This creep could easily mark you blacklist you to his fellow bigot "professors" incompetent and ignorant that they are....so write what he tells you to write get his "A" ....you're not in a school you're in a cult....take good care of your health....apply for scholarships to real universities and don't submit religious essays there....write about science and art you care about....apply to women and minorities admissions.....it may take two years but transferring to a true University is worth the effort and there you will be free of religious brainwashing

Atheism in itself cannot possibly be a religion, since it's simply the absence of belief in a deity. However humanism could be considered a religion, since there is a world view that people can believe in and can unify a group of people all having the same worldview and life stance.

For those of us, like me, who wish to minister to life changes such as marriage, in order to satisfy many of the state's requirements that it must either be a clergy member or judge to solemnize a marriage, to make it legal, having humanism be considered a religion solves that problem.

For me, I'm a humanist minister, solemnizing marriages for couples who do not want any deity invoked or religious references mentioned, just natural and humanistic. The ceremony must be called religious, on the books, but it's simply human values being celebrated, not supernatural deity worship.

Surprisingly, many of the judges that perform the "civil" marriages, invoke god in their ceremony, so hiring a humanist celebrant is one sure way of knowing the ceremony will be focused on human values, rather than biblical ones.

Does this mean we can found our own tax sheltered atheist “church “? We can all meet to play cards or listen to cool music in our tax free clubhouse..er, church?

College is meant for you to learn how to learn about different views and gain information. How the fuck can he just tell you what sources to use?

Maybe its a case of semantics. Humanism is based on evidence and facts. Religions are faith based.

The federal government gave Humanism status as a religion for tax purposes and as a belief system alternative to faith based systems.

Sounds to me like you've struck yet another of those Bible-Thumping Dictator type Professors.
I ran up against a few of them when I started studying for my ThD through a PUBLIC University, not through a Seminary, they went as far as registering protests with the Dean of the University because I had openly declared that I was an Atheist, fortunately the Dean dismissed ALL their protests completely and firmly told them that the ENTIRE was to be taught as per the prescribed curriculum and that the curriculum IS open to ONE and ALL WITHOUT exception/bias,etc, etc.
Now I proudly hold a Doctorate in Theology and Comparative Modern Religions, presented to me, personally, by the Dean himself.

The first rule of debate is to define your terms, since he is the professor, he gets to define the rules for debate in his classroom. While the primary reason for taking a class should be to learn something, as a college student who has paid money to attend the class, you have other good reasons to take the class, to not waste your money, to meet a graduation requirement, to not mess up your gpa; and to not have to take the class again. Roll with the punches and don't complain until the class is over and the grades recorded.

This argument makes me think of the number system and the difference between natural and whole numbers. For some reason zero is so profound, it deserves its own name.

I prefer to fight fire with fire.. "So if atheism is a religion, what is wrong with that?" and then.. " Atheism is a religion of compassion, humanism, naturalism, science, and equality. All attributes opposite to most traditional theistic nonsense"

I think some religious people are so stupid that they claim you can make a "god" out of your car or your wife. I have even heard sermons on it. The common mistake is that you must be worshiping something. My question is why do you have to worship anything? Why does everybody have to "serve" somebody? (Sorry, Dylan.)

Idiot

When my atheist sons joined the military and were given dog tags, they said, Religion: None.

It's more of a hypothesis, methinks. Annnnd, it's been over TWO THOUSAND YEARS, and we're still waiting for some quantifiable and reproducible proof...just sayin'.

I am reminded of Bill Mahar's response to a similar claim. He said that atheism is as much a religion as abstinence is a sex position.

Fuck him, non believers are exactly that, non believers in any gods or any religions. That is just a fact, no need to support it with research, if you choose not to believe then you don't believe. Let's say you love eating steak because you like the taste and you attest "I love steak!" That is a fact, you don't need to support it with any research, it is your personal choice to love the taste or texture of steak, isn't it? How could anyone tell you that you are a vegan, for example, if you love and constantly eat steak?

“In addition, in our papers we're only allowed to use sources that he has given us in advance so that doesn't allow for any opposing research to be included in our papers. It's not a huge deal, but it's just a tiny bit disappointing.”

So much for academic integrity and honesty. Hiding from ideas that are different... well, that’s Trumpian. Isn’t it?

Atheists lack belief in a deity. Therefore it's not a religion. For legal reasons it's referred to as a religion. That does not make it one.

I agree with those saying this is indeed a big deal. Unless you’re at a Christian college in which case that’s your misfortune, I would complain about the quality of education I was getting and want my money back for the class at the very least. Paying someone to waste my time ain’t on my syllabus, nor my docket of “shit to do this year.”

Makes sense to my god - er, I mean, my dog!

For some people Atheism is a religion. They are a tiny minority and not representative of most atheists. Your prof is using the fine brain God (or Evolution, same thing) gave him for Olympic level confirmation bias and motivated reasoning. Sad.

I hope you aren’t paying this professor to spoon feed you horse shit.

Some are not so wise

The professor is himself, and ignorant troll brainwashed by his own social milieu to present the standard Christian lies. Trolls nearly always resist reason, so don't bother. He is unqualified or disqualified to be where he is, but it's probably not worth your time to do anything about it. Learn from this experience: Christianity is as much about hate as it is about love, and Truth is not only not revered, but quickly cast aside in favor of lying for Jesus. True Believers end up being Liars Clubs with the most absurd witnessing winning the trophy. For yourself, revere Truth first, wisdom and serenity will follow.

It is a big deal. I would complain about him not following the textbook or using other research.

Thanks Piper...you might want to read the whole Circuit Court opinion (Kaufman v. McCaughtry, 419 F.3d 678 (7th Cir., 2005) to understand where he is coming from. In order for a prison (state or federal institution) to be "neutral" as to religious beliefs it has to classify atheism as a religion. Here is a quote from the case defining "religion:"

"The Supreme Court has said that a religion, for purposes of the First Amendment, is distinct from a "way of life," even if that way of life is inspired by philosophical beliefs or other secular concerns. See Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 215-16, 92 S.Ct. 1526, 32 L.Ed.2d 15 (1972). A religion need not be based on a belief in the existence of a supreme being (or beings, for polytheistic faiths), see Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 495 & n. 11, 81" ...

"The Supreme Court has recognized atheism as equivalent to a "religion" for purposes of the First Amendment on numerous occasions, most recently in McCreary County, Ky. v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky., U.S. , 125 S.Ct. 2722, L.Ed.2d (2005). The Establishment Clause itself says only that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," but the Court understands the reference to religion to include what it often calls "nonreligion." In McCreary County, it described the touchstone of Establishment Clause analysis as "the principle that the First Amendment mandates government neutrality between religion and religion, and between religion and nonreligion." Id. at *10 (internal quotations omitted).

So yes, since everyone has a way of life, atheism, under the First Amendment is a religion, so as not to discriminate against non-believers. And in double speak, non-religion equals religion.

Perhaps once some of the previous commentators read the court's definition they will see that your prof is teaching the "legal" definition. The fact that you can only use his sources is b.s. of course, especially if he didnt even give you the citation to the case he used, so you can read it in context.