘without’”) + θεός (theos), “‘deity, god’”).

1.Absence of, or rejection of, belief in the existence of a god or gods.
2.The stance that a deity or deities do not exist.


CONCLUSION
Only such a site as 'Wiktionary' would include the kindergarten usage for atheism in their definition. What does that tell you about the people who continue to impose such absurdity?

 

[lixluke]

You are confusing the issue. The point is that having a total lack of X is not a type of X. Not owning a car is not a type of car. Not having a religion is not a type of religion.

But suppose for some reason a person didn't believe in football's existence, and said "I don't believe foot really exists" when asked what team was their favorite. Clearly, "I don't think football exists" is not a football team, just like "I don't believe in any gods" is not a type of religion. And as has been stated many times already in this thread (with plenty of references to back it up), a person with no religion is an atheist - they are "without gods."

Yet stated in the past 16 posts which you overlooked, atheism IS NOT a lack of belief.

 

[Scaramouche]

It tells me this discussion is retarded. Some folks believe in a god, or gods. Some don't. That's really as far as this needs to go.

 

[lixluke]

It tells me this discussion is retarded. Some folks believe in a god, or gods. Some don't. That's really as far as this needs to go.

Linguistically, when somebody states that they don't believe in God, they are implying that they believe there is no God. However, literally, a statement that one doesn't believe in God doesn't necessarily mean that they also believe there is no God. That's why it's not that simple.

A. God exists. Theism.
B. God doesn't exist. Atheism.
C. Inconclusive. Neither atheism or theism.
D. Man can never arrive at a conclusion on this matter. Agnosticism.


With that everything is fine. But to make matters worse, there is a website called "infidels" that propogate their own definitions as if their definitions have any credibility in standard usage. Then they impart their definitions into wikipedia and such as if they were standard usage. Instead of stating that these are their own definitions, they are going around claiming that these are the standard definitions. Then use absurd twists on the 'a' in atheism to justify their terminology as if their terminology was historical usage.