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[Neruz]

You need to explain why you feel so strongly about why Atheism is not a religion.

Because it does not fit the definition of a religion.

You just said it right afterwards; a system of beliefs is a religion, Atheism is not a system of beliefs.

[Grakelin]

You do not get to define 'religion' as whatever you feel like. 'religion' is strictly defined as "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe." That is it, that is what the word 'religion' means. End of discussion.

I apologize for not reading the thread thoroughly enough, but Atheism can be considered a religion because the belief that Atheists have about the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe is heavily ingrained in the idea that there was no intellectual driving force, and typically coincides with the generally accepted scientific study of the time.

Why is it not a religion?

EDIT for Neruz's ninja: Atheism is a system of beliefs, regarding what I outlined above.

[Cheeetar]

Also, please explain your last sentence. Are you saying that I am not a religion? That is correct, a PERSON is not a religion. A BELIEF SYSTEM can be a religion, but I am not a belief system. I'm assuming English is not your first language, so don't worry too much about this failure to communicate, just please reiterate.

He is explaining how atheism is not a religion in what I saw as a perfectly understandable sentence. Perhaps he should have used quotation marks.

To explain:
'I do not believe you' is not a religion.
As in: Not believing in a religion is not in itself a religion.

[Neruz]

You do not get to define 'religion' as whatever you feel like. 'religion' is strictly defined as "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe." That is it, that is what the word 'religion' means. End of discussion.

I apologize for not reading the thread thoroughly enough, but Atheism can be considered a religion because the belief that Atheists have about the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe is heavily ingrained in the idea that there was no intellectual driving force, and typically coincides with the generally accepted scientific study of the time.

Why is it not a religion?

EDIT for Neruz's ninja: Atheism is a system of beliefs, regarding what I outlined above.

No it is not. Atheism is the denial of Theism. Atheism says "God does not exist."

That is all.

It offers no replacement for God, it offers no beliefs concerning the cause, origin, nature and purpose of the Universe, all it does is say that "God\Gods do not exist." It is not a system of beliefs, rather it is the denial of beliefs.

[Cheeetar]

And not all beliefs, merely (a) belief(s) that god(s) exist(s).

[Grakelin]

Not believing in something isn't being Atheist, though. I, for example, believe in the existence of a higher being of some sort, but do not believe in any deity actively worshipped by man (Einstein had a similar belief, which is where I got to thinking this way). I am not an Atheist however, because I do not believe that there is no higher being.

Atheists system of beliefs dictates that there is no deity, with disbelief of what they consider to be manmade deities a side effect, not a basis.

[Neruz]

And not all beliefs, merely (a) belief(s) that god(s) exist(s).

No that's Theism. Religion is just a set of beliefs concerning the the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.

If your Religion states that a God or Gods are responsible for the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, then you have a Theist Religion. Most people just drop the Theist part because all mainstream religions are also theist.

Not believing in something isn't being Atheist, though. I, for example, believe in the existence of a higher being of some sort, but do not believe in any deity actively worshipped by man (Einstein had a similar belief, which is where I got to thinking this way). I am not an Atheist however, because I do not believe that there is no higher being.

Atheists system of beliefs dictates that there is no deity, with disbelief of what they consider to be manmade deities a side effect, not a basis.

Atheist, A-Theist. Anti-Theist. That is what the word means. "Anti-Theist".

Theism is "belief in the existence of a god or gods." Atheism is "disbelief in the existence of a god or gods."

If you do not believe that there is a god or gods. You are an Atheist.

[Cheeetar]

Sorry, I meant to say DOES NOT exist.

Wait no I meant to say exists. It was a suggested improvement to your post, in that it is not the denial of all beliefs, merely (a) belief(s) that god(s) exist(s).

Oh wait no I'm confused disregard this.

[Neruz]

oic.

[MrWiggles]

Sorry, I meant to say DOES NOT exist.

Wait no I meant to say exists. It was a suggested improvement to your post, in that it is not the denial of all beliefs, merely (a) belief(s) that god(s) exist(s).

A rejection of a belief is not itself a new belief.


Atheist is simply a rejection.

[Neruz]

Sorry, I meant to say DOES NOT exist.

Wait no I meant to say exists. It was a suggested improvement to your post, in that it is not the denial of all beliefs, merely (a) belief(s) that god(s) exist(s).

A rejection of a belief is not itself a new belief.


Atheist is simply a rejection.

Precisely.


The Theist says "I believe in God."

The Atheist says "I do not believe in God."


What the Atheist does believe is completely irrelevant to his disbelief in God. The fact that he does not believe in God is what marks him as an Atheist.

[Cheeetar]

Yes. This I get. I was saying, in response to Neruz saying that atheism is simply the denial of beliefs, I added that in that by denial of beliefs he meant just beliefs pertaining to god existing in the affirmative.

[Grakelin]

You seem to be supporting Atheism being a religion pretty strongly in most of your posts without realizing (enough so that I thought this was what you were saying to begin with). Would you care to explain what sorts of beliefs about the creation, nature, and purpose of the universe one Atheist might have that differs from what another Atheist believes?

EDIT: And a denial of other religious beliefs is the same thing as believing in the non-existence of a deity, but said in a different way. Atheists have the belief that there is no higher being that created the universe, no overlying purpose, and the nature of the universe is rooted in scientific fact. Agree/Disagree?

[MrWiggles]

Yes. This I get. I was saying, in response to Neruz saying that atheism is simply the denial of beliefs, I added that in that by denial of beliefs he meant just beliefs pertaining to god existing in the affirmative.

I dont think a rejection can be an affirmative since it can only exist if there something to reject. If there was no god to reject, there would be no atheists.

Rejection is the default position.

[Jackrabbit]

Isn't atheism the belief that there is not God?

If there was no God to reject, they'd be right, but they'd still believe there wasn't a God.