Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Atheism is a Religion - Right?

Atheism is a belief, theory and a philosophy arguably intending to explain man's origin, his core nature and his future.

This is religion, right?

Correct

What does atheism "worship"? What rituals does it have?

No. The definition of atheism is the disbelief of deities, god or gods.

From an "online dictionary" :

A religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence.[note 1] Many religions have narratives, symbols, and sacred histories that aim to explain the meaning of life and/or to explain the origin of life or the Universe. From their beliefs about the cosmos and human nature, people may derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle.

As an atheist, I attend no church and I subscribe to no dogma. I don't think there is a god or an afterlife, either as a reward or punishment. Religious faith requires you to believe without proof. Beliefs vary across cultures. What you believe has more to do with where you were born and what your parents believed than it does with any independent knowledge on the part of the believer. In lieu of proof or a universally consistent religious experience, I see no evidence of a god(s). I don't much care how the universe came to be or how we came to be. I understand facts and evidence. I know my parents and not god made me, that I will live some amount of time, and will die and cease to be. That doesn't scare me. I don't need to pretend that there is a "better place" after I die to deal with all that. For me, atheism means no proof - no belief - in anything. I'm ok just letting the mysteries be without having belief in stuff that was made up by man in some primitive culture as a way to control behavior. But I'm ok with everyone that needs to believe in a god or whatever that helps them get through the day or their life.

You are displaying as much faith as anyone else because you can't see past yourself.

It makes religious folk happy to call atheism a religion, so they do.

The Supreme Court declared it is.

Well, as long as the Supreme Court said so....

Not quite. More of an equivalent.

A position on divinity, the denial of such, is afforded the same protections as traditional religious beliefs.

But hey, if it makes you happy, by all means call it a religion!

Huh?? Boy, that needs translation. Kind of sounds like double speak. What faith have I displayed?? BTW none of us can see past what we ourselves see or experience. Everything else is just stories. I put more weight in those stories that can be substantiated by facts. Isn't this how we all stopped believing in things we once held as true? When facts displace myths or lies.

Exactly. That's what I said in fewer words. You apparently don't understand faith.

I cannot make sense of Ringman's post either.
I do understand that you cannot reason someone out of something they were never reasoned into.

PREACH IT, BROTHER!!!
...er, uh, I mean well said and I agree completely.

Themselves. A true personal god.

I once saw a group of atheist that were on their knees bowing before a large letter of "N". One asked another; "Is Nothing sacred"?

I think it is kind of fully for a thread on religion is using a SC ruling to make a point.

Faith and lack of any faith both are protected as they should be. The government should have nothing to say on the issue beyond that.

I understand faith. It is a belief not based on anything certain. Faith is a promise. I have faith that I will wake up tomorrow, but I know that tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us. Faith is confidence and trust, but faith can be misplaced. You can have faith that a plane won't crash when you step onto one (or else why would you do it) but we also know that sometimes they crash. That particular faith is based on an expectation gleaned from past experience, that most planes don't crash. Faith, by definition, is not certain.

Religious faith is not based on past experiences, it is based on stories told to us. Some native americans believed the earth was created by a turtle, some people believe in reincarnation, some believe god spoke thru a burning bush, some believe there is one god and some have faith there are many gods. These beliefs are all based on stories told us, with no facts to back them up. Are they all correct? Why are you so sure the stories told you are more correct then a Hindu's, or a Muslim's or a Jew? They all have faith. If you believe that other religions can have it wrong, why is it so hard for some of you to understand that some of us think that all religions can have it wrong? There's no more evidence for one over another - is there?