RE: Is Atheism a Religion?
August 5, 2011 at 10:24 am
(This post was last modified: August 5, 2011 at 10:31 am by MinusGod.)
The all encompassing definition of atheism is a lack of belief in God. It's a negative position. A response to a claim. Nothing about atheism says you must hold the positive position of believing that no God exists. No matter what kind of atheist you are (strong/weak) you will lack belief in a God. I make this point not because I think you guys don't know this of course, but because religion necessitates some kind of belief while atheism does not.
Atheism isn't a religion anymore than someone's lack of belief in Santa or leprechauns is a religion. There's even debate within the atheist community if we should even use the word atheist, since labels aren't normally applied to positions of disbelief. There is no word for someone's disbelief in Santa or leprechauns. The same applies to belief. Notice you rarely hear a God believer refer to themself as a theist. The o.p made a great point that theism is not a religion either. Have you ever asked someone what their religion is and they answered "theism"? I haven't.
Why does this argument come up so often then? I think it's because atheism finds itself tied to religion because while theism isn't religion, religions are often theistic. So the response "I'm an atheist" is relevant to the question "are you a Christian?"in the same way it's relevant to the question "do you believe in God?" This grouping in with other religions leads the believer to reason that atheism is also one, when in fact its the negation of these religions.
If atheism is a religion then bald is a hair color.
Atheism isn't a religion anymore than someone's lack of belief in Santa or leprechauns is a religion. There's even debate within the atheist community if we should even use the word atheist, since labels aren't normally applied to positions of disbelief. There is no word for someone's disbelief in Santa or leprechauns. The same applies to belief. Notice you rarely hear a God believer refer to themself as a theist. The o.p made a great point that theism is not a religion either. Have you ever asked someone what their religion is and they answered "theism"? I haven't.
Why does this argument come up so often then? I think it's because atheism finds itself tied to religion because while theism isn't religion, religions are often theistic. So the response "I'm an atheist" is relevant to the question "are you a Christian?"in the same way it's relevant to the question "do you believe in God?" This grouping in with other religions leads the believer to reason that atheism is also one, when in fact its the negation of these religions.
If atheism is a religion then bald is a hair color.
