Isn't being an Atheist a religion?

Sarkus said:
Every??
Many buddhists would disagree with you.

Theism is the belief in the theistic notion of God - so is certainly a component of theistic religions.

But you can be a theist without being religious - e.g. believe in the theistic notion of God without adhering to any practices proscribed by one of the many theistic religions.

And you can be religious without being a theist - e.g. certain Buddhists, I understand. Pagan also, I'd have thought.
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spidergoat said:
One could argue that Buddhism isn't a religion.
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If you believe in reincarnation then you have a religious belief system. Not to mention the other formalities and commonalities. If anything thrn scientology is less of a religion than Buddhism is. Anything supernatural belief is religious in nature.

Someone who belies in aliens is not religious because alien (from another planet) is not a supernatural belief.
 
iHaveNoIdea said:
Technically being an Atheist is a religion right?
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Incorrect. Atheism is merely a theological position. It's no more a religion than theism is.

I mean, religion is loosely translated as a belief no?
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No. A religion is a form of practical application of philosophy. It is more than just a theological position; a religion is an entire system of thought and behaviour based on a set of philosophical beliefs and stances.
 
pineapplepizza said:
Atheists do not hold a belief.
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Sure they do. Atheism is a belief. That the sun will rise tomorrow is a belief. Science is a set of beliefs embraced because those beliefs give relatively short explanations for experimentally replicable observed behaviors. Theism and atheism can't be experimentally tested and are therefore unscientific religions while science is testable and therefore is a scientific religion.

If a belief or set of beliefs affects/colors/harmonizes your basic framework of beliefs then I think you could call those beliefs your religion.

Atheists flatter themselves and delude themselves when they think their belief is not a belief which is the same sort of thing that theists do when they think their beliefs are not beliefs which is why I consider agnostics more scientific than atheists and theists. Agnostics don't pretend to know what they don't know.
 
nirakar said:
Sure they do. Atheism is a belief. That the sun will rise tomorrow is a belief. Science is a set of beliefs embraced because those beliefs give relatively short explanations for experimentally replicable observed behaviors.
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The sun rising is a fact and people can track the sun to know where it is.

:wallbang:
 
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nirakar said:
Sure they do. Atheism is a belief. That the sun will rise tomorrow is a belief. Science is a set of beliefs embraced because those beliefs give relatively short explanations for experimentally replicable observed behaviors. Theism and atheism can't be experimentally tested and are therefore unscientific religions while science is testable and therefore is a scientific religion.

If a belief or set of beliefs affects/colors/harmonizes your basic framework of beliefs then I think you could call those beliefs your religion.

Atheists flatter themselves and delude themselves when they think their belief is not a belief which is the same sort of thing that theists do when they think their beliefs are not beliefs which is why I consider agnostics more scientific than atheists and theists. Agnostics don't pretend to know what they don't know.
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This is probably one of the closest posts to the truth. Science only becomes a blind-religion when people (such as many in the Philosophy section) unknowingly and incorrectly define their method of justification (proof/evidence/verification) as the method all people use. That is like talking to people as if they all like the same type of music. Then telling them that their conclusion isn't true because they haven't verified it. But they did verify it. Just according to a different method of justification.
 
John99 said:
If you believe in reincarnation then you have a religious belief system. Not to mention the other formalities and commonalities. If anything thrn scientology is less of a religion than Buddhism is. Anything supernatural belief is religious in nature.

Someone who belies in aliens is not religious because alien (from another planet) is not a supernatural belief.
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Reincarnation is not necessarily a supernatural idea.
 
iHaveNoIdea said:
Technically being an Atheist is a religion right?...
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Nope. A religion is a set of methods for human psychological satiation (most often in a group setting). Atheism can be a lack of belief in god(s) and / or a positive belief that god(s) don't exist. For example, I know with absolute certainty that no human-claimed gods exist (positive belief) and I don't know whether or not any life forms exist that would qualify as gods; however, there is no reason to believe so (lack of belief).
 
From my self description as an atheist, honest and factual, no one here can tell what my spiritual beliefs or religious practices or ritual observances are.
 
John99 said:
you really are smarter than that...arent you?
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I am but you're not.
The fact that I (and spidergoat) may not know anyone who has been reincarnated does NOT mean that reincarnation is always a belief in the supernatural.
There are plenty of pseudoscientific explanations, for example.
 
Dywyddyr said:
I am but you're not.
The fact that I (and spidergoat) may not know anyone who has been reincarnated does NOT mean that reincarnation is always a belief in the supernatural.
There are plenty of pseudoscientific explanations, for example.
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OK...no one knows anyone who was reincarnated (with no doubt) and people do know people who flew the concorde. do you see the difference or was the concorde flown by no one?
 
AAAND if you were to show one person who was reincarnated then it would no longer be supernatural. so now we have come full circle once again.
 
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