[Locked] Atheism is not a religion

This is rich. You are doing exactly what I say you are doing, which is making the blanket assumption that everyone “has a religion” and making it fact without basis. The argument here is that everything stems from fact that everyone has a belief system. Beliefs make up religion, life stances, philosophies, ideologies, and world views. Religion does NOT make up your belief system unless you a) understand the religious beliefs and b) believe that such religious beliefs are superior to your own beliefs and subscribe to such beliefs. You do NOT come with an inherent “personal religion”; you create a set of beliefs which can be treated as a personal religion or adopt religious beliefs. The key word “belief system” encompasses “religion”, not the other way around. I mention that in my argument that you so carefully skimped over.

No. I said concrete, empirical evidence for religion, not in philosophy. Philosophy can incorporate empiricism, especially in the philosophy of science, but that’s not the point because you misread my statement.

Guess what? After reading your previous arguments, I’m laughing at myself for not catching it. The topic is asking if Atheism is a religion or not. Whether or not it is religious is another point of contention. I’ve proved that Atheism is not a religion, and most people do not treat it as such or in any religious manner because it deals with “God” or “religion”. Atheism deals with a religious subject, yes, but that does not automatically make it religious by nature, which you are implying but not saying. And because Atheism is not a religion by nature, it cannot be considered religious. Dealing with a religious subject matter does not change the nature of dealing with said subject to being religious. If I study religion for a case study, does that make me religious? No, because the purpose of the case study is of an educational manner and nature even though the subject matter is of a religious nature. Same thing with Atheism in that it studies religion insofar as the nonexistence of deities, but the objective of Atheism is not religious in nature but that of a philosophical/scientific approach in nature.

How you treat your belief systems? Umm, no? It's what your belief system is about, not how you treat it. How you treat it is just how important it is to you. Religion doesn't have to be important to you for you to have it you know. It just means you're not a very religious person.

As I mentioned before, this topic is not about how this or that is religious. It’s the debate on whether Atheism is a religion or not, period. How people treat Atheism is just as important since there are the few that treat Atheism in a religious manner like a religion even though Atheism by nature is not a religion. Dealing with a religious subject matter does not make it religious by nature whatsoever, a relevant but separate argument altogether. Being a religion and being religious are two discrete concepts. A concept being religious does not automatically make it a religion, like saying a dog that has catlike features is catlike, but it is not a cat. However, a concept/belief system that is a religion is automatically religious; it is analogous to saying a cat is catlike by default. Since Atheism is not a religion, therefore Atheism is not religious.

Let me make a final note about this argument itself. Kalistean, no matter how you argue your position, as long as you are not arguing coherently with proper support and logic and not arguing the issue at hand you have already lost the thread of argument, which makes it moot. It’s the main reason why there were 9 pages of arrant bull that related to the topic on hand but in reality were arguing something else. The way you argue by making the supposition that everyone has a religion and forcing others to accept it without just cause or factual basis is a completely erroneous way to argue well, and that's only one part of why the debate went downhill. This is in no way an insult of your intelligence, Kalistean. I’m simply stating my observation of the flow of this thread and that the degeneration of debate quality that started on page five is due to faulty debating skills.

1. beliefs and worship: people's beliefs and opinions concerning the existence, nature, and worship of a deity or deities, and divine involvement in the universe and human life

2. system: an institutionalized or personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine

3. personal beliefs or values: a set of strongly-held beliefs, values, and attitudes that somebody lives by

4. obsession: an object, practice, cause, or activity that somebody is completely devoted to or obsessed by

Definition:
1. [n] a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality"
2. [n] institution to express belief in a divine power; "he was raised in the Baptist religion"; "a member of his own faith contradicted him"



RELIGION is a 8 letter word that starts with R.


Synonyms: faith, faith, religious belief

See Also: Asian shamanism, belief, Brahmanism, Brahminism, Buddhism, Buddhism, Christian church, Christian religion, Christianity, church, cult, cult, ecclesiasticism, established church, establishment, heathenism, Hebraism, Hindooism, Hindooism, Hinduism, Hinduism, Hsuan Chiao, institution, Islam, Islamism, Jainism, Jewish religion, Judaism, Mazdaism, Mithraicism, Mithraism, Mohammadanism, Mohammedanism, Muslimism, mysticism, nature worship, pagan religion, paganism, religious cult, religious mysticism, religious order, religious sect, revealed religion, sect, shamanism, Shinto, Shinto, Shintoism, Sikhism, supernatural virtue, Taoism, Taoism, theism, theological virtue, Zoroastrianism




Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Definition:

\Re*li"gion\ (r[-e]*l[i^]j"[u^]n), n. [F., from L.
religio; cf. religens pious, revering the gods, Gr. 'ale`gein
to heed, have a care. Cf. {Neglect}.]
1. The outward act or form by which men indicate their
recognition of the existence of a god or of gods having
power over their destiny, to whom obedience, service, and
honor are due; the feeling or expression of human love,
fear, or awe of some superhuman and overruling power,
whether by profession of belief, by observance of rites
and ceremonies, or by the conduct of life; a system of
faith and worship; a manifestation of piety; as, ethical
religions; monotheistic religions; natural religion;
revealed religion; the religion of the Jews; the religion
of idol worshipers.

An orderly life so far as others are able to observe
us is now and then produced by prudential motives or
by dint of habit; but without seriousness there can
be no religious principle at the bottom, no course
of conduct from religious motives; in a word, there
can be no religion. --Paley.

Religion [was] not, as too often now, used as
equivalent for godliness; but . . . it expressed the
outer form and embodiment which the inward spirit of
a true or a false devotion assumed. --Trench.

Religions, by which are meant the modes of divine
worship proper to different tribes, nations, or
communities, and based on the belief held in common
by the members of them severally. . . . There is no
living religion without something like a doctrine.
On the other hand, a doctrine, however elaborate,
does not constitute a religion. --C. P. Tiele
(Encyc.
Brit.).

Religion . . . means the conscious relation between
man and God, and the expression of that relation in
human conduct. --J.
K["o]stlin
(Schaff-Herzog
Encyc.)

After the most straitest sect of our religion I
lived a Pharisee. --Acts xxvi.
5.

The image of a brute, adorned With gay religions
full of pomp and gold. --Milton.

2. Specifically, conformity in faith and life to the precepts
inculcated in the Bible, respecting the conduct of life
and duty toward God and man; the Christian faith and
practice.

Let us with caution indulge the supposition that
morality can be maintained without religion.
--Washington.

Religion will attend you . . . as a pleasant and
useful companion in every proper place, and every
temperate occupation of life. --Buckminster.

3. (R. C. Ch.) A monastic or religious order subject to a
regulated mode of life; the religious state; as, to enter
religion. --Trench.

A good man was there of religion. --Chaucer.

4. Strictness of fidelity in conforming to any practice, as
if it were an enjoined rule of conduct. [R.]

Those parts of pleading which in ancient times might
perhaps be material, but at this time are become
only mere styles and forms, are still continued with
much religion. --Sir M. Hale.

Note: Religion, as distinguished from theology, is
subjective, designating the feelings and acts of men
which relate to God; while theology is objective, and
denotes those ideas which man entertains respecting the
God whom he worships, especially his systematized views
of God. As distinguished from morality, religion
denotes the influences and motives to human duty which
are found in the character and will of God, while
morality describes the duties to man, to which true
religion always influences. As distinguished from
piety, religion is a high sense of moral obligation and
spirit of reverence or worship which affect the heart
of man with respect to the Deity, while piety, which
first expressed the feelings of a child toward a
parent, is used for that filial sentiment of veneration
and love which we owe to the Father of all. As
distinguished from sanctity, religion is the means by
which sanctity is achieved, sanctity denoting primarily
that purity of heart and life which results from
habitual communion with God, and a sense of his
continual presence.

{Natural religion}, a religion based upon the evidences of a
God and his qualities, which is supplied by natural
phenomena. See {Natural theology}, under {Natural}.

{Religion of humanity}, a name sometimes given to a religion
founded upon positivism as a philosophical basis.

{Revealed religion}, that which is based upon direct
communication of God's will to mankind; especially, the
Christian religion, based on the revelations recorded in
the Old and New Testaments.