Theists have told me "Atheism is a religion." I read a bunch of responses to this but all of them missed the point. A poor response would be to say that atheism is not a religion because atheists don't have rituals and do not believe in gods. The response does not address that religion is a set of beliefs rather than a single belief there is this one deity. I think the best response is actually to point out that theism is not a religion just as much as atheism is not a religion, addressing the unabridged definition of religion. Atheism and theism are subsets of a person's theory about how the world works. Metaphysical Naturalism might be that theory that concludes or presumes there is no need for a deity. Now we can look at the definition of 'religion' and compare it to the definition of metaphysical naturalism which is an atheist world-view, among many other ways that this world view could be described.

Think we had this thread very recently. Hopefully this one goes a little differently.

Quote:Theists have told me "Atheism is a religion."

Theists are generally shitheads.


So much for the thread going differently!

(August 3, 2011 at 7:45 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Think we had this thread very recently. Hopefully this one goes a little differently.

Recently, in the past, in other unrelated threads, etc. This one will go exactly the same.

Why yes, yes it is.
Now send me money for the cause and I'll mail you a receipt for your taxes.

I don't know how the last one went. I was going over a thread on facebook, and I thought that if we really wanted to get into the definitions of things, we should address the definition of theism which isn't a religion. Religion and theism might be the same thing according to some dictionaries. I just looked up "define religion" in Google and the first definition that pops up is "re·li·gion/riˈlijən/Noun 1. The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods."

However, when theists refer to religion they are usually referring to a 'set of beliefs' and theism is one of those beliefs. Atheism describes a single belief. I know atheists that believe in the afterlife, The Secret, and even atheists that believe in ghosts. I know atheists that don't believe in any of those things. I know theists that believe in many gods, and theists that believe in just one god. I know theists that believe in ghosts even when they aren't supposed to believe in ghosts or astrology. lol

Skeptic Wrote:Having read several posts on here from atheists that seem to want to go out of their way to 'convert' others to think the same I can see the similarity in some cases.

Really? You do realize how attempts at conversion work, don't you? Arguing against a person's belief system isn't an attempt at conversion. Offering them salvation from an eternity of hellfire or offering them cookies is. As of yet, I have seen no atheist here offer either.

Oh, you deleted your post. Good thing I quoted it here.

(August 3, 2011 at 7:58 pm)Shell B Wrote:

Skeptic Wrote:Having read several posts on here from atheists that seem to want to go out of their way to 'convert' others to think the same I can see the similarity in some cases.

Really? You do realize how attempts at conversion work, don't you? Arguing against a person's belief system isn't an attempt at conversion. Offering them salvation from an eternity of hellfire or offering them cookies is. As of yet, I have seen no atheist here offer either.

Oh, you deleted your post. Good thing I quoted it here.

I have never changed someone's world-view right after an argument. Several people that I have argued with in person have become atheist later. Atheists have a big problem with PR though. I've met several 'atheist' professors that would rather call themselves agnostics to avoid the arrogant and aggressive connotations that are associated with atheism.

We should ask Hannah her opinion on the matter.

(August 3, 2011 at 8:04 pm)The_Flying_Skeptic Wrote: I have never changed someone's world-view right after an argument. Several people that I have argued with in person have become atheist later. Atheists have a big problem with PR though. I've met several 'atheist' professors that would rather call themselves agnostics to avoid the arrogant and aggressive connotations that are associated with atheism.

I'm a little surprised at the stigma produced by atheism. I never expected that when I became vocal about atheism. Then again, I wasn't hiding my atheism from crazies to begin with, I just became more interested in the topic the more crazies I met.