Christians and Their Homework!

[Mister Agenda]

Atheism is not a culture.

Yep. Fortunately, my prof gave us permission to study ideological groups as well as ethnic ones.

It's not an ideology, either. It a single opinion on a single topic. So is theism. One opinion does not a belief system, ideology, or religion make. It might help to think of the 'ism' in atheism and theism to be like the 'ism' in albinism or metabolism: a condition or state of being. Atheism is the condition of not holding a belief in a deity and theism is the condition of holding such a belief. If all you know about someone is that they're a theist, do you know what their culture, ideology, or religion is? They could be a Buddhist (not all of them), a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a deist, or a 'mere theist' who does not practice any religion, just believes there is some sort of God and so on.

An atheist could be a Buddhist, communist, a humanist, a rational skeptic, a 'cultural Christian', a Unitarian, etc.

Atheism and theism can be features of a culture, ideology, or religion, but they are not any those things in themselves. The only thing all atheists have in common is that they don't believe in any God or gods, and the only thing all theists have in common is that they all believe at least one god or God is real.

However, there is a social movement, sometimes called the 'atheist movement' that encompasses several things, but you don't have to be an atheist to be in it or support it. It's an umbrella term for a group of ideas and activism that typically includes the idea that atheists should be treated equally in the eyes of the law and not be discriminated against, barred from public office, bullied, or harassed. It naturally goes hand in hand with the idea that separation of government and religion (political secularism) is a good idea. A lot (but not all) of people who could be described as 'supporting the movement' also promote reasonable skepticism, avoidance of conspiracy theories and quack medical practices, and social justice for minorities and women. You can be a devout Christian, Hindu, or Muslim and support all of that; but atheists are definitely the majority. That might be the 'atheist culture' you're thinking of, but the majority of atheists are not part of it, though the majority of atheists on this forum might be considered part of it. Most atheists don't even hang out on sites like this, or really do anything but live their lives like anyone else except for not going to church, and some of us even do that. Like many others I was an atheist without reference to Dawkin's 'The God Delusion'.

You see much less of this kind of 'atheist movement' in the UK because atheists face much less judgmentalism and resistance there. Atheist groups on Meetup would be much less common if American culture didn't treat atheists in such a way that they are often 'in the closet'.

Maybe some of this information will be useful for your assignment. Full disclosure: I consider myself an atheistic humanist rational skeptic Unitarian who thinks there is merit in Buddhism and some of the teachings attributed to Jesus.

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Atheism isn't an ideology, either. It is, literally, the answer to a single question.

Just curious, but what is your prospective Master's degree in? If philosophy, I find it odd to say the least that an exegetical paper on Hebrews would pass muster. Is your school Christian-based?

I am majoring in theological studies at an evangelical seminary. Also, the assumption that there is no god or spiritual existence will influence how you respond to a number of other philosophical questions, just as the assumption that there is a god does.

It's more of a conclusion than an assumption, for those of us who used to be theists, at least.

I know atheists who believe in ghosts, atheists who believe in reincarnation, and atheists who believe in astrology. Could you be more specific on what philosophical questions in which merely not believing in God (or gods) influences one's response? Clearly being an atheist doesn't require metaphysical naturalism, for instance. Besides the philosophical question 'is there a God', or philosophical questions that presume God, what do you mean?