atheism is itself a religion – by definition – since it is “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.”
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This definition, it is not right. To follow it means that Murphy's Law, Occum's Razor and gambling are all religions.
Further, we already have a definition of atheism, so we don't need to stretch another definition to fit our personal prejudices. It would be like my looking up the definition for con job and saying, "Hey, that sounds like most religions..."
Swing and a miss
As the above mentioned, atheism is a religion just like baldness is a TV position.
Except that atheism entails no beliefs about the cause, nature, or purpose of the universe. There's no official atheist stance on the cause and nature of the universe other than trusting what scientists come up with, and there is absolutely no belief in a purpose of the universe. It just is.
But if atheism is a religion, then I declare my house a shrine and demand a tax exemption. Plus I want it retroactive for all the years I've been an atheist, so the government owes me some money.
Jason Lisle: "Atheism is itself a religion by definition since it is “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.”"
Atheist: "Uhm..no! Atheism is just *not believing in* any deities!"
Jason Lisle (smugly): "That's what I said! As my esteemed colleague Ray Comfort has pointed out: it's the *religious belief* that Nothing Made Everything!"
Atheist: (tries to grasp the level of stupidity in the previous statement)
And what beliefs would those be?
What don't you understand by "we don't buy your bullshit" buddy? That's it. No beliefs are required.
Besides, if we're a religion, I want my tax exempt status.
Here are some common traits of religion. If anyone objects to my definition, tell me why.
1. Prayer of some sort
Christianity meets all of these. Atheism meets none.
@goomy: strong atheism is one belief, technically; that there are no gods. granted, any particular strong atheist likely believes a bunch of other things too, if only to support and explain that one key point, but none of those other beliefs are formally required.
(me? i believe that (1) any entity worthy of being called a "god" would have to be at a minimum supernatural in some sense --- that entities which follow and are constrained by comprehensible, objective laws of nature can't and shouldn't qualify for the title; and (2, this is the big one) the concept of "supernatural" is not internally consistent, it can't make sense or correspond to any objectively real phenomenon in a comprehensible universe. ergo, i believe that there are no deities because there cannot be any. but that's just me, i'm just one person.)
a set of beliefs
No, just one: that theists are full of it when they say God definitely exists.
concerning the cause
Nope, that's science.
nature
Nope, science again.
and purpose of the universe.
No, that's philosophy.
So much for being a religion "by definition". It fails every single criterion you listed.
@Big Jilm
Besides, if we're a religion, I want my tax exempt status.
AND we should get back taxes for all the time the government has discriminated against our "religion". I don't care if it's one lump sum or done in installments.
> “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe.”
(1) That's the definition of a worldview.
(2) Atheism meets none of those, just like theism doesn't.
At most, it's a category of worldviews.
I'll just fill in what I'm sure he accidentally forgot to include: "especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."
What, pray tell, are the rites observed by atheists and what beliefs do we SHARE regarding the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe other than the fact that we do not believe it was created by a Supreme Being?
The answer is none.
Jason likes to put 10 pounds of shit into 5 pound bags that have zero mass, no color, and exist solely in the imaginations of those who believe such things can exist. To everyone else, it just looks like a pile of shit, but Jason insists it's in a bag.
Some people are willing to believe him, and doubt their own senses. Jason has this book that says there's a bag. The book paints elaborate pictures of the bag to fuel the imagining of the bag.
Jason thinks all arguments to the contrary are as dogmatic as his belief in the bag. At least, that's what he's trying to portray to those he's told to believe in his bag. The rest of us know it's just crap.
@Jonathon
What, pray tell, are the rites observed by atheists and what beliefs do we SHARE regarding the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe other than the fact that we do not believe it was created by a Supreme Being?
Even THAT isn't agreed upon by all atheists. Raelians, who do not believe in any gods (thus being atheist), believe in supreme aliens that created us. Yes, they are atheist creationists.
@breakerslion
a set of beliefs
Ok, so who's the Pope of atheism? And could one be a heretic within atheism?
Just imagine, we could have wars over what the non-existent God isn't like. Cool.
So even though atheism has no god/gods, no prophets, no saints, no holy books, no commandments, no places of worship, no clergy. In fact none of the trappings of amy religion it's a religion.
No it is not.
I think that "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe" is a bad description of a religion.
A religion involves rituals, prayers, beliefs in the supernatural, a priesthood of some kind, rules regarding the supernatural, etc. Atheism has none of that, so it's not a religion.
Atheism isn't a SET of beliefs, silly, it's just a lack of belief in gods, goddesses and other deities.
Maybe Jason is onto something. As an atheist, I have:
1) Dietary restrictions - lead paint chips are forbidden
@Nomen Nescio:
atheism is "a set of beliefs"? dude, you can't get a hundred randomly picked self-proclaimed atheists to agree on any one thing, including whether or not there's a god. what beliefs?
Well, you could probably get them to agree that Jason is a blithering moron. But then, that's an observable fact.
Pretty sure that would just make it a cosmology, but it isn't even that. Atheism is at best a component in a cosmology, but it isn't really even that, since all it conveys is one thing that the cosmology is not. I don't really consider 'not-blue' to be a major element of an apple.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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