Is atheism a religion - or, if not, should atheism be called a "religion" in order to achieve some political and legal parity with belief systems like Christianity? Personally, I think that such a position is just nonsense -- not even theism alone can qualify as a "religion" under even the broadest definitions. How, then, can mere atheism be considered a religion?
I and every atheist with whom I have discussed this issue oppose [Michael] Newdow's position that atheism is or should be treated as a religion. I understand his motivation; basically that atheists receive the same protection, favor--and money--that religious denominations are now or will be receiving from the government. There are times when it is prudent to "beat them at their own game", but I don't think this is one of them. The legal and ideological price is too high.
By claiming atheism to be a religion, not only is Newdow setting back centuries of freethought, he is purporting to speak for millions of atheists who in no way regard themselves as being part of a religion. Lastly, atheism by definition indicates lack of belief in a god--not the organized lack of belief in a god.
The truth is that atheism lacks every one of the basic characteristics of religion. At most, atheism doesn't explicitly exclude most of them, but the same can be said for almost anything. Thus, it's not possible to call atheism a religion. It can be part of a religion, but it can't be a religion by itself. They are completely different categories: atheism is the absence of one particular belief while religion is a complex web of traditions and beliefs. They aren't even remotely comparable.
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Atheism is not a religion because it does not believe in a higher power. On the contrary it rejects a higher power.
“It” cannot believe or reject anything – atheism is simply a label that can apply to people who either do not believe in gods or deny them completely.
I was really amused by the forum member’s statement about atheists lacking the belief in god and not “the organized lack of belief”. This is so true, and it is extremely important to what atheism is.
One could also say that theism does not have a specific organization. There are a constellations of beliefs and religions that congeal around theism, but even then, you don’t need a religion to be a theist. You can believe in a god or gods without thinking that there are specific practices or beliefs. Your god may be a distant first mover who started the whole universe and withdrew.
I have come across atheists that form a large spectrum of beliefs – politically, socially, philosophically – and have come to their lack of belief in different ways. Besides this lack of belief, I would not want to define any other attribute. The core of my own lack of belief is based on critical thinking and forming a coherent belief system. But not all atheists even care about that kind of thing.
If someone wants to get grant money or benefits from govt, they can form some kind of non-profit based around whatever beliefs (atheism could be a part of this but I don’t think should be a core) and get their tax-exempt status.
Look for the meaning of the phrase “cult of personality.” Stalin was treated as if he were a living God. At various ceremonies he was called our leader and teacher, the genius of mankind, etc. His pronouncements were sacred to us. No one dared to criticize him.
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Ludwik Kowalski, the author of “Diary of a Former Communist: Thoughts, Feelings, Reality,” at
http://csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/life/intro.html
It is an on-line autobiography illustrating my slow evolution from one extreme to another–from a devoted Stalinist to an active anti-communist. This testimony is based on a diary I kept between 1946 and 2004 (in the USSR, Poland, France and the USA).
If we call atheism a religion then our definition of religion would become so watered down it wouldn’t mean anything.
The label atheist or atheism just refers to what someone is not. Calling atheism a religion would be like saying your religion is non-buddhism or not-jewish.
After all, theism is not itself a religion. I’ve never heard that one before! It’s brilliant! Thank you!
You know what? If the dogged pursuit to chip away at the wall between church and state continues successfully, maybe we SHOULD advertise atheism as a religion. That way, we can have the right inject our “religion” in public offices, classrooms, etc.