Atheism is a religion

[amkerman]

The fact that so many of you are offended at the statement, "atheism is a religion," shows just how much of a religion atheism is. That statement is not an attack on atheism, nor is it an attack on religion. It's simply an observation of how individuals who have coalesced around a particular belief (or lack thereof, in the case of atheism) tend to identify with others of similar persuasions. Look how many of you have flocked to "atheist forums". Look at how so many of you deride the belief in God as stupid, or those who believe in God as such. While personally I'm sure that none of your beliefs stem from your "atheistic" leanings, you should be aware that to outgroups (in this case anyone who isn't atheist) it readily appears that they do, since you have adopted the label yourselves.

All a religion is is a group of people who think the same way about God. That is exactly what atheism is.

The funny thing is ANYONE who thinks labels are predictive of anything. They are heuristics society uses so we can point fingers more easily. Personal responsibility only has any meaning to those who ate "like" us (whatever particular ingroup you are referring to) when talking about outgroups behavior is incorrectly relegated to the group rather than the individuals which occupy positions within that group.

It's high school psychology stuff folks. Really not that hard. THOSE PEOPLE... it's all racism by another name.