Would you consider atheism to be a religious belief?

[Anonymous]

I do, for the same reason that "single" is a relationship status.

Yes

No

[Cozybcuz]

That question is to vauge to be answered directly, I'd say that it's religious in the sense that it's a theory about religious ideas. It could also be considered religious in the sense that it could almost be based of faith of the atheist believes to know that there is no God. Although if he Is of the opinion that there is no sensible reason to belive in God then it's a whole other thing. Either both the positive and negative belife in the divine is equally stupid.

[AndrésC64]

No. It is not in any way shape or form a theory. Nor is it a religious belief anymore than not collecting stamps is a hobby. Nor do the vast majority of atheists claim to know that there is no god. And finally, there is no sensible reason to relieve In god.

[NamerOfStars]

It's a belief about religious matters, taken on faith, with evidence, but no proof. How would it NOT count? I could see making an argument for *agnosticism* not counting, since that's a LACK of belief, but not atheism, which is a belief in a lack.

[CountessSarah]

Not accurate.
Atheism/theism is whether you accept a god claim or not, agnosticism/gnosticism is whether you think that a position of certainty is knowable or not - they are /not/ mutually exclusive positions and they don't deal with the same aspect of belief or lack thereof.

[NamerOfStars]

@CountessSarah "Agnostic" is the prefix "A" (meaning "away from" or "against"), derived from the Latin "ab", which served the same function, mixed with "gnostic", meaning "related to knowledge"- so on the surface, you'd be correct. However, we live in a world where CONTEXT exists. The word "agnostic" didn't even EXIST until 1869, when Thomas Huxley, sick of being called an atheist, coined the word. While it can, and indeed is, used informally to refer to a GENERAL lack of certainty being applied to a belief, it properly only refers to a religious position- and again, CONTEXT. In a discussion of religion, it's downright pedantic to assume I'm using it in a general sense when my words make it clear I'm not. So no, I'm not inaccurate.

A/theism isn't about accepting the claims of others, but making one yourself. Agnosticism is, too; claiming that you don't know something is still making a claim. And since it's claiming a belief, it's EXACTLY the same aspect, simply with a different form of reasoning.

[CountessSarah]

Suit yourself, be wrong.

[NamerOfStars]

@CountessSarah I'd have to be wrong for that, so I can't. Dictionaries are your friends- so is critical thinking.

[NotTacocaT6969]

The opposite of religion being considered a religion would be a paradox.


It can’t be and not be at the same time. It either is or isn’t.


In this case, it isn’t.

[Agape93]

Nope. A lack of religious belief cannot be a religious belief

[Anonymous]

It makes no sense to describe it as a belief because by definition it is the lack of belief, a word like 'position' would be far better; as it achieves your stated goal without the problems which come with the word 'belief'.

This problem is born out of the common practice of asking someone 'what their beliefs are', a better way of asking the same thing without the pitfalls would be 'what is your position on religion / religious belief?'

[jshm2]

Empirically, it is a simple belief and a faith based position.

Personally though, there are no such things as atheists. Just theists living in denial, or petulant cunts refusing to grow up, but still trying to get back at their betters.

[AndrésC64]

Is the rejection of claims that people make about the existence of gods.

Oh boy. Another Christian that thinks he's a mind reader. 🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️🤦🏼‍♂️ Please tell me the winning Powerball numbers and what I'm thinking now.

Betters?

[CountessSarah]

No. A religion requires a deity or at least some flavour of supernatural belief. Atheism has neither.

[sawno]

It is a religious belief that tells them to stay true to what can be physically observed by science.

[genericname85]

obviously no. you can follow anything "religiously" bt atheism is not a religion. calling atheism a religion makes a joke of actual religions.

[strateguy632]

not exactly but they pressure people and manipulate like a cult.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

No. Religious beliefs has to involve a diety and religious rituals typically like prayer and worship service with atheist don't participate in.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

*which

[OfDeath]

No. Atheism is a disbelief. Not a belief. It also isn't a religion. It's a religious belief like not collecting stamps is a hobby.

[rabbitzzz]

If you are holding 0 apples in your hand. Are you holding something?

[Anonymous]

Do you also believe that not collecting stamps is a hobby and off is a TV channel?

[AndrésC64]

Atheism is not a religious belief. It is a rejection of religious beliefs.

[Anonymous]

No. Atheism isn't a religion. it's a disbelief. That's all it is.

[CateM]

Atheism is a lack thereof

[Anonymous]

It is an anti-religious belief.

[Adam1978]

Not necessarily that why you can't claim it to be a religion. Because there isn't anything in common between atheists beyond that they don't align with a religion. They can still have their own world view that won't match other atheists. So you can't group them together and call them a religious group.