The definition of an Athiest

[sherminator]

Hi guys can you help please? Waldo if you still come on here would love your take on this.

Am on a site which claims that Athiesm is now a religion and whilst I know this to be not true, Someone such as yourself(anyone else plese post as well!) can put it far more eloguently than me!

Thank you

[chakka35]

To call atheism a religion is merely a sloppy use of the language, as in "Football is a religion to him" or "She embraces astrology with a religious fervour". LeMarchand is guilty of this when talking about Dawkins' rationality.

Religion is an irrational belief in some deity or other. An atheist like me dismisses such beliefs as absurd. Ergo atheism is the opposite of religionism.

[woofgang]

again i say that beso and chakka, those are YOUR definitions....any definition of a word is valid for a given value of teapot.

[Garmard]

Is that not a biased opinion chakka?
Athiests are in some degree paying homage to their beliefs like Christians do there's.

[LoftyLottie]

Religion is no more an irrational or absurd belief than atheism in my opinion.

None of us can be sure. If I did believe in a God, that god might not take the form of anything any religion claims. I wouldn't call it a religion. I just don't know! I don't understand how anybody can be so adamant that they are right.

[Ellipsis]

Atheism is non-belief in a deity.

Since not all religions require a deity, it is possible to have atheistic religions. But "atheism" isn't one of them because atheism isn't a religion.

Simply google "atheistic religions", or start here:

http://atheism.about....p/AtheistReligion.htm

[ludwig]

It isn't a religion. If you want to label it, it's more like an attitude.

It looks like some religious people have decided to start calling it a religion because they know it will annoy atheists, that's all.

[ludwig]

contd....which is ironic, because they're calling it a religion as a way of demeaning it - 'you're just as stupid as we are' kind of thing. A strange approach.

[BagPussAA]

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.
The term atheism originated from the Greek ἄθεος (atheos), meaning "without god", which was applied with a negative connotation to those thought to reject the gods worshipped by the larger society

[BagPussAA]

As a religion is defined as: " a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially 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".

I am not sure how you can say that athiesm is a religion as it does not have any sets of beliefs in fact, it is the opposite.

[sandyRoe]

Are they the people who deny God until they find themselves on their deathbed?

[Davethedog]

Sandy - Nope they are hypocrits, but whats the difference between that and those who break everyone of thier own religions rules but as long as they confess its ok.

[mike11111]

The dictionary definition of religion rules atheism out. See Chambers. The original meaning of the word is "that which binds". Atheists are not "bound".

[sandyRoe]

It's only OK if the confession is sincere and there's an intent never to sin again. Otherwise, it's a waste of breath.

[RATTER15]

I'm an Atheist, because I do not believe in any deity, it certainly is not a religion!

How can someone not believing in something be a religion

So if you don't believe in the flying spaghetti monster, does that mean that you are part of a religion?

Seems a bit crazy to me lol.

Religion is a belief system not a dis-belief system, surely?

[mike11111]

It is not the confession, but the repentance which is important.

[Davethedog]

If thats so why do some need to go every week/month - not very pentant is it?

[RATTER15]

When I was young I wanted a bicycle, I preyed and preyed and preyed. Then I realised God doesn't work that way, so I stole one and asked for forgiveness.



Not my own words I just cannot remember who it came from.

[mibn2cweus]

You might want to begin your argument against the assertion that 'Athiesm is now a religion' with a spell check. Perhaps then we can work on a proper definition for the term 'Athiest' . . . what ever that is.

[jomifl]

'Atheism' means 'without god', that is exactly what it is.
Atheists do not believe in the existence of a god, they may believe in other things, like honesty, humanity, compassion and fairness or other less commendable qualities, but it isn't a religion, you need a god for one of those. Some believers are so deeply buried in the dogma of belief that they simply can't comprehend life without it. We have seen some examples posted on this thread.

[mibn2cweus]

Properly defined 'atheism' denotes a 'lack of belief' - in this case a belief in the existence of a 'god' or 'gods' . . . whatever it is those terms are intended to refer to.

Until a god is defined in terms of that in reality to which 'it' refers, the terms atheist and atheism are rendered virtually as meaningless as the entity to which they are intended to refer. What does it mean to not believe in something that is by definition undefined? Isn't that just a redundant term for 'irrationality'?

Watch out for the invocation of undefined wild cards upon which any further reasonable hope of a rational discussion has ended.