Fairly straightforward, but to expand on why I ask, it's this; I constantly hear theists make the claim that atheism IS a religion. I maintain that it is not. I don't believe in God. I think you are suffering from a highly specialized madness, coupled with an enormous ego (an omnipotent being is watching YOUR EVERY MOVE because you're so fucking important) and a cripplingly huge fear of death, lack of purpose, and lack of fairness, that you will convince yourself that such a ridiculous thing as a God exists and that if you perform certain rituals properly, you'll be rewarded, if you DO believe in God, and you should be carefullymonitored lest you hurt yourself or others around you. But that's the end of it. I don't have Faith and Believe that there ISN'T a god. I don't give it a second thought. So, how is that a religion?
Take it away, doubters and unbelievers! Sound off!
He said it best:
 DUCHESSA
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                Mar 25, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    DUCHESSA
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                Mar 25, 2018                                            
                                        Too funny and deliciously true!
It does, however, miss some functional propensities shown by many atheists that the theologically deranged interpret as 'parallel religious substitutes' and I see as incomplete abandonment of authoritarian doctrinal constructions that are clearly NOT theological, but might as well be in terms of function.
Many atheists wisely reject delusions about deities while still clinging to Earthly focused systems of belief, also based on unfulfilled promises originating in sources like political idealism or Madison Avenue. 'Faith behaviors' strongly resemble those exhibited by the theologically botched. How could they NOT identify with behavioral demonstrations so resembling their own without being a bit jealous?
Atheism is not a religion, as their is no doctrine.
 Missymaebee
                                                
                                                Level 3
                                                Mar 24, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    Missymaebee
                                                
                                                Level 3
                                                Mar 24, 2018                                            
                                        Atheism needs to be a religion. The atheist faith is There Is No God. There can be a gospel in this faith, there can be a mission larger than one self that can bind people together. Atheists just need to care
 JiunnWong
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 24, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    JiunnWong
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 24, 2018                                            
                                        Lol!
Atheist is not a religion.
That being said I think that there are people who take it to a point where you could almost take it as religion. I consider religion as something that you must have faith to believe in or in other words something that is not testable. If you are so adiment that you begin to create your own dogma. Although at that point you really are no longer really atheist, you have a belief system.
You could also techniquely be an atheist and a zen buddist, which is considered a religion.
All in all I don't think being atheist is a religion, but what you add to it.
 Fulishsage
                                                
                                                Level 6
                                                Mar 24, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    Fulishsage
                                                
                                                Level 6
                                                Mar 24, 2018                                            
                                        Atheism I would say is absence of religion! That's how I would explain it!
 Bluewater88
                                                
                                                Level 4
                                                Mar 23, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    Bluewater88
                                                
                                                Level 4
                                                Mar 23, 2018                                            
                                        Definitely an absence of religion. Even this site is not a community of like minded people following similar paths, but a group forced together by circumstance and rubbing along as best we can. Religious congreagtions tend to pool and schism into ever smaller echo chambers.
 RobAnybody
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                Mar 23, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    RobAnybody
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                Mar 23, 2018                                            
                                        It's a flaw in some theist perspective. Their entire lives center around God, and by faulty logic they assume an atheists life is all about atheism. You see the same mindset when idiots ask how evolution explains the origin of life. IT DOESN'T. IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO.
I am many things, but unlike religious people, my opinion on gods and magic is ranked dead last when I make decisions about my life.
P.S. This is also a sign of their victim mentality. In their mind we are at war with them, and for that to be true, atheism has to be a religion.
 MLinoge
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                Sep 27, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    MLinoge
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                Sep 27, 2018                                            
                                        Atheism requires common sense, and logic. This is not the case with religion.
 ArthurPhillips
                                                
                                                Level 6
                                                Apr 14, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    ArthurPhillips
                                                
                                                Level 6
                                                Apr 14, 2018                                            
                                        Please bear in mind that these same people asserting that atheism is a religion seriously believe that they have a friend in the sky who loves everybody but will burn them forever if they don't love him back and that they have an enemy under the ground who does the burning for the man in sky and comes to you at night and whispers in your ear to fiddle with your naughty bits, so that he can burn you for ever.
I am afraid giving serious credence to alternate the definitions of words given by people who believe this stuff is a tad difficult and more than a tad unwise.
 LenHazell53
                                                
                                                Level 9
                                                Apr 5, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    LenHazell53
                                                
                                                Level 9
                                                Apr 5, 2018                                            
                                        I agree with everything you said. Atheism is not a religion, it is the opposite of religion. Not believing in something is it opposite of believing not another form of belief.
 FitVeganDancer
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 29, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    FitVeganDancer
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 29, 2018                                            
                                        Nobody does anything called "believe in God". They don't even know of anything that "God" could refer to. So since they don't know of anything named "God" that they claim to believe in, they're not believing in anything named "God". They just think they are. Similarly atheists don't know of anything named "God" that they DISbelieve in. So since they don't know of anything named "God" that they claim to DISbelieve in, they're not DISbelieving in anything named "God". They just think they are. Only we theological noncognitivists are free of disillusion. Why not realize it and join us?
 EdwinMcCravy
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 26, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    EdwinMcCravy
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 26, 2018                                            
                                        I’d say yes and no, only because that while atheists are united in lack of a belief in God when coming together, that’s kind of the only thing that unites them. Their reasons for believing in him or thinking he exists are all differing and you’d be lucky to find two exact same answers (not saying it’s good or bad, just that that’s my experience).
 Adam7
                                                
                                                Level 4
                                                Mar 26, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    Adam7
                                                
                                                Level 4
                                                Mar 26, 2018                                            
                                        As per the other gentleman's comments 'Atheism ' is not an absence of belief as one must have SELF-BELIEF!  
 Gilgamesh155326
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 25, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    Gilgamesh155326
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 25, 2018                                            
                                        Plenty of people DON’T !!
I assert faith (belief without evidence) is the foundation of religion. I then assert my position as an atheist rejects faith based assertions so in my case, atheism is the opposite of religion.
 NoMagicCookie
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                Mar 24, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    NoMagicCookie
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                Mar 24, 2018                                            
                                        Atheism means without theism. It's not a world view, it doesn't require faith, it has no set doctrine. It's means that a person is not convinced by the available evidence that there is a god. It's not even a proclamation that there are no gods. It's just the position that the available evidence doesn't convince an individual that there is/are God/gods.
 BrightTyger979
                                                
                                                Level 6
                                                Mar 24, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    BrightTyger979
                                                
                                                Level 6
                                                Mar 24, 2018                                            
                                        Atheism is not a belief that there is no god, it is a lack of belief that there is a god. Subtle huge difference.
 BangkokBette
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 24, 2018
                                            
                                                
                                                    BangkokBette
                                                
                                                Level 5
                                                Mar 24, 2018