Atheism Is Not A Religion!!!

[asaratis]

Mistaken again you are. I didn't ask you to disprove. I merely pointed out that proof or disproof does not exist on either side....so claiming either side is done on faith alone. You have faith one way, I have faith the other. We each have faith that our belief is correct.

I don't expect honesty from fundamentalists, but you might want to review what you previously wrote.

I have no need to do that. You do...if you want to switch over to being honest. Pigs will fly first.

I understand you're angry. That's a typical reaction from fundamentalists when they're tasked with supporting their claims to supernaturalism. Similarly, when fundamentalists are confronted with their pointless claims that others need to disprove their appeals to magic and supernaturalism, the fundamentalists typically react as you do.

Your inference that I am angry is born of your narcissism. I couldn't care less about what you believe. It's the incessant crowing and attacks on others that makes yours an angry, militant religion, geared toward the ridicule of scorn of all others. What you infer from my postings is nothing more than your mistaken opinion. It takes a lot more than what you say to bring me to anger. You overrate yourself.

If it really makes you happy, I am proud to have provided you with some comfort and joy. I bring you tidings of comfort and joy. That's cool with me! God Rest Ye Merry People All!

It's a profoundly silly comment to make such that "I couldn't care less about what you believe", yet, you spend inordinate amounts of time agonizing over those who dismiss your gawds as simply myth and legend.

Your anger and rage is palpable. You apply "religion" to atheism as a slur because you're incensed that even after all the history of pages in this thread and your continued attempts to define rejection of fear and superstition as "religion", you're still pursuing a failed argument.

You cling to the misunderstanding that I am angry. There is no anger here, no agony here. You praise yourself and other Atheists here in thinking that you are capable of driving me to anger. I honestly do not give a tinker's damn whether you believe God exists or doesn't exist. We're merely discussing the flawed posit that "Atheism is NOT a religion. You are simply following the doctrine of Atheism. It is more likely you that is pissed off. I sleep well every night with absolutely no malice toward the stupid fucking active Atheists that think they are not part of a religion. I simply wonder why you idiots object to its being defined as a religion.

You can repeat you lies 'til the cows come home...won't make them true.

 

[asaratis]

I think 90% of thread is guileless equivocation. "ism" is a suffix with a wide variety of uses. The suffix "-ism" doesn't make atheism a religion any more than it makes theism a religion. It just specifies whether someone believes in gods or not.

As I have already pointed out to you, I have never said that atheism is a religion. That fact does not give anyone the right to redefine atheism as not a belief. By they way, I have posted the dictionary definition of atheism from multiple sources, all of which define it as a belief, not a lack of a belief.

Oh what the heck, I'm bored... first hit on google says....

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is the absence of belief that any deities exist.

Copy'n and Past'n whoowhoooooo!!!!1

Have you the balls to quote the link from which that came? I'm from Missouri..SHOW ME!

I dunno. Do you have the mental acumen to google "atheism"? It was at the top of the page, in a quote block. I didn't follow the link, cause I don't really care. But I think it was from Wikipedia. I'm from Missouri too.

I guessed you would not post the link. It does come ver batum from Wikipedia...a source that is open to editing by anyone. Your boy editor in this case was Kai Nielsen (born 1926) is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Calgary. Before moving to Canada, Nielsen taught at New York University (NYU). He specializes in metaphilosophy, ethics, and social and political philosophy. Nielsen has also written about philosophy of religion, and is an advocate of contemporary atheism.

He has redefined it for you. The original definition comes from 1570 AD. Google that! Redefining yourselves to keep from being called a religion doesn't work. That's like the liberals redefining themselves to be progressives...instead of liberals because liberalism took on a bad name several years ago. They are still nothing more than worthless fucking liberals....and an Atheist is still just one who believes that God does not exist.

Nice try, but no cigar!

atheist
noun [C] /ˈeɪ·θi·ɪst/ us

› someone who believes that God does not exist


atheist - definition in the American English Dictionary - Cambridge Dictionaries Online

 

[NYcarbineer]

I think 90% of thread is guileless equivocation. "ism" is a suffix with a wide variety of uses. The suffix "-ism" doesn't make atheism a religion any more than it makes theism a religion. It just specifies whether someone believes in gods or not.

As I have already pointed out to you, I have never said that atheism is a religion. That fact does not give anyone the right to redefine atheism as not a belief. By they way, I have posted the dictionary definition of atheism from multiple sources, all of which define it as a belief, not a lack of a belief.

Oh what the heck, I'm bored... first hit on google says....

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is the absence of belief that any deities exist.

Copy'n and Past'n whoowhoooooo!!!!1

Have you the balls to quote the link from which that came? I'm from Missouri..SHOW ME!

I dunno. Do you have the mental acumen to google "atheism"? It was at the top of the page, in a quote block. I didn't follow the link, cause I don't really care. But I think it was from Wikipedia. I'm from Missouri too.

I guessed you would not post the link. It does come ver batum from Wikipedia...a source that is open to editing by anyone. Your boy editor in this case was Kai Nielsen (born 1926) is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Calgary. Before moving to Canada, Nielsen taught at New York University (NYU). He specializes in metaphilosophy, ethics, and social and political philosophy. Nielsen has also written about philosophy of religion, and is an advocate of contemporary atheism.

He has redefined it for you. The original definition comes from 1570 AD. Google that! Redefining yourselves to keep from being called a religion doesn't work. That's like the liberals redefining themselves to be progressives...instead of liberals because liberalism took on a bad name several years ago. They are still nothing more than worthless fucking liberals....and an Atheist is still just one who believes that God does not exist.

Nice try, but no cigar!

atheist
noun [C] /ˈeɪ·θi·ɪst/ us

› someone who believes that God does not exist


atheist - definition in the American English Dictionary - Cambridge Dictionaries Online

That's a great argument if you accept the premise that humanity has not advanced one step since 1570.

 

[NYcarbineer]

Should the Constitution ban not praying in school? According to some here, that would be an atheist religious practice.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

The thing is, language is flexible, and words mean different things in different contexts to different people. For the purposes of discussion, what matters is that we clearly communicate the ideas involved. The problems arise when people leverage the ambiguities of the language to deliberately equivocate.

I am pretty sure that is why we have actual books that allow people to clarify the definition of words using generally accepted standards rather than allowing everyone to insist that there definition of a words is acceptable. I posted the definition from multiple dictionaries to back up my position that atheism is a belief, you had to resort to Wikipedia.

When @asaratis says the strident fanatical atheists like Dawkins are jerks or that some atheists are so committed to an "anti-god" stance that it amounts to just another religious belief, I can agree. But it doesn't follow that narrow examples define the general concept. It's like observing that some Tea Party members are racist rednecks and trying to use that to smear the entire movement.

I never said it did. In fact, I have repeatedly posted my opinion that atheism, in and of itself, is not a religion. That does not mean it is not an actual belief.

As far as the government's treating a belief system as a religion, you know how I see that. Government shouldn't be "treating" religious practices or views any differently than any other beliefs people might have. The mere fact that we have different legal standards for religions forces government to make a determination concerning which beliefs are genuinely "religious" and which aren't.

That is because you continue to believe that doing so bestows privileges on people who believe that others are not able to access. If it really worked that way museums would not get the same tax benefits as churches, nor would non believers be able to claim the status of conscientious objectors.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I love it the way the religists are always trying to down play and "normalize" that which they subscribe to which is not normal.

"Faith" as they use it is much more akin to the mental hell that many schitzophrenics are trapped in believing the voices in their heads are real.

This "faith" they speak of is more like a symptom of a mental disease than some benign wish list.

....Like believing in the Easter Bunny or the tooth fairy or the truly odd perpetuation of Santa Claus... altho I can see how the use of the Santa Claus could be helpfull if preparing children to have "faith" and believe in the impossible.

Funny how you condemn others for doing exactly what you do.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Should the Constitution ban not praying in school? According to some here, that would be an atheist religious practice.

The Constitution does not ban not praying in school any more than it bans praying in school.

 

[HUGGY]

I love it the way the religists are always trying to down play and "normalize" that which they subscribe to which is not normal.

"Faith" as they use it is much more akin to the mental hell that many schitzophrenics are trapped in believing the voices in their heads are real.

This "faith" they speak of is more like a symptom of a mental disease than some benign wish list.

....Like believing in the Easter Bunny or the tooth fairy or the truly odd perpetuation of Santa Claus... altho I can see how the use of the Santa Claus could be helpfull if preparing children to have "faith" and believe in the impossible.

Funny how you condemn others for doing exactly what you do.

Don't have a clue what you are going on about Boss.

I have no imaginary friends.

 

[Tuatara]

I think 90% of thread is guileless equivocation. "ism" is a suffix with a wide variety of uses. The suffix "-ism" doesn't make atheism a religion any more than it makes theism a religion. It just specifies whether someone believes in gods or not.

As I have already pointed out to you, I have never said that atheism is a religion. That fact does not give anyone the right to redefine atheism as not a belief. By they way, I have posted the dictionary definition of atheism from multiple sources, all of which define it as a belief, not a lack of a belief.

Merriam Webster and Oxford dictionairies are the most referenced dictionaries. Let's see what they say shall we.

Merriam-Webster - Atheism : a disbelief in the existence of deity

Oxford - Atheism : Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.


Thanks for coming out.

 

[NYcarbineer]

Should the Constitution ban not praying in school? According to some here, that would be an atheist religious practice.

The Constitution does not ban not praying in school any more than it bans praying in school.

Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that ruled it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools.

That being the case, by prohibiting an official school prayer, the Court made not having an official school prayer mandatory, which,

if atheism is a religion, means that the Court mandated that public schools practice the atheist religious belief on prayer. That would be a 1st Amendment violation as well.

Some people get the point. I'm not going to suffer at length agonizing over the fact that you don't.

 

[PratchettFan]

Should the Constitution ban not praying in school? According to some here, that would be an atheist religious practice.

The Constitution does not ban not praying in school any more than it bans praying in school.

Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that ruled it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools.

That being the case, by prohibiting an official school prayer, the Court made not having an official school prayer mandatory, which,

if atheism is a religion, means that the Court mandated that public schools practice the atheist religious belief on prayer. That would be a 1st Amendment violation as well.

Some people get the point. I'm not going to suffer at length agonizing over the fact that you don't.

No one has suggested that Atheists get together to not pray. Not allowing children to be forced to engage in prayer is not forcing them to not believe in God. Now, if rather than a prayer the school was instead doing a quick recitation of why there was no God, then you might have an argument. I believe the SC would have found that unacceptable as well.

 

[PostmodernProph]

Should the Constitution ban not praying in school? According to some here, that would be an atheist religious practice.

no, the atheists' practice of choice is to demand prayer be banned.....therefore what the Constitution should ban them from doing is the demand that prayer be banned.....

 

[PratchettFan]

I think 90% of thread is guileless equivocation. "ism" is a suffix with a wide variety of uses. The suffix "-ism" doesn't make atheism a religion any more than it makes theism a religion. It just specifies whether someone believes in gods or not.

As I have already pointed out to you, I have never said that atheism is a religion. That fact does not give anyone the right to redefine atheism as not a belief. By they way, I have posted the dictionary definition of atheism from multiple sources, all of which define it as a belief, not a lack of a belief.

Merriam Webster and Oxford dictionairies are the most referenced dictionaries. Let's see what they say shall we.

Merriam-Webster - Atheism : a disbelief in the existence of deity

Oxford - Atheism : Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.


Thanks for coming out.

If you want to use it then you use it all:

Merriam-Webster:

Definition of ATHEISM
1
archaic : ungodliness, wickedness
2
a : a disbelief in the existence of deity
b : the doctrine that there is no deity .
See atheism defined for kids »
Origin of ATHEISM
Middle French athéisme, from athée atheist, from Greek atheos godless, from a- + theos god
First Known Use: 1546

Oxford Reference

atheism
Subject: Religion
The theory or belief that God does not exist. The word comes (in the late 16th century, via French) from Greek atheos, from a- ‘without’ + theos ‘god’.

You will notice that the greek root atheos uses the typical method of apply the prefix "a" to the root "theos". It does not apply it to the suffix "ism". "No god" not "no belief".
The suffix "ism" per Webster is:
ism
noun \ˈi-zəm\ .
: a belief, attitude, style, etc., that is referred to by a word that ends in the suffix -ism
Full Definition of ISM
1
: a distinctive doctrine, cause, or theory

While words may morph, the basic word means a doctrine, cause or theory that there is no god. Which is why I don't like definitions that much. It implies the word creates the thing. It does not. If the word does not accurately reflect the thing, it is the word which is wrong. It brings you to a bit of basic logic that runs:

An Atheist has no god beliefs.
I am an Atheist.
Therefore, I have no god beliefs.

While the logic here is valid, the premise must be supported by more than a declaration. I think we can go to that famous list from Dawkins on this in which he describes a strong Atheist as one who is certain there is no god. In the absence of evidence, that position can only be a belief. So either the premise is wrong or Dawkins is wrong. It can't be both.

 

[NYcarbineer]

Should the Constitution ban not praying in school? According to some here, that would be an atheist religious practice.

no, the atheists' practice of choice is to demand prayer be banned.....therefore what the Constitution should ban them from doing is the demand that prayer be banned.....

Then amend the Constitution.

 

[Montrovant]

I think 90% of thread is guileless equivocation. "ism" is a suffix with a wide variety of uses. The suffix "-ism" doesn't make atheism a religion any more than it makes theism a religion. It just specifies whether someone believes in gods or not.

As I have already pointed out to you, I have never said that atheism is a religion. That fact does not give anyone the right to redefine atheism as not a belief. By they way, I have posted the dictionary definition of atheism from multiple sources, all of which define it as a belief, not a lack of a belief.

Merriam Webster and Oxford dictionairies are the most referenced dictionaries. Let's see what they say shall we.

Merriam-Webster - Atheism : a disbelief in the existence of deity

Oxford - Atheism : Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods.


Thanks for coming out.

If you want to use it then you use it all:

Merriam-Webster:

Definition of ATHEISM
1
archaic : ungodliness, wickedness
2
a : a disbelief in the existence of deity
b : the doctrine that there is no deity .
See atheism defined for kids »
Origin of ATHEISM
Middle French athéisme, from athée atheist, from Greek atheos godless, from a- + theos god
First Known Use: 1546

Oxford Reference

atheism
Subject: Religion
The theory or belief that God does not exist. The word comes (in the late 16th century, via French) from Greek atheos, from a- ‘without’ + theos ‘god’.

You will notice that the greek root atheos uses the typical method of apply the prefix "a" to the root "theos". It does not apply it to the suffix "ism". "No god" not "no belief".
The suffix "ism" per Webster is:
ism
noun \ˈi-zəm\ .
: a belief, attitude, style, etc., that is referred to by a word that ends in the suffix -ism
Full Definition of ISM
1
: a distinctive doctrine, cause, or theory

While words may morph, the basic word means a doctrine, cause or theory that there is no god. Which is why I don't like definitions that much. It implies the word creates the thing. It does not. If the word does not accurately reflect the thing, it is the word which is wrong. It brings you to a bit of basic logic that runs:

An Atheist has no god beliefs.
I am an Atheist.
Therefore, I have no god beliefs.

While the logic here is valid, the premise must be supported by more than a declaration. I think we can go to that famous list from Dawkins on this in which he describes a strong Atheist as one who is certain there is no god. In the absence of evidence, that position can only be a belief. So either the premise is wrong or Dawkins is wrong. It can't be both.

If the prefix 'a' means 'without', rather than atheism being a doctrine, wouldn't it mean being without a doctrine?

What we have seen, as usual, is that there are multiple definitions of atheism.

 

[NYcarbineer]

Should the Constitution ban not praying in school? According to some here, that would be an atheist religious practice.

The Constitution does not ban not praying in school any more than it bans praying in school.

Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that ruled it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools.

That being the case, by prohibiting an official school prayer, the Court made not having an official school prayer mandatory, which,

if atheism is a religion, means that the Court mandated that public schools practice the atheist religious belief on prayer. That would be a 1st Amendment violation as well.

Some people get the point. I'm not going to suffer at length agonizing over the fact that you don't.

No one has suggested that Atheists get together to not pray. Not allowing children to be forced to engage in prayer is not forcing them to not believe in God. Now, if rather than a prayer the school was instead doing a quick recitation of why there was no God, then you might have an argument. I believe the SC would have found that unacceptable as well.

I wasn't making my argument. I was make the argument that logically follows one's belief that atheism is a religion.

 

[Hollie]

I don't expect honesty from fundamentalists, but you might want to review what you previously wrote.

I have no need to do that. You do...if you want to switch over to being honest. Pigs will fly first.

I understand you're angry. That's a typical reaction from fundamentalists when they're tasked with supporting their claims to supernaturalism. Similarly, when fundamentalists are confronted with their pointless claims that others need to disprove their appeals to magic and supernaturalism, the fundamentalists typically react as you do.

Your inference that I am angry is born of your narcissism. I couldn't care less about what you believe. It's the incessant crowing and attacks on others that makes yours an angry, militant religion, geared toward the ridicule of scorn of all others. What you infer from my postings is nothing more than your mistaken opinion. It takes a lot more than what you say to bring me to anger. You overrate yourself.

If it really makes you happy, I am proud to have provided you with some comfort and joy. I bring you tidings of comfort and joy. That's cool with me! God Rest Ye Merry People All!

It's a profoundly silly comment to make such that "I couldn't care less about what you believe", yet, you spend inordinate amounts of time agonizing over those who dismiss your gawds as simply myth and legend.

Your anger and rage is palpable. You apply "religion" to atheism as a slur because you're incensed that even after all the history of pages in this thread and your continued attempts to define rejection of fear and superstition as "religion", you're still pursuing a failed argument.

You cling to the misunderstanding that I am angry. There is no anger here, no agony here. You praise yourself and other Atheists here in thinking that you are capable of driving me to anger. I honestly do not give a tinker's damn whether you believe God exists or doesn't exist. We're merely discussing the flawed posit that "Atheism is NOT a religion. You are simply following the doctrine of Atheism. It is more likely you that is pissed off. I sleep well every night with absolutely no malice toward the stupid fucking active Atheists that think they are not part of a religion. I simply wonder why you idiots object to its being defined as a religion.

You can repeat you lies 'til the cows come home...won't make them true.

But here you are still, incensed that anyone would challenge your specious opinions. It's your self-hate that causes you to spew the "atheism is a religion" canard. You consistently fail to show any connection between the rejection of fear and superstition and religious belief. That's most important as for you extremists, fear and superstition is a primary component of your religious belief.

 

[Hollie]

Should the Constitution ban not praying in school? According to some here, that would be an atheist religious practice.

no, the atheists' practice of choice is to demand prayer be banned.....therefore what the Constitution should ban them from doing is the demand that prayer be banned.....

The ravings of the extreme religious right. While you may find it personally offensive that others are protected from you imposing your extremist beliefs on others, I have no issue with your religion being banned where unconstitutional; as in public schools for example. Fundie Christians have no special exemption from adhering to the law.

 

[sealybobo]

We don't believe. It isn't a belief system it's a non belief system. Much different. Do you believe in Leprechauns? Then that is your belief system?

Atheism is, by definition a belief. Agnosticism is not a word, therefore, by lack of definition, is not a belief.

Wrong again as usual.

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is the absence of belief that any deities exist.

So maybe in the narrow sense.

The other two sentences clearly say the rejection of belief and absence of belief. Dummy.

Yeah that's fine too.

I will be calling atheism a religion. it seems like it is catching on all over.

And I promise not to chop your head off for doing it. I hope you don't do that to me for not agreeing with you. We know how you theists get when people don't agree with you.

It's like crack or heroine. Doing them could ruin your life. Not everyone who tries cocaine or heroine has their life ruined but some people can't handle it. Same with religion.

Oklahoma Woman Beheaded By Fired Muslim Co-Worker The Daily Caller

 

[sealybobo]

It is NOT a religion, and if you keep saying it is, I'm going to start my own tax exempt church, and start pounding on your door at dinner time.

Seriously, it sounds ridiculous when you say it.


re·li·gion
riˈlijən/
noun

1. the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.
   "ideas about the relationship between science and religion"
   

   synonyms:

   faith, belief, worship, creed; More

   [TBODY] [/TBODY]

It only sounds ridiculous to you because you want a free pass on what you condemn in others.

But atheism is a BELIEF SYSTEM!!!! You BELIEVE there is no God. Guess what! You just defeated your own argument with your definition.

You don't have absolute proof there is no God, SO YOU HAVE FAITH WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS CORRECT.

You lose, pal!

We don't believe. It isn't a belief system it's a non belief system. Much different. Do you believe in Leprechauns? Then that is your belief system?

Religions concern beliefs regarding deities. Believing that my car will start everyday forever is having faith in the battery, the starter, the spark plugs, the fuel and the motor. That's not religion.

Religion, (depending on the brand), is often the belief in supernaturalism and mysticism as the engine that drives existence. There is no religion associated with rejecting supernaturalism and mysticism. It is only you supernaturalists who have a difficult time with separating your beliefs in magic with rational and reasoned conclusions rejecting your appeals to magic, fear and superstition.

Did you see yesterday they finally caught a ghost on tape?

http://abc13.com/society/is-that-a-g-g-g-ghost/325047/

I don't know what that is, but I'm pretty sure it's not a ghost. How many of these supposed rational logical intelligent theists believe it is a ghost? Isn't that insane to not be skeptical about something like this?