Does forming an atheist community pose a risk to becoming a religion?

[Abaddon_ire]

I am an atheist, however, I have not attended formal meetings with other atheists / non-theists to have a discussion about atheism. Would holding formal gatherings to discuss atheist ideas create something "religious" in character (such as weekly church attendance) if these meetings were focused around discussing the disbelief in god(s)? 

Nor have I. What of it? Am I somehow a "lesser" atheist? And if some atheists choose to hold weekly meetings, how is that different from a chess club? Are chess clubs a religion now?

I personally have been a little reluctant towards formalized meetings to discuss "atheism", however I would be interested to hear what other peoples thoughts are.

I have said it before and I will say it again, organising atheists is akin to attempting to herd cats. It will never work. Being an atheist is by definition stepping outside the herd. Pretty much the single thing you will get unanimous agreement on from atheists is that we all believe in no gods. After that all hell is out for breakfast and we agree on nothing much.

Possibly is also why I am owned by my cat. "Hey, kitty, wanna go for a walk?" will be greeted with a prompt "Go fuck yourself". I can sympathise with that.

[Smaug]

An atheist community is basically a discussion club. Nothing religious to it in my point of view.

[robvalue]

A religion, by definition, usually has to involve some belief in specific goings on beyond our ability to detect. (I try and avoid the meaningless term "supernatural", but "superstition" is close enough.) It also usually includes rituals of some kind.

So if a group of particularly minded atheists spent enough time together, who happened to share superstitions or ended up harmonising, a religion could develop. It’s more likely to be an airy-fairy woo group than a cult though, I expect. I know lots of atheists who believe in all kinds of strange things, but they’re not generally on the same spectrum as traditional religious beliefs.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

And yet another thread where the second post should have been "no" and that was that.

[HappySkeptic]

I am an atheist, however, I have not attended formal meetings with other atheists / non-theists to have a discussion about atheism. Would holding formal gatherings to discuss atheist ideas create something "religious" in character (such as weekly church attendance) if these meetings were focused around discussing the disbelief in god(s)? 

I personally have been a little reluctant towards formalized meetings to discuss "atheism", however I would be interested to hear what other peoples thoughts are.

If you want an "atheism club", go for it.

If you want "something like a church community, but they don't believe in a god", try a service club. 

Myself, I'm a Unitarian Universalist.  At least half are atheists, but we don't promote "atheism" or any particular dogma.  Instead, we discuss our perspective on values, meaning, and community.

[Fake Messiah]

Would holding formal gatherings to discuss atheist ideas create something "religious" in character (such as weekly church attendance) if these meetings were focused around discussing the disbelief in god(s)? 

It wouldn't. Just as holding formal gatherings to discuss astronomy would not create religion but astronomy club.

[The Valkyrie]

Not unless they start believing in gods.

[Fake Messiah]

Also atheists don't feel a need to dwell on being an atheist every day. It's just not that big of a deal. They are far more interested in being a parent, spouse, friend, and their job than being an atheist.

Reasons people gather like this is because they are fed up of religion clogging medical research, causing terrorism, robbing people of their money and personal misery, and not to constantly refresh their disbelief in Thor and Odin.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I used to pray three times a day when I was on active duty. Each time I was on the mess deck and had a tray in front of me.

[vulcanlogician]

I am an atheist, however, I have not attended formal meetings with other atheists / non-theists to have a discussion about atheism. Would holding formal gatherings to discuss atheist ideas create something "religious" in character (such as weekly church attendance) if these meetings were focused around discussing the disbelief in god(s)? 

The real danger in meeting weekly to discuss non-belief in gods is that there really isn't that much to talk about. The beefy subject is religion... and that's the topic that concerns atheists the most. How is religion influencing our government? How does religion contribute to an ill-informed populace due to its proliferation of ignorance? How can people who have been damaged by a hostile religious upbringing heal and move on from that?

I don't think weekly meetings would be necessary to address these concerns. There are online communities that provide such support. The Unitarian Universalists offer a sort of secular spiritualism, for those interested in that sort of thing. Scientists do science. There are plenty of nonreligious social groups that atheists can be a part of to do charity work etc.

If there is one thing that atheists have no use for, it's religion.