Why Atheism is NOT a religion (believe, Christ, atheist, agnostics)

[rifleman]

I'd love to hear the pros and cons on this one. A lot of rather pessimistic Christians have asserted that, in fact, atheists do cling to some sort of structured belief in their non-belief. That they have a rule-book much as Christians do, and are limited and anchored by those.

While Christians certainly DO have a set of rules (that differ widely by sect & denomination), do they see anything similar in the atheist's belief that there are no supernatural beings to bow down to? How would you structure nothingness?

I also feel that the absence of any such rigid rules allows a completely open approach to understanding all of life's questions, rather than defaulting to a Godly answer when the questions seem to complex.

We atheists are not seen to be banding together and, for example, having car washes to support, well, anything. We tend to be well represented in the sciences, engineering and the technical careers, but I have not seen any good demographic breakdowns.

But I"m confident there will be some unique perspectives presented here.

[JetJockey]

Wasn't it Dawkins who said 'Organizing Atheists is like herding cats'?

That sounds about right

[kdbrich]

I'd say it is a life philosophy, or a worldview.

Most atheists/agnostics I've spoken to at some point made a conscious decision to not believe--or had a moment where they decided it for themselves.

It's a belief system.

[MontanaGuy]

kdbrich wrote:

Most atheists/agnostics I've spoken to at some point made a conscious decision to not believe--or had a moment where they decided it for themselves.

For myself I can say that I simply realized that the claims that religion makes are not realistic or believable. I didn't make a decision not to believe.

[Visvaldis]

rifleman,
Your explanation is short and to the point, but a waste on christians.
Christians live in boxes, do their "thinking" in boxes, and cannot comprehend anything that isn't in a box. For them it's inconceivable that anyone cannot have a belief system. Any explanation about atheism goes in one ear, passes thru the air, and out the other ear.

[sanspeur]

I wouldn't say that it is wasted on all Christians.....Just some of them.

[cncracer]

I do meet with several organized Atheist groups, and belong to several national groups. I think it is the only way to gain an equal footing in our system with the religious right pushing their political version of god into our government. This is less a religious group than a political action committee. The social groups are also far from being religious groups; they go to movies, out to dinner parties, lectures on Darwin and evolution, opera, family outings, and private parties for families and children to play in the safety of like mined people. It is just a good environment to talk with free thinking people and not hold back on issues we see as important, which in a religious environment would cause too much stress.
I also have it good at work. In my field the non religious are the norm rather than the exception. I know of a few Christians in the office, and I know a few in my social life, but in truth try to avoid most Christians. We (non religious groups) do talk about the religious at times, but it is more talk about control issues or discrimination problems related to living in the south and being non religious. The Irish problem has been a big topic this month as most of us have children, and we can not understand an organization being able to do what the RCC has done and seems to be getting away with it.
In general we are nothing like a religion; I think more like a country club that is open all day on Sunday and eat with out saying a blessing..

[scarmig]

Atheism is a religion in the same way that "bald" is a hairstyle.

[kdbrich]

Originally Posted by Visvaldis

rifleman,
Your explanation is short and to the point, but a waste on christians.
Christians live in boxes, do their "thinking" in boxes, and cannot comprehend anything that isn't in a box. For them it's inconceivable that anyone cannot have a belief system. Any explanation about atheism goes in one ear, passes thru the air, and out the other ear.

Pretty wide brush you're using there.

[sanspeur]

Originally Posted by kdbrich

I'd say it is a life philosophy, or a worldview.

Most atheists/agnostics I've spoken to at some point made a conscious decision to not believe--or had a moment where they decided it for themselves.

It's a belief system.

So please tell us kdbrich, what is the atheist life philosophy? What is it that you think we believe in?