atheism is a religion

[trent bortknob]

yeah i probably didnt explain it well

here we go

agnosticism asserts that, without a doubt, it's impossible to know the ultimate nature of reality. but how do you know that?how do you know that something is impossible to know?

another thing: we've been on this earth for a while, and we are constantly learning more about it. is really feasible that we'll NEVER understand it? just because we don't right now? i think we're giving ourselves too little credit

[rtil]

your argument would be credible if your definition wasn\\\'t wrong

atheism is not a religion

ok so i guess philosophers are wrong well thanks for the heads up

philosophy is supposed to make you think - not have you take everything they say at face value for absolute truth. is Pascal\\\'s Wager correct just because a philosopher proposed it? do you blindly follow everything philosophers come up with?

no, that\\\'s different. pascal\\\'s wager is an argument that many philosophers don\\\'t agree with (in fact, MOST philosophers don\\\'t agree with it). the definition of religion is not argued about because that\\\'s what the definition is. that\\\'s what they all go by because it makes sense and it avoids unnecessary problems

saying that the given definition is not correct discounts buddhism and several other religions as actual religions (even though they are).

armon attacked that idea saying that they believe in like reincarnation and shit. i don\\\'t know if this is true, but reincarnation does not entail a higher power so that still wouldn\\\'t be a religion in these terms

if you\\\'re are just unwilling to accept that this is the correct definition even though it\\\'s the one that pretty much every philosopher agrees on, then you have to at least accept that atheism is a worldview. this makes it at least comparable to other religions, because all religions are worldviews

i still hold the notion that it is a religion because it fits the definition. if you can get a credible source which denotes the philospohical definition then i\\\'ll check it out

yeah i\\\'m sure all philosophers must agree with you on that one seeing as you just took a class in philosophy so you have to be right.

the problem with the definition of religion is that there really is no consensus on it, period. i am unwilling to accept "the correct definition" because you group atheism into a system of beliefs and the supernatural. buddhism - while not having a god like a theistic religion, does have many beliefs involving the supernatural and divine. atheism also rejects these qualities.

atheism is not so much a worldview as it is groundwork for a worldview - one that is purged of anything religious in nature.

atheism does not attempt to explain anything about why we are here, who we are, what the meaning of life is or anything that a religion would otherwise claim to have the answers for. it is simply the beginning of a non-religious foundation.

and this is why i really don\\\'t think atheism is a religion - it rejects anything a traditional religion would be to classify as one. atheism naturally leads to science because science looks towards empirical evidence to explain things.

but atheism does not. atheism trends towards science - but they are not the same thing. and they are most certainly not a religion.

also, your definition of religion could also be broadened to political and governmental systems. it\\\'s too broad

[Mew_User]

Can Sex be a religion too?

[trent bortknob]

no it can't unless sex is how you view the world. that's just called being a sex addict

and i guess we've reached the consensus that there are different definitions for religion offered by different people/sources. i do know that this is a topic that has some debate, but i just wanted to at least explain that calling atheism a religion is not a completely ridiculous or obviously wrong notion, and i still don't see how it isn't a worldview. you can't really have atheism without science unless you believe that you can't trust science, but that's trusting that you can't trust fact, so you might as well be following a crazy religion. rational atheism would need science to exist, so they're intertwined.

that way when the rational atheist is faced with these questions he has answers which he finds satisfactory

i think if you're going to say that religion is not a worldview, you have to admit that atheism is a worldview

[Mew_User]

Wow Taylor is smart.

[MarcK]

but how do you know that?how do you know that something is impossible to know?

Can't you say this to any gnostic stance on religion?

[emanhattan]

the definition in the first post is incorrect

[Daveb0t]

1. who cares
2. gay

[trent bortknob]

the definition in the first post is incorrect

please read above

[emanhattan]

^

[DrRumack]

sex is def. a religion just the prospect of it is what guides me through these dark times

[trent bortknob]

i worship my dick

[DrRumack]

its bigger than anything or anyone i know

[put]

I worship the snake daity Glycon, For the incredibly cheap price of 1 human sacrifice a month the great snake deity GLYCON will give you fantastical magic powers!!!

Making curses for my enemies is fun.

[Philip K Dick]

pagan god worship is so eight years ago

[Jeinu]

i have this feeling you haven't actually studied any religions, because your definition you listed is more like that of philosophy itself rather than religion. please refer to this post i made here, which you never answered (if you did i skipped over it oops):

even though rtil already covered it, i just want to add a few more thoughts. i actually took catholic theology and world religion classes in high school so kind of have a pretty good idea of what a religion is. In every religion i learned about, there were several defining features that made a religion, a religion. The three main things i can think of are that there is a communal, traditional, spiritual aspect to each of them. Communities of faith will gather together on their holy days or weekly sabbaths to celebrate their beliefs. Traditions such as interpreting their sacred texts and preforming rituals during certain times of the year, or a complex hierarchical system of clergy that only certain people are allowed into. And lastly, spirituality, which usually involves the belief of a soul/spirit that travels to an afterlife and must suffer consequences or enjoy rewards based on just how well the person followed the religion's traditional rules while on earth.

Seeing as atheism cannot apply for any of these features, i really feel it cannot be shoved into the religion department. furthermore, atheists can differ from one another in their world views/philosophies extremely. You could be atheist and spiritual (ie in non-theistic religions like Buddhism), atheist and moral and progressive (ie secular humanism), or just atheist, immoral, ignorant and a hedonistic bastard in general.

er anyway yeah just thought i'd throw that in there

OK, so there are three defining features to religions that i've studied:
1-Communal worship (getting everyone together to recite beliefs, do rituals together)
2-Traditions (sacred texts, meaningful rituals, coming-of-age celebrations)
3-Spirituality (prayer, penance, belief in an afterlife/nirvana)

atheism doesn't include any of these.

FURTHERMORE, religions are not defined by the negative claims they make against other. they are recognized by the positive claims they make. christians believe in christ. you don't call a christian an "anti-zeus-ist". atheists make no positive claims. logically, they cannot be put into the same category. in fact, i don't even like the term atheist, because broken down, the word means "against-god". how can i be against something i don't think is real? i'd rather be called a secular humanist, personally.

[jjjjjjjjjj]

Wow Taylor is smart.

[trent bortknob]

i have this feeling you haven't actually studied any religions, because your definition you listed is more like that of philosophy itself rather than religion. please refer to this post i made here, which you never answered (if you did i skipped over it oops):

well everything i know about religions is by studying the philosphy of religion not the history or their practices or anything. i just get a general idea of their beliefs and attack them but still

i've never heard of that definition and it doesn't fit with any of the philosophy texts that i've read OR what we've learned in class

i don't really know where you got it but it seems from it's coming from a relgious study class rather than a philosophy of religion class

[trent bortknob]

the definition of philosophy is:

the application of reason to the construction and evaluation of answers to life's big questions

here is another definition i found in my philosophy notes

religion - a set of answers to life's big questions

really i think either you guys are coming from a completely different field of study, or one of us is wrong. all i'm talking about i learned in a class so it's not like i'm pulling this shit randomly out of my mind or anything

[rtil]

regardless of what class or teacher you got it from and how enlightened they may be, you're still not addressing the fact that atheism doesn't fit the widely accepted guidelines of religion, nor is it even a worldview