Should atheism be recognised as a religion? Now, to me, that seems to completly miss the point of atheism, you don’t believe in religion, you don’t believe in a God, you believe life and everything around it was crated by the big bang.

So what’s the problem? Can’t we all just get on with our lives? Well apparently not :P Thanks US Army!

This whole thing comes from Justin Griffith - a soldier in the US Army, wanting atheism to be recognised. He lost his faith (he was a strong christian, growing up in bible belt America) at 13 years of age and struggled with it. But is not a “devout” atheist.

Now, I can understand wanting the choice of atheist on documentation, to prevent embarrassment, so people know that you had no belief. He now has atheist on his forms. Instead of ‘no religious preference’… Atheists have no religious preference…

Anyway I know I’ve gone off topic. I’m an atheist. I don’t believe in a deity. I’ve talked in the last couple of years about aggressive atheism, and that personally I don’t agree with it. I used to, but it’s just the same as being a religious nut. If you don’t believe don’t stoop to the level of those crazy men on the streets who grab you and tell you you’re going to hell for liking rock music. I think that, as a religion with rules and meetings etc… it could become just as bad as most other religions, instead of having a “we don’t give a fuck attitude”, having a “fuck you you are wrong” is exactly the same.

There are a lot of definitions of atheism so it’s hard to grasp a clear idea of what it is officially, so maybe like a religion, it’s about choice?

“atheism may counter anything from the existence of a deity, to the existence of any spiritual, supernatural, or transcendental concepts, such as those of Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Taoism.”

“Definitions of atheism also vary in the degree of consideration a person must put to the idea of gods to be considered an atheist. Atheism has sometimes been defined to include the simple absence of belief that any deities exist. This broad definition would include newborns and other people who have not been exposed to theistic ideas.” as we have all been exposed to the idea of God, many of us lead to believe in “Him” until we decided for ourselves how we felt, can any of us actually be atheists as we have a knowledge of what God is supposed to be?

So I put this question out there to see what people thought.

Sarah : Faith is without evidence. Atheism is based on evidence. Therefore atheism is not a faith!

Dub: it counts as a religious choice

Adam : it does “defeat the object”. Anyone who calls atheism a religion really doesn’t fully grasp the concept of it.

Joe: A religion is a set of strict beliefs and rules that you try to adhere to live your life by. Atheism is exactly the same as this, except your rules are “don’t believe in god” or “science is the answer” It is just as much a religion as say, Christianity, but just dont say that to the atheists ;)

Dub: but does religion not have to include some form of worship towards a god or deity?

Joe: I don’t believe so. It means you have to adhere to a strict set of beliefs or rules to live your life by. You may believe that “God” or whatever you want to call it, is the theory of relativity, with all the same unimpeachable aspects of the judeo-christian “God” and up for as much discussion as to the existance or relativity of the point. You may even go so far as to say that some scientists adhere to their views with “Religious” fervour, instantly dismissing any case that even begins to question their views on the world. Very much like religious people.

Adam : The core of ANY religion is faith. Having faith in something is believing in it without evidence and/or believing in it even though solid evidence says otherwise. There is no “faith” in being a Bright.

Me: yes the idea of religion needing a faith keeps coming up.

Joe: Well, in theory, you can put just as much faith in any scientific theory. You have never experienced DIRECT evidence for say, evolution, it requires a leap of faith for you to believe that the “evidence” is correct, real and conclusive. Unless you are an expert in the field you are looking at, you have no way of verifying this information for yourself, therefore, creating just as much a leap of faith as needed in any religion. Its all a matter of perspective. To a religious zealot, the idea of evolution, no matter the evidence, is laughable, whereas to an atheist, the idea of god is laughable, no matter the “evidence”. It’s all perspective.

Me : I agree that on some level there is a faith, even sub consciously, be it in science or lack of evidence. But atheism is about not having a belief and therefore not a religion, it’s about the choice to not partake in a belief system and religion is all about controlling people through faith…

Rik : To me athiesm is a belief system just as much as any religion. Its the belief that there is no god. So yeah, technically it should be classed as a religion, because your choosing to believe and put faith into an idea.

Ali : Atheism is a facet of religion, IMO. Although it is used as synonym for non-religious people, it’s technically no belief in a deity. You can be a religious atheist. Someone who follows the scripture of their chosen faith, but doesn’t believe in the respective God.

I find myself in agreement with everything, which isn’t unusual for me. There is no right or wrong. I mean, once you’re dead, you’re dead. If you die in war you will have a soldier’s burial - most likely Christian or whatever religion you belong to. And if you are atheist, it’ll probably still be Christian. I mean, if me being buried in a church makes those still alive feel better about death, my death, let them do it. I’ll be dead!

The topic of faith is what I think is really good. Ali says you don’t need faith to follow a religion - follow it’s rules and teachings without believing (my Mum for example goes to church most weeks and always has, but she says she doesn’t really believe in God).

I think you can have faith without being religious. I have faith in myself, I have faith in people, in the future, in the power of positive thought. I’m pretty sure most of the time I have no idea what I’m doing, or how I’ve survived this long. But if I didn’t have a faith in myself and in other people, what would be the point. I am sickeningly optimistic though.

Anyway just some thoughts, add your own