Atheism as religion---Not! (Buddhism, atheist, agnostic, faith, God)

[faithless]

I am new to this forum, having just found it during a websearch, but I would like to point out to those of you who say you are atheists that the response in the block asking your religion is not "atheist." Atheism is not a religion, it is the very antithesis of religion. The proper response is "none." This may seem like a picky distinction to some of you, but the many theists continually attempt to charge atheism with being "a religion," and answering the question "What religion are you?" with "atheist" merely plays into their idiotic contention. Faithless

[d.]

well, we sure had some debate about that here. welcome to the forums, faithless.

while i agree with what you're saying, i think some people want to put 'atheism' to emphasize that they're not uncertain or agnostic. or perhaps they have other reasons?

[faithless]

That could be the case, I suppose, but I see no screaming need to proclaim oneself "atheist" in the first place. Atheism, as it relates to me, is just the way I view things, and it is a far, far cry from anything remotely resembling religion. As far as I can determine, religious belief is a form of mental illness, affecting people in various degrees...

[finalfrogo]

Originally Posted by faithless

As far as I can determine, religious belief is a form of mental illness, affecting people in various degrees...

Hm I would not fluant that determination around too much here, lol. But welcome

Yes, atheism is not a religion. However, it does not imply that one does not have a religion; Some Buddhists are atheists. It is only a belief that a god does not exist.

[retrorich]

Originally Posted by faithless

I am new to this forum, having just found it during a websearch, but I would like to point out to those of you who say you are atheists that the response in the block asking your religion is not "atheist." Atheism is not a religion, it is the very antithesis of religion. The proper response is "none." This may seem like a picky distinction to some of you, but the many theists continually attempt to charge atheism with being "a religion," and answering the question "What religion are you?" with "atheist" merely plays into their idiotic contention. Faithless

There have been a number of threads on that subject on this board. Atheism is the lack of belief in God, gods and goddesses. Atheism is NOT a religion. I, too, am puzzled as to why so many theists contend that it is.

[michel]

Originally Posted by faithless

That could be the case, I suppose, but I see no screaming need to proclaim oneself "atheist" in the first place. Atheism, as it relates to me, is just the way I view things, and it is a far, far cry from anything remotely resembling religion. As far as I can determine, religious belief is a form of mental illness, affecting people in various degrees...

Hi Faithless,

Welcome to Religious Forums!

You won't have the problem which you mention on this forum! We have plenty of Atheists here, and we have been through the whole palaver of "is Atheism a religion ?", which, of course, it isn't.

I have a mental ilness, and am religious; does that mean I have two mental ilnesses ? (don't worry, It is a long time since words have bothered me).

Hope you like it here, and who knows ? - you might just become insane...............

[faithless]

Yes, atheism is not a religion. However, it does not imply that one does not have a religion; Some Buddhists are atheists. It is only a belief that a god does not exist. I would just point out that Buddhism is not a religion, but a philosophy, even though many practitioners insist upon deifying Buddha. Nevertheless, I suppose it possible to be "religious" and still be an atheist, although I am puzzled as to how one practices a religion and maintains a lack of belief in a deity or deities. To each his own. As to my remark regarding mental illness and religion, that was made (more or less) tongue in cheek, and I am gratified that no one took offense. It never ceases to amaze me, though, how intelligent people can use their intellect to get through life by demanding evidence in everyday life, but when it comes to their religious faith, they take it with no evidence, and essentially turn off their brains and "believe." As I said, to each his own.

[faithless]

On my previous post, the first sentence was meant to be a quote from another reply to my other posting. I haven't figured out yet how to set these things aside from my own text.

[faithless]

Someone please clue this old man in to the points, avatar, Frubals, and all that nonsense, including member ratings and the like.