Atheism Is Not A Religion!!!

[Carla_Danger]

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]

What's amusing and telling is that theists seek to propagate the lie that 'atheism' is 'religion' in an attempt to portray those free from faith to be as irrational as theists.

I agree. They want to classify atheism as a religion so they can bring it down to their level of witchcraft and wizardry.

 

[PratchettFan]

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]

What's amusing and telling is that theists seek to propagate the lie that 'atheism' is 'religion' in an attempt to portray those free from faith to be as irrational as theists.

I agree. They want to classify atheism as a religion so they can bring it down to their level of witchcraft and wizardry.

Or, you wish to classify it as not a religion so you can pretend you're at a higher level. I'd say there is enough lies on both sides to go around.

 

[Carla_Danger]

Atheism is Religion according to the 1961 Torcaso v. Watkins case that was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court--the highest court in the land--where court rulings become national law. As recently as 2005, the Wisconsin Federal Court ruling on the matter of Kaufman v. McCaughtry again ruled that Atheism is Religion. In spite of the many court rulings along that line, members of the Religion of Atheism insist they are not religious. They attempt to take the higher ground by insisting that Christians are mental midgets for being religious and for believing in a "non-existent sky gawd."

That's incorrect. The Courts have never defined atheism as a religion, in fact, they have specifically acknowledged it as a non-religion. They have said that for the purpose of the First Amendment, atheism is equivalent to religion, So that the atheist can be afforded equal protection with religions under the 1st Amendment. That's all it means.

i don't agree with the courts decision but it is not mine...

You don't agree that an atheist should have equal protection?

Of their religion?

Freedom from...

You already have that protection...no one if forcing a religion upon you as is the case for the atheist I know..

They weren't allowing that protection in the 1961 case you listed, until it went before the Supreme Court.

 

[Carla_Danger]

May not meet the textbook definition, but the way many atheists identify themselves demanding respect for their non-belief makes it seem like a religion. Way atheist activists assert their rights in the legal arena sure makes it seem like a religion. And when the UN Declaration of Human Rights includes non-belief as a 'freedom of religion' human right, it suuuuuure seems like religion to me.

Well, it's not a religion by any definition. It is the exact opposite.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I never understood why so many atheists get so upset about something they don't believe in.

I don't think there is a god but I fall into the more agnostic camp where I think we just don't know if there is a supreme being or race of beings out there and even if there are we still may never understand them.

That said IDGAF if someone says the word god or that some people pray at public meetings or in a school as long as it's not forced on anyone.

 

[Pogo]

I never understood why so many atheists get so upset about something they don't believe in.

I don't think there is a god but I fall into the more agnostic camp where I think we just don't know if there is a supreme being or race of beings out there and even if there are we still may never understand them.

That said IDGAF if someone says the word god or that some people pray at public meetings or in a school as long as it's not forced on anyone.

Perhaps the answer lieth in the last phrase.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I never understood why so many atheists get so upset about something they don't believe in.

I don't think there is a god but I fall into the more agnostic camp where I think we just don't know if there is a supreme being or race of beings out there and even if there are we still may never understand them.

That said IDGAF if someone says the word god or that some people pray at public meetings or in a school as long as it's not forced on anyone.

Perhaps the answer lieth in the last phrase.

Tell me how in god we trust on our currency is forcing someone to participate in a religion or worship said god.

BTW it does neither but for some reason atheists who say they do not believe in said god get their panties in a wad over it.

So I'll ask again, how can one be offended by something in which they do not believe?

It's like being offended by Bugs Bunny

 

[Pogo]

May not meet the textbook definition, but the way many atheists identify themselves demanding respect for their non-belief makes it seem like a religion. Way atheist activists assert their rights in the legal arena sure makes it seem like a religion. And when the UN Declaration of Human Rights includes non-belief as a 'freedom of religion' human right, it suuuuuure seems like religion to me.

Ah, but religion has nothing to do with "what rights you have".

Any despised group or class of any level (blacks, gays, immigrants, women) will make noises for their rights. Doesn't make being black or female a "religion". You have correlation without causation.

 

[Pogo]

I never understood why so many atheists get so upset about something they don't believe in.

I don't think there is a god but I fall into the more agnostic camp where I think we just don't know if there is a supreme being or race of beings out there and even if there are we still may never understand them.

That said IDGAF if someone says the word god or that some people pray at public meetings or in a school as long as it's not forced on anyone.

Perhaps the answer lieth in the last phrase.

Tell me how in god we trust on our currency is forcing someone to participate in a religion or worship said god.

BTW it does neither but for some reason atheists who say they do not believe in said god get their panties in a wad over it.

So I'll ask again, how can one be offended by something in which they do not believe?

It's like being offended by Bugs Bunny

Strawman. I made no reference to money.

I suppose if Bugs Bunny (specifically) were rammed down my throat every time some public meeting took place, every time the seventh inning of a big baseball game came up, on all my money, in the Pledge of Allegiance, bellowed from street corners by bullhorn-wielding preachers, hawked by anonymous other accosters, invoked in every oath in the legal system, screamed from the top of her natural ampitheater by my wacko neighbor, hammered into every wedding and funeral and most of all woven into the social mores of my culture 24/7 as a psychological-warfare guilt tool, that would get a bit tiring -- particularly if my country had been founded on the basis of freedom of choice in cartoon characters.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[Pogo]

Atheism is Religion according to the 1961 Torcaso v. Watkins case that was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court--the highest court in the land--where court rulings become national law. As recently as 2005, the Wisconsin Federal Court ruling on the matter of Kaufman v. McCaughtry again ruled that Atheism is Religion. In spite of the many court rulings along that line, members of the Religion of Atheism insist they are not religious. They attempt to take the higher ground by insisting that Christians are mental midgets for being religious and for believing in a "non-existent sky gawd."

That's incorrect. The Courts have never defined atheism as a religion, in fact, they have specifically acknowledged it as a non-religion. They have said that for the purpose of the First Amendment, atheism is equivalent to religion, So that the atheist can be afforded equal protection with religions under the 1st Amendment. That's all it means.

i don't agree with the courts decision but it is not mine...

You don't agree that an atheist should have equal protection?

Of their religion?

Freedom from...

You already have that protection...no one if forcing a religion upon you as is the case for the atheist I know..

Not by law at least

 

[Pogo]

Atheism is Religion according to the 1961 Torcaso v. Watkins case that was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court--the highest court in the land--where court rulings become national law. As recently as 2005, the Wisconsin Federal Court ruling on the matter of Kaufman v. McCaughtry again ruled that Atheism is Religion.

Dred Scott called. No message, he just laughed.

 

[PratchettFan]

I never understood why so many atheists get so upset about something they don't believe in.

I don't think there is a god but I fall into the more agnostic camp where I think we just don't know if there is a supreme being or race of beings out there and even if there are we still may never understand them.

That said IDGAF if someone says the word god or that some people pray at public meetings or in a school as long as it's not forced on anyone.

I agree. I am not a Christian and it doesn't bother me if someone mentions Jesus around me. I don't care if there is a cross in a park or the ten commandments in a public building. I don't have to believe it and I don't have to participate. Any adult who thinks they are being forced just because they are being exposed really needs to grow a spine.

The only situation I can think of in which it would be force is in a public school classroom, and then only if an official of the school were doing it. A child can't get up and walk away and is under the influence of the adults.

There is no such thing as freedom from religion. The only way you can have that is by removing the freedom of religion.

 

[asaratis]

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]

Atheist churches already exist. You can become an ordained minister...with no credentials at all.

I don't have faith that there is no God. I cannot be 100% sure of what happens when we die.. As a matter of fact, I miss the comfort I got out of religion back when I was a believer. I just don't see any evidence that there is a God, so I don't live my life as if a God exists. (that's lack of faith)

What you suffer from is the misconception that absence of evidence is evidence of absence. The fact that there is no tangible evidence that God exists does not prove that God does not exist. Not realizing this causes many college aged children to abandon belief in God in favor of being "enlightened" as some of their atheist preachers proclaim.

I realize that is a big cud for you to chew, but you need to ponder it...and then believe it.

My next post will be quite wordy. I do hope you have the good sense to read it entirely, explore some or all of the links and digest the logic within before spitting back.

 

[Moonglow]

Atheism is Religion according to the 1961 Torcaso v. Watkins case that was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court--the highest court in the land--where court rulings become national law. As recently as 2005, the Wisconsin Federal Court ruling on the matter of Kaufman v. McCaughtry again ruled that Atheism is Religion. In spite of the many court rulings along that line, members of the Religion of Atheism insist they are not religious. They attempt to take the higher ground by insisting that Christians are mental midgets for being religious and for believing in a "non-existent sky gawd."

That's incorrect. The Courts have never defined atheism as a religion, in fact, they have specifically acknowledged it as a non-religion. They have said that for the purpose of the First Amendment, atheism is equivalent to religion, So that the atheist can be afforded equal protection with religions under the 1st Amendment. That's all it means.

i don't agree with the courts decision but it is not mine...

You don't agree that an atheist should have equal protection?

Of their religion?

Freedom from...

You already have that protection...no one if forcing a religion upon you as is the case for the atheist I know..

They weren't allowing that protection in the 1961 case you listed, until it went before the Supreme Court.

Atheism is a belief that there are no Gods...and to the courts it is considered a religion since:

First, they have a functioning God under whom they are subservient (normally it’s science or rationality, but mainly themselves), and that idea of God informs the way they live and interpret their lives. It informs their biases and determines their values, and governs any sense of morality or ethics they adhere too, or ignore.

Atheism is a religion too Fox News

 

[Pogo]

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]

Atheist churches already exist. You can become an ordained minister...with no credentials at all.

There would be an easy gig.
"Things to do today -- nothing in particular"


Unfortunately it still ignores the same question tossed to you in the previous thread, and that is....

What would be the point?

Without an answer, that question kind of shoots the whole idea of "preaching" nothing absurd.

 

[asaratis]

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]

Atheist churches already exist. You can become an ordained minister...with no credentials at all.

There would be an easy gig.
"Things to do today -- nothing in particular"


Unfortunately it still ignores the same question tossed to you in the previous thread, and that is....

What would be the point?

Without an answer, that question kind of shoots the whole idea of "preaching" nothing absurd.

Patience, my impetuous child! I will get to the point in due time.

 

[Carla_Danger]

I never understood why so many atheists get so upset about something they don't believe in.

I don't think there is a god but I fall into the more agnostic camp where I think we just don't know if there is a supreme being or race of beings out there and even if there are we still may never understand them.

That said IDGAF if someone says the word god or that some people pray at public meetings or in a school as long as it's not forced on anyone.

Perhaps the answer lieth in the last phrase.

Tell me how in god we trust on our currency is forcing someone to participate in a religion or worship said god.

BTW it does neither but for some reason atheists who say they do not believe in said god get their panties in a wad over it.

So I'll ask again, how can one be offended by something in which they do not believe?

It's like being offended by Bugs Bunny

Strawman. I made no reference to money.

I suppose if Bugs Bunny (specifically) were rammed down my throat every time some public meeting took place, every time the seventh inning of a big baseball game came up, on all my money, in the Pledge of Allegiance, bellowed from street corners by bullhorn-wielding preachers, hawked by anonymous other accosters, invoked in every oath in the legal system, screamed from the top of her natural ampitheater by my wacko neighbor, hammered into every wedding and funeral and most of all woven into the social mores of my culture 24/7 as a psychological-warfare guilt tool, that would get a bit tiring -- particularly if my country had been founded on the basis of freedom of choice in cartoon characters.

Your mileage may vary.

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]

Atheist churches already exist. You can become an ordained minister...with no credentials at all.

I don't have faith that there is no God. I cannot be 100% sure of what happens when we die.. As a matter of fact, I miss the comfort I got out of religion back when I was a believer. I just don't see any evidence that there is a God, so I don't live my life as if a God exists. (that's lack of faith)

What you suffer from is the misconception that absence of evidence is evidence of absence. The fact that there is no tangible evidence that God exists does not prove that God does not exist. Not realizing this causes many college aged children to abandon belief in God in favor of being "enlightened" as some of their atheist preachers proclaim.

I realize that is a big cud for you to chew, but you need to ponder it...and then believe it.

My next post will be quite wordy. I do hope you have the good sense to read it entirely, explore some or all of the links and digest the logic within before spitting back.

I've already stated in this thread that I have no proof one way or another. I reject the literal interpretation of the Bible.

 

[Pogo]

If you go on the internet and tell people there's no God, and they're stupid if they think there is, you're acting just like a religious person who says there is a God, and you'll go to hell if you don't believe it.

Quite true. And if one is acting like a religious person then one is treating Atheism as a religion. Religion is about how people act and interact. Saying Atheism is not a religion by definition is ignoring the people, and people is all there is.

People here have stated categorically there is no God - faith.

Who said that?

The question is relative. See post 33. Far as I know there are no atheists here in the strict (#7) sense....

People here have stated everyone needs to stop believing in God - proselytizing.

Again, who? Where is this?

People here have stated an Atheist has no beliefs right after saying there is no God, just because that is the definition of an Atheist - dogma.

How is that not religion?

Atheism doesn't mean "no beliefs". Obviously everyone has beliefs. Atheism is simply the antithesis of theism -- taking the theory of theism and judging it to be inoperative. It isn't a "belief" in itself at all; rather it's the rejection of one particular belief.

I don't like raisins -- that doesn't mean I "believe in not-raisins" or in stamping raisins out for everyone else. It simply means I turn them down as a personal choice. It means that among the things I believe in, eating raisins is not one of them. Not that complex. Now again, if everybody around me were eating raisins at every turn and disparaging me for not eating them, well that might get a bit tiring. And it certainly wouldn't incite me to change my mind on raisins.

Seems to me the bottom line here is not a legal matter but simple respect for one's choice -- and freedom thereof.

 

[Carla_Danger]

Atheism is Religion according to the 1961 Torcaso v. Watkins case that was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court--the highest court in the land--where court rulings become national law. As recently as 2005, the Wisconsin Federal Court ruling on the matter of Kaufman v. McCaughtry again ruled that Atheism is Religion. In spite of the many court rulings along that line, members of the Religion of Atheism insist they are not religious. They attempt to take the higher ground by insisting that Christians are mental midgets for being religious and for believing in a "non-existent sky gawd."

That's incorrect. The Courts have never defined atheism as a religion, in fact, they have specifically acknowledged it as a non-religion. They have said that for the purpose of the First Amendment, atheism is equivalent to religion, So that the atheist can be afforded equal protection with religions under the 1st Amendment. That's all it means.

i don't agree with the courts decision but it is not mine...

You don't agree that an atheist should have equal protection?

Of their religion?

Freedom from...

You already have that protection...no one if forcing a religion upon you as is the case for the atheist I know..

They weren't allowing that protection in the 1961 case you listed, until it went before the Supreme Court.

Atheism is a belief that there are no Gods...and to the courts it is considered a religion since:

First, they have a functioning God under whom they are subservient (normally it’s science or rationality, but mainly themselves), and that idea of God informs the way they live and interpret their lives. It informs their biases and determines their values, and governs any sense of morality or ethics they adhere too, or ignore.

Atheism is a religion too Fox News

That's a Fox News opinion piece.

 

[turzovka]

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]

So who cares anyway? All you are doing is arguing semantics.
Atheism may not be a religion but it is a belief. And on that belief many atheists order their lives. They surely do not stop from sexual sinning because they are worried about the punishments that may present themselves after they die. Ditto for many other sins.

Now of course, you would not call them “sins,” so let us just refer to them as morally unacceptable practices in the eyes of many. (more semantics)

And of course, atheists can be the most upstanding citizens and charitable souls, err, bodies. So I cannot deny that reality. Little do they know it, but their acts of charity, kindness and altruism is the best defense they will have when they meet their Creator after their earthly lives. (fyi)

One thing that does ring hollow with me (to say the least) is some atheists on these boards and elsewhere who make the claim that “their people” are more generous and charitable and caring than Christians in general because the atheist knows this is the only life they have so they need to make the most of it. While Christians are all giddy about heaven to come they don’t hardly care or pay attention to what trials or suffering is going on with others in this world. That is, of course, asinine to the extreme.