Blogsnark: Is Atheism America's Established Religion?
Kerwin Brown writes:
Since the governments of the United State could not pass laws that aided all religions it follows that they must support no religion which was the legal definition of atheism.
The concept “no religion” isn’t any definition of atheism, much less a legal definition of atheism. What’s really amusing about this is that Kerwin Brown is trying to argue that atheism is an established religion in America, but his first premise is that the absence of any preferred religion is legal atheism. How can the absence of a religion be a religion? It can’t — as I said, these arguments are incoherent and contradictory.
Atheism isn’t a religion in any sense of the word, legal or otherwise. Atheism also isn’t the absence of religion. Atheism is the absence of belief in gods. This can occur in the context of a religion or not. Christians like Kerwin Brown need it to be the absence of religion, though, so that they can claim that absence of religious privilege in American law is itself a religion. It’s an argument that constructed to reach a pre-determined conclusion and that’s one reason why arguments like this are such abysmal failures.
The Constitution states now and did then that Jesus is Lord of the United States because he was the Lord of the writers of the Constitution and of all they did.
This is simply pathetic. The Constitution used the standard dating method of the time, which was “in the year of our Lord,” and some Christians treat this as an expression of favoritism towards Christianity. It’s a sign of incredible desperation for them to grasp at this straw and indicative of their realization that there is no legal provision in the Constitution which supports their political beliefs.
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Comments
I find this all very amusing . First, religion is a set of beliefs or belief. Religions fundementaly regard our existance as a product of a higher iteligience by design. Atheism on the other hand is a “belief” that there is no god. Its a belief because atheist can not prove that there is no god!!
Atheism is contextually oriented in a belief system. For example when people state I am a Doctor, I am a lawyer, I am a atheist..NO
I am a woman, I am a man, I am a atheist.. NO
I am a Christian, I believe in Judaism , I’m a Atheist.. YES
So like it or not Atheism resides in the context of religion as it is a belief.
No, religions are particular sorts of ideologies.
Some do, some don’t.
Incorrect. Atheism is simply the absence of belief in gods.
I’m curious about how you managed to make the jump from “atheism is a belief” to “atheism is a belief system.” Where did the system come from? Anyway, since atheism isn’t even a single belief, it certainly isn’t a belief ssytem.
I recommend Atheism 101 to learn the basics of what atheism is and is not.
I’m always amused by those that insist Atheism be a religion.
It makes me think of the jokes:
Atheism is a Religion like Bald is a hair color.
Atheism is a Religion like Health is a disease.
In the end, why does it matter so to those who insist? While I dislike the tag, Atheist, it serves as a a bit of shorthand response to some up my own lack of belief. I do not believe in god(s). I do not believe that there is no god. Personally I weigh in the possibilities vs. the probabilities. There I find the probability that god(s) exist so minute that it’s hardly worth entertaining as any fact. I do not believe in god(s) and live my life as if there are none. I’m quite content.
Wouldn’t it be nice if theists could agree on common definitions of what THEY believe, before they went around erroneously defining what others do or do not believe?
Karl,
How many gods do you not believe in? Is there a religion for each god not believed in? Are you an aodinist? Or do you simply not a believer in Odin?
If you are a Christian, you believe in only one deity more than we do.
I have never, previously, seen such childish intellectually lacking convoluted reasoning. No wonder the writer is a believer.
I spent quite a few years in the Middle East sixty plus years ago. I never saw one convincing reason to believe in Islam nor any other belief systems. Atheism as a tag just describes that I have a total lack of belief. It doesn’t require me to attend meetings where I can mumble to nothing, as most of the religions do, nor does it require me to follow any set ritualistic mumbo jumbo. Nor does it require me to denigrate people who, to my mind, misguidedly do all those things,
plus a few other obnoxious acts.
How can you have a belief system about not having a belief system? Especially when there are no rules.
tomedgar@halenet.com.au