Bill Maher: Atheism is not religion

Originally posted by sonhouse
I say again, you prove my point over and over again. It is theists who put atheism in the same shoe as you. Atheists want nothing to do with you and your kind.

Personally, I am Anti-religion, not particularly atheistic. I think the so-called religions of today are religions of propaganda, snake oil salesmen, and deliverers of death fighting all the othe ...[text shortened]... p such a cruel system. Modern religions are anything BUT religious and more into power politics.

I'm sorry, what does what anyone WANT matter as far as how words are defined?

I'd like a lot of things to be different than what they are, my desires are
meaningless when it comes to changing them. The Atheist are called
Atheist because they have things in common, common views about things.
It really don't matter if those views are positive or negative they are still
views, and they defend them with all the viger any pastor would his beliefs.

Wants don't matter!
Kelly

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Absurd!

Why, if you read how religion is defined how do you think it can be avoided?
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
You can be religious about being Irreligous (if that is the way to say that) is
what I think.
Kelly

So you believe that by being irreligious I become religious?

Originally posted by wolfgang59
So you believe that by being irreligious I become religious?

Irreligious is the opposite of religious by definition. Therefore, atheism is not irreligious because atheism is a belief system which makes it religious by definition.

Originally posted by wolfgang59
So you believe that by being irreligious I become religious?

It is not a matter of what I believe, I quoted you some of the ways that religion
is defined, you should review those and refute them not me.
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
Every Atheist saying the same thing sounds like doctrine to me!

Personally I do not believe every Atheist says the same thing anymore than I
think all Monotheist or Polytheist do either, but they all have beliefs that bind
them. Again, I don't care one way or another on how this dicussion falls out
religion has a defined meaning and fits Atheism.

W ...[text shortened]... values.

Webster:
4
: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Every Atheist saying the same thing sounds like doctrine to me!

The ONLY thing atheists have in common is that they all lack a belief in gods.

This is a singular absence of belief. NOT a belief system.

Personally I do not believe every Atheist says the same thing anymore than I
think all Monotheist or Polytheist do either, but they all have beliefs that bind
them. Again, I don't care one way or another on how this dicussion falls out
religion has a defined meaning and fits Atheism.

No, again there is ONLY ONE ABSENCE of belief that is universal among atheists.

Wikipedia on religion:
Religion is a collection of belief systems, cultural systems, and world views that relate
humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.

Atheism is the absence of belief in gods.
It contains NO BELIEFS let alone a 'collection of belief systems' and there is no universal
atheist culture or cultural systems or world views.

So atheism is absolutely NOT a religion by this definition.

Webster:
4
: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith

Again atheism is an absence of a singular belief, and contains no faith anywhere in it.

So again, atheism is not a religion by this definition.


Atheism is not a religion by any definition.

Atheism is the absence of belief in gods.

There are some people who are religious who's religion does not include a god.

However their religion would be (say) Buddhism... It would not be atheism.

If you are an atheist but a member of a religion that doesn't include a god, then you are
not religious because you are not in a religion.


If you can't grasp this then you are simply declaring yourself stupid and incapable of reasoned argument.

Bill Maher had it right in his video.

You don't get to declare atheism as a religion, because that is just stupid.

Originally posted by googlefudge

Every Atheist saying the same thing sounds like doctrine to me!

The ONLY thing atheists have in common is that they all lack a belief in gods.

This is a singular absence of belief. NOT a belief system.

[quote]Personally I do not believe every Atheist says the same thing anymore than I
think all Monotheist or Polytheist do either, is video.

You don't get to declare atheism as a religion, because that is just stupid.

A rejection of a position is a position, if there were no thought given to the topic
I'd go along with you, but I've been in to many discussions with Atheist who
declare God isn't real, but a myth, or a man made thing.
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
A rejection of a position is a position, if there were no thought given to the topic
I'd go along with you, but I've been in to many discussions with Atheist who
declare God isn't real, but a myth, or a man made thing.
Kelly

I reject the existance of Bugs Bunny. Does this position make me religious?

Originally posted by vivify
I reject the existance of Bugs Bunny. Does this position make me religious?

Read how the word is defined.
Kelly

Originally posted by KellyJay
Read how the word is defined.
Kelly

Answer the question. Is rejection of Bugs Bunny's existence a religous position? You seem a little scared to give a direct answer.

Originally posted by KellyJay
A rejection of a position is a position, if there were no thought given to the topic
I'd go along with you, but I've been in to many discussions with Atheist who
declare God isn't real, but a myth, or a man made thing.
Kelly

But they're not all like me, Kelly...

Originally posted by vivify
Answer the question. Is rejection of Bugs Bunny's existence a religous position? You seem a little scared to give a direct answer.

From Wikipedia:

Religion is a collection of belief systems, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.

We all know that Bugs Bunny exists, but to reject Bugs Bunny's existence does not seem to be a belief that would fall into the above definition. So I think the answer is no.

Atheism is defined by some as the lack of belief in gods or a God. If that was truly the only definition of atheism then atheism would not necessarily be a religion. But if one says there is no gods or a God, then that is expressing a belief system that falls under the wikipedia definition of a religion.

Definition of ATHEISM

1

archaic: ungodliness, wickedness

2

a: a disbelief in the existence of deity (Non-religious definition)

b: the doctrine that there is no deity (This is a religious doctrine)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism

If no claims or denials are made - an atheist is just a person who does not happen to be a theist. Sometimes this broader understanding is called "weak" or "implicit" atheism.

There also exists a narrower sort of atheism, sometimes called "strong" or "explicit" atheism. With this type, the atheist explicitly denies the existence of any gods — making a strong claim which will deserve support at some point. Some atheists do this and others may do this with regards to certain specific gods but not with others. Thus, a person may lack belief in one god, but deny the existence of another god.

http://atheism.about.com/od/definitionofatheism/a/definition.htm

P.S. Therefore, I am a "strong" atheist in denying the existence of all gods, with the exception of the God of the Holy Bible.

I am also a theist because I believe in the existence of the God of the Holy Bible.

I am also a Christian because I believe Jesus the Christ is God manifested in the flesh.

All of these are religious beliefs.

Originally posted by RJHinds
Definition of ATHEISM

1

archaic: ungodliness, wickedness

2

a: a disbelief in the existence of deity [b](Non-religious definition)

b: the doctrine that there is no deity (This is a religious doctrine)

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atheism

If no claims or denials are made - an atheist is just a person who does not ...[text shortened]... esus the Christ is God manifested in the flesh.

All of these are religious beliefs.[/b]

I am a strong atheist, under this definition. But I don't think any of my beliefs qualify as 'religious'. I have some beliefs about the concept 'God' (e.g. It is not instantiated; has sense but no reference, etc.). But I have similar beliefs about all sorts of concepts. So why are some of these putatively religious while others are not? It can't just be that any belief that has religious terms as part of its content counts as religious, since then weak atheists would also qualify as having religious beliefs, contrary to your admission above.

Originally posted by bbarr
I am a strong atheist, under this definition. But I don't think any of my beliefs qualify as 'religious'. I have some beliefs about the concept 'God' (e.g. It is not instantiated; has sense but no reference, etc.). But I have similar beliefs about all sorts of concepts. So why are some of these putatively religious while others are not? It can't just be that a ...[text shortened]... atheists would also qualify as having religious beliefs, contrary to your admission above.

Look at this wikipedia definition and you should be able to understand.

Religion is a collection of belief systems, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.

I think the "strong" atheist, as well as the theist, has a belief system or world view that relates humanity to spirituality and perhaps also to moral values.

P.S. Although a weak atheist may also be religious, it is not necessarily so. If an atheist believes in evolution, he has a world view that relates humanity to spirituality and maybe to moral values.