Is Atheism a religion?

[johndavid316]

As a Christian, I get frustrated when I see so many other Christians make fools out of themselves by demonstrating a lack of understanding of simple definitions of words. One of the most commonly misused word is atheism. I've heard a lot of Christians recently attacking atheism by completely misrepresenting its definition. I hear things all the time such as, "Atheism is a religion!" "Atheism requires a leap of faith!" And, the most frustrating of all, "Atheists believe that billions of years ago, there was nothing, then, nothing happened, and then there was something, and for no reason at all, something ordered itself, and then there was life."

So, is atheism a religion? Do atheists believe all that? Lets start with the root of the word.

the

[MorningGlory]

So people, please stop making these silly assertions about a topic that you obviously have so little knowledge of.

Thank you,

John

Please don't make the silly assertion that we, on this forum, have little knowledge of atheism. Many, many atheists have come here and expounded on their beliefs (yes, they DO have beliefs in nothing spawning everything). It's my experience that, while not every evolutionist I run into is an atheist .......every atheist I've ever come across is an evolutionist. Atheists also organize into groups, btw, and have their own magazines, websites and de facto leaders. Maybe that's why people have come to regard atheism as a 'religion', although it could only be a negative of a religion. And it DOES require quite a big leap of faith to be convinced of not going to hell for denying God.

It might be a good idea to learn about the members here before you start telling them their assertions are silly.....

[wyguy]

Until you have any proof whatsoever of a Universe creating itself from nothingness, or observing/replicating life creating itself from dead matter, you have more faith than any Christian that ever lived ever had.

[johndavid316]

So people, please stop making these silly assertions about a topic that you obviously have so little knowledge of.

Thank you,

John

Please don't make the silly assertion that we, on this forum, have little knowledge of atheism. Many, many atheists have come here and expounded on their beliefs (yes, they DO have beliefs in nothing spawning everything). It's my experience that, while not every evolutionist I run into is an atheist .......every atheist I've ever come across is an evolutionist. Atheists also organize into groups, btw, and have their own magazines, websites and de facto leaders. Maybe that's why people have come to regard atheism as a 'religion', although it could only be a negative of a religion. And it DOES require quite a big leap of faith to be convinced of not going to hell for denying God.

It might be a good idea to learn about the members here before you start telling them their assertions are silly.....

First of all, I would invite you to scan through my post and look for anything at all that says I am asserting that anyone on this forum does that. I never did. Why did you pull that out of nowhere? It is less on these forums I see this and more from people on youtube and others such as Kent Hovind and Ray Comfort.

I am not denying that atheists may have beliefs of evolution or the big bang. I am simply saying the two are not connected. If I meet ten people who have brown hair and they all believe in evolution, does that mean that they are related? No. The same goes with atheism. Atheism, by definition is only the lack of belief in a god.

I understand that atheists organize into groups, and I have friends that are atheist (God bless their souls, I have failed them) that have gone to those meetings. They don't talk about how they don't believe in god. From what I hear, it is a lot more political. Like promoting the separation of church and state and such. I don't see how you can say having a magazine, or a website constitutes a belief. I am just going to quote this back to you. "Maybe that's why people have come to regard atheism as a 'religion', although it could only be a negative of a religion." A negative of a religion? You must realize that makes no sense. You either are a religion or you aren't. You can't be half religion, half not or negative religion. I think I understand what you're trying to say though. but nothing you presented constitutes being a religion.

Lastly, this is the worst argument of all time, and far too many people use it, so I am going to break it down.

"And it DOES require quite a big leap of faith to be convinced of not going to hell for denying God."

The reason why this is a terrible argument is this. If someone says, "It's a leap of faith for you to believe in God." and you say back, "It is a leap of faith for you not to believe in God." then you are saying that you both came to different conclusions without evidence. The definition of faith is belief without evidence. And while it is somehow OK for you to believe in God without evidence, it is bad for someone else to not believe in God without evidence that He doesn't exist. Our entire religion is based on faith, so people need to stop turning it around like it is a bad thing. A better response to, "It takes a leap of faith to believe in God" would be either "Yes, it does, and that's ok" or "There is evidence of God, it is not a leap of faith."

If faith is bad one way it is bad the other way too!

[johndavid316]

Until you have any proof whatsoever of a Universe creating itself from nothingness, or observing/replicating life creating itself from dead matter, you have more faith than any Christian that ever lived ever had.

I agree! However I must make sure that you are not insinuating that just because you are an atheist you believe that. If you are, refer back to my original post.

[wyguy]

I am not denying that atheists may have beliefs of evolution or the big bang. I am simply saying the two are not connected.

That's a crock. Either the Universe and all life is the result of evolutionary processes apart from a supernatural hand, or they were created by God. The atheist cannot allow the idea of a Creator in the door - so you are left with naturalism alone. And naturalism alone is based on godless evolutionary thought.

[Fez]

[

So people, please stop making these silly assertions about a topic that you obviously have so little knowledge of.

Thank you,

John

Please don't make the silly assertion that we, on this forum, have little knowledge of atheism. Many, many atheists have come here and expounded on their beliefs (yes, they DO have beliefs in nothing spawning everything). It's my experience that, while not every evolutionist I run into is an atheist .......every atheist I've ever come across is an evolutionist. Atheists also organize into groups, btw, and have their own magazines, websites and de facto leaders. Maybe that's why people have come to regard atheism as a 'religion', although it could only be a negative of a religion. And it DOES require quite a big leap of faith to be convinced of not going to hell for denying God.

It might be a good idea to learn about the members here before you start telling them their assertions are silly.....

First of all, I would invite you to scan through my post and look for anything at all that says I am asserting that anyone on this forum does that. I never did. Why did you pull that out of

So people, please stop making these silly assertions about a topic that you obviously have so little knowledge of.

[johndavid316]

I am not denying that atheists may have beliefs of evolution or the big bang. I am simply saying the two are not connected.

That's a crock. Either the Universe and all life is the result of evolutionary processes apart from a supernatural hand, or they were created by God. The atheist cannot allow the idea of a Creator in the door - so you are left with naturalism alone. And naturalism alone is based on godless evolutionary thought.

What you've just presented is a false dichotomy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dichotomy

I am going to assume by God, you mean the Christian God. Well, why are there only two options? What about all the gods of all the other religions? Why aren't they options?

Also, not all atheists are naturalists.

Remember, I am a Christian too! I just want us to use good logic if we go on the attack!

[wyguy]

What you've just presented is a false dichotomy

Wrong. It's called "reality."

Well, why are there only two options?

Actually, there are 3.

1. The Universe created itself from nothingness.

2. It has always existed.

3. It was created.

What about all the gods of all the other religions? Why aren't they options?

That's not the point - the point is that the Universe, and all life, are the results of supernatural creation. We are not arguing the validity of various religions, we are debating supernatural creation verses godless (atheistic) evolutionism.

Also, not all atheists are naturalists.

Then they are not atheists at all. If nature is all there is, and existence is the result of natural processes alone, (as atheists believe) then by default, atheists MUST be natuarlists.

[johndavid316]

What you've just presented is a false dichotomy

Wrong. It's called "reality."

Well, why are there only two options?

Actually, there are 3.

1. The Universe created itself from nothingness.

2. It has always existed.

3. It was created.

What about all the gods of all the other religions? Why aren't they options?

That's not the point - the point is that the Universe, and all life, are the results of supernatural creation. We are not arguing the validity of various religions, we are debating supernatural creation verses godless (atheistic) evolutionism.

Also, not all atheists are naturalists.

Then they are not atheists at all. If nature is all there is, and existence is the result of natural processes alone, (as atheists believe) then by default, atheists MUST be natuarlists.

Let me give you the dictionary definition of atheism... AGAIN. a