Irish Posted December 13, 2004 #1 Share Posted December 13, 2004 I thought this could be an interesting debate, I am not sure if it has been asked before in another thread. If a religion is a believe system. Could Atheism be considered just another religion in its self? Your thoughts please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurnSide Posted December 13, 2004 #2 Share Posted December 13, 2004 If religion is a belief system, then beliving that bread is good with jam on it could be considered a religion. If atheism is a religion, anything on earth could be a religion. Which is of course very silly. Beliving something doesn't make it religious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athenian Posted December 13, 2004 #3 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Do not think of it as organizations or religions, But as paths. There are many paths which we can take and lifestyles to choose from... Some paths lead to pitfalls or destruction, and others to joy and paradise. And some just get you lost into some sort of inter-dimensional twilight zone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikl Posted December 13, 2004 #4 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Well, that really depends. For example, I would say Communism is a form of atheistic religion (it has all the principles of a religion, including fundementalism and hatred to other religions). Also, many of the eastern religions do not believe in gods at all, and so could be considered atheistic beliefs as well. Also, active atheism - denying that there is a divine entity, is religious, because you can't prove there is no divinity of any form, and so this is youre belief (science never proved there is no god). Passive atheism on the other hand, that is - simply disbelief in a divinity, is not a religion. The problem for many atheists is that most atheists are active atheists and not passive at all, so most atheists are religious indeed . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consummate Deist Posted December 13, 2004 #5 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Sorry, can't agree Erikl. Religion is defined as the service and worship of God or the supernatural. Atheists (as opposed to Theists and Deists) do not recognized a God or the supernatural, hence Atheism is not a religion no matter the similarities! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat_Kloud Posted December 13, 2004 #6 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Athiesm is the lack of believing isn't it? When they don't have a religion? Right? I'm confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeking Posted December 13, 2004 #7 Share Posted December 13, 2004 i just breezed through the posts on here, but atheism is not a religion Main Entry: re·li·gion Pronunciation: ri-'li-j&n Function: noun Etymology: Middle English religioun, from Latin religion-, religio supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back —more at RELY Date: 13th century 1 a : the state of a religious <a nun in her 20th year of religion> b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance --- athiesm means no beliefe in higher power Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janiel Posted December 13, 2004 #8 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Atheism: Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods. The doctrine that there is no God or gods. Godlessness; immorality. No, Atheism is not a religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat_Kloud Posted December 13, 2004 #9 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Janiel your avatar is so cool! It's got Final Fantasy 8 in it huh! It's that chick huh!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat_Kloud Posted December 13, 2004 #10 Share Posted December 13, 2004 If it's not it looks like her h aha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janiel Posted December 13, 2004 #11 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Yes, it is Edea She really is awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat_Kloud Posted December 13, 2004 #12 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Yayness. I've never played VIII but my brother's told me all about it. I need to buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janiel Posted December 13, 2004 #13 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Yes you do, it's downright AWESOME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Manfred Posted December 14, 2004 #14 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Some paths lead to pitfalls or destruction, and others to joy and paradise. And some just get you lost into some sort of inter-dimensional twilight zone... That's what you think...not what you know. Atheism: Disbelief in or denial of the existence of God or gods. The doctrine that there is no God or gods. Godlessness; immorality. No, Atheism is not a religion. 402381[/snapback] Where'd that quote come from? It suggests that Atheism is immoral. Which is offensive and really ignorant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeking Posted December 14, 2004 #15 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Yes, it is Edea She really is awesome 402415[/snapback] not to mention really hot in a kinky sort of way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquatus1 Posted December 14, 2004 #16 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Ah, just to point out, religion does not necessarily require a deity of any kind. A sect that follows an ultimate ideal, wether personafied by a deity or not, is also considered to be religious. Religion does not necessarily require worship of a deity or supernatural power. Erikl's post hit pretty much everything that I wanted to say on the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Manfred Posted December 14, 2004 #17 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Is it just me or is Atheism an offensive label? I don't believe in any gods, God, deities, or anything remotely spiritual or many things paranormal, yet I fall under that category. I really don't like being called an Atheist, though it seems the only way I can identify to someone what I am without sounding pompous Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janiel Posted December 14, 2004 #18 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Yes, it is Edea She really is awesome 402415[/snapback] not to mention really hot in a kinky sort of way 402786[/snapback] Damn right! Where'd that quote come from? It suggests that Atheism is immoral. Which is offensive and really ignorant. Dictionary.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Manfred Posted December 14, 2004 #19 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Where'd that quote come from? It suggests that Atheism is immoral. Which is offensive and really ignorant. Dictionary.com 403161[/snapback] Bah! Stupid thing should be amended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janiel Posted December 14, 2004 #20 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Yea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraphina Posted December 14, 2004 #21 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Is it just me or is Atheism an offensive label? Um...not to me, no. I'm quite happy to be an atheist thiest...with an 'a'...suggesting non-theist Theist being someone "who believes in the existance of gods or a god, especially a god supernaturally revealed to man and maintaining a personal relationship to his creatures." - from the Oxford popular english dictionary. As I do not believe in the existance of gods or a god, supernatural or otherwise (unless we count Mick Foley), I think atheist applies quite well to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikl Posted December 14, 2004 #22 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Sera, the question is - do you simply disbelief in god, or do you care to deny his existance? If you try to deny the existance of god, it puts you in a position of a believer (paradoxaly enough), whether if you simply disbelief in it (passive atheism), it doesn't. To the Deist - there are number of East Asian religions which do not worship gods, simply dictate a philosophy of way of life, and is regarded to be a religion all together. As a matter of fact - atheism is not disbelief in the supernatural, it is the disbelief in god(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraphina Posted December 14, 2004 #23 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Sera, the question is - do you simply disbelief in god, or do you care to deny his existance? Surely not believing in something IS denying its existance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erikl Posted December 14, 2004 #24 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Surely not believing in something IS denying its existance? huh.gif Not neccassarily... if you simply don't believe in god, you don't care whether or not he\she exists, and you do not presume to know if he\she exists, then you are disbelieve in God, but you don't care to deny him. That is called passive atheism. Active, or agressive atheism, is that you strongly believe that there is not god, you deny his existance and claim to have proof that he doesn't exist. This is atheism as well, though I would have called it "religious atheism", because it is based of belief in something which cannot be proven, just like there is no real proof that there is a god. This religious\active\agressive atheism is part of Communism, btw, which is one of the (many) reasons for why Communism could be considered a religion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverCougar Posted December 14, 2004 #25 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Sera, the question is - do you simply disbelief in god, or do you care to deny his existance? Surely not believing in something IS denying its existance? 403351[/snapback] That's what I thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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