The Religion of Atheism

Debate Room
102

Point 3 is rather silly in and of itself, I think, as it applies to any hobby that a person might pursue with sufficient interest and dedication, or even unhealthy dedication - “with religious dedication”. Take devoted collectors of <whatever>. Or people who are bookwormy enough to never let go of a book. Or people who train and work out alot, like fitness junkies. Or youngsters gaming away on their game consoles or computers. It even applies to people who have a job that they absolutely love, and that they spend all their waking hours thinking about. None of these can in any way or form qualify as a religion. Yes, you can say that some people approach them with religious like dedication, but that does not equate them with religion.

As for me, discussing pseudoscence like flat earth, creationism, alternative medicine, and conspiracy theories like holocaust denial is fun, and has required me to read up a lot of physics that I otherwise have forgotten or missed during my time at university. And to read up on biology, evolutionary theory, medicine, and history. Which is fun. I do it for the entertainment, for my own education, as well as to sharpen my own reasoning, debating, and writing skills. From the time I realised I was an atheist, I also took an interest in reading up on the bible, which I do now far more than back when I (thought I) belived in a god. Back then it was a chore. Now it is something I do with some interest, to read up on the ridiculousness, just like with flat earth(*). The amount of time I put into it varies, but I am nowhere near any religious level of dedication on it.

That said, point 3 (“a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion”) does not even include people who believe in a god, but don’t devote much time or energy into it, like those who only go to church at christmas, get wedded in church, baptise their kids, and just haven’t really thought more about it.

(*) In fact, I sometimes fantasize about how it could be a lot of fun to enroll in a bible study course arranged by one or the other christian sects around here, and to see how long it would take before they kicked me out for asking the wrong questions :exploding_head:

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103

Of course, the whole “faith” canard peddled by mythology fanboys, is merely yet another instance of them dishonestly conflating entities or concepts that should never be conflated in honest discourse.

The drawing of a false equivalence between their uncritical acceptance of unsupported mythological assertions, and our acceptance of postulates on the basis of proper supporting evidence, is such a tiresome and repeatedly destroyed piece of apologetic bullshit, that anyone trying to deploy this in serious discourse should be ashamed of themselves.

A similar, but equally disingenuous mythology fanboy tactic, consists of deploying the same canard with respect to everyday inference. Again, there is a vast canyon between uncritical acceptance of unsupported mythological assertions, and inference from insufficient data . Because, once again, data is being taken into account in the latter case, while there exists no proper data to be involved in the former.

Pointing out these distinctions explicitly won’t stop the usual suspects from engaging in this mischief, but will enable the rest of us to stamp on this pestilence wherever it rears its ugly head.

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104

In the 1958 Hugo Award winning science fiction novel A Case of Conscience (by James Blish), an alien civilization has a religion-similar to Christianity-that is completely devoid of any supernatural content, God, etc…

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105

I can’t see how atheism can, in any way, be regarded as a religion

A religion is marked by its followers faith, but atheism is a LACK of faith

QED: atheism is not a religion.

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106

It can’t, not without some sophistry.

Well, a religion is defined as “the belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially a God or gods”.

No not really, atheism is the lack or absence of belief in any deity or deities.

I agree that atheism is not a religion, nor is it synonymous with religion. Even were one using religion as a metaphor here, I think it still fails.

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107

It would be even more fun if two Bible studiers were atheist so they could play the affair like a cat and a mouse.

108

Now that i think of it: if atheism is a religion, does it mean that i can start my own atheist church? Can i transfer all my properties to said church so they don’t get taxed? Can i start taking untaxed donations from everyday citizens? Can i preach atheism in the streets freely and with no consequences whatsoever? Can i start my atheist religious after school program? Can i get away with all of the ambigous financial operations religions do? Of course these are just questions, not like i plan to do any of this.

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You’d get some pushback on the first, but I seriously doubt the IRS would allow the second, How long did it take Scientology to get tax exempt status? I know that it was revoked, and there was a long running battle with the IRS, before they eventually granted the church a blanket tax exemption, then in 1993, the IRS reaffirmed the church’s tax-exempt status after a long-running investigation.

I think you’d be looking at a decades long uphill battle. You could open an ostensibly Christian church, there are something like 200 separate denominations in the US, and 47k globally.

I doubt there would no consequences, but the constitution under the 1st amendment, protects your right to practice any religion you wish, or none at all.

They’re interesting questions for many reason though. When religions get tax exempt status, there is little if any financial oversight, that can never be good.

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111

I find it irritating to think of atheism as a religion. Usually its a theist who says its a religion.

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112

The mythology fanboys resorting to this excremental apologetics, are usually too stupid to realise how easily the use thereof backfires upon them. As well as being too stupid to realise that NOT treating unsupported mythological assertions uncritically as fact, is the very antithesis of a “religion”.

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113

Hey, everybody. Long time, no see. Just wanted to stop in real quick to let everybody know I’m still breathing and such. Without going into detail, suffice it to say the past few months have been something of a rollercoaster ride from hell. Long story short, my grandson and his mom (my stepdaughter) have recently moved back in with me and my wife. (Divorce papers between stepdaughter and baby’s daddy pending.) Anyway, while things have (thankfully) somewhat “leveled out” a bit over the past couple of weeks, there is still much to be settled over the coming weeks. As such, my visits here may still be rare for awhile. Enough about all of that, though. Since this thread seems to have gotten off track a bit, I figured this would be a good time to set it back on course.

Church names, people! We need ATHEIST CHURCH NAMES, for cryin’ out loud! Get those cerebral juices flowing already. Can’t start claiming tax exemptions without a proper church name. Allow me to present a couple of other examples.

  • The First and Last Non-Denominational Faithless Church of No Gods

  • Distant Horizons Lack of Faith Heathen Gathering Location (No actual church building needed. We would just vote each week on which bar, bowling alley, pool hall, or other such venues to rent for the next week of non-worship activities. The rental fees for chosen locations would be tax exempt write-offs.)

So, like I said, get some names tossed into the mix. Time is running out. Who knows when the next second coming might be again? After all these centuries of failed predictions, SOMEBODY has GOT to get lucky at some point or another. Oh, by the way, for all you “new” folks here I haven’t met yet, don’t believe a single thing Cog, Old Man, or Blue Doc say about me. They lie… (But only when they are not telling the truth.)

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114

Lol church names! I think that is what the Satanic temple tried to do. I read up on that, it turns out they claim to be atheist. The ‘satanic’ part is just to sound pseudo theistic or what not. Also to stand in opposition to established religion something like that.

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Basically correct – they like to troll religionists, particularly Christian fundamentalists. If the Christians want a statue of Moses at the county courthouse, you can bet that ST will apply to construct a statue of Baphomet, toe to toe with it. Christians want release-time Bible classes for school children, the ST will apply for release-time Satan clubs. In almost all such cases, the god-botherers say “nevermind” and they are denied another creeping intrusion into the community.

The Satanic Temple is not to be confused with the Church of Satan, founded by Anton LaVey I think around the same time. That is also not actually worshipping Satan but it is less a parody religion, it is more seriously about some sort of spiritual quest IIRC.

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Satanic temple was organized in 2013, Church of Satan in 1966. But according to their webpage, they also claim satanists are atheists.
https://churchofsatan.com/faq-fundamental-beliefs/

Joy of satan is theistic satanism. I am sure there are unorganized satanists theistic or atheist which are not associated with any of the organizations mentioned.

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Well, considering it IS the main topic of this thread, a bit of participating contributions for requested suggestions would be greatly appreciated in a thankful manner for the sake of general amusement purposes. Humor can be a wonderfully useful tool to have in one’s discussion arsenal. :blush:

Might I suggest you read “The Satanic Bible”? It will help you gain a more helpful insight into the purpose of the whole Satanic Temple/Church of Satan outfits. Their “dogma”/“commandments” are actually more secular than MOST PEOPLE are aware. I happen know a few “card carrying” Satanists, and the ones I know believe in Satan/God about as much as any atheist on this site. (In other words, they think the whole Satan/God concept is just as ridiculous as we do.) Plus, they are even better people than many Christians I know or have ever known. So, with that out of the way, let’s get back on topic…

GIVE ME AN ATHEIST CHURCH NAME, GODDAMMIT!.. :flushed:… Oh, uh, I mean, uh, would you please be so kind as to provide myself and other members on this thread with a fitting church moniker that would bring much welcomed attention to the Atheist Worldview so that those of religious faith might be set free from the bonds of their woeful indoctrination? :blush: (Also, don’t forget about those tax expemtions. Just sayin’… :money_mouth_face:)

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Ok, ok. Patience…

Great Mother of Couldn’t Care Less.
Temple of Empathic Nonbelief.

A couple of other suggestions here.

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119

If someone does not believe any deity or deities exist, then they’re an atheist, this is not mutually exclusive with other beliefs, and Satanism likely means different things to different people.

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I somewhat disagree.

An atheist can have faith that it is better to view the world as it is rather than how we wish it to be.

An atheist can have faith that we–as a species–must ultimately fix our own problems rather than appealing to a seemingly non-existant supernatural being.

An atheist can have faith that one should be a good person (in however we define “good”) simply for its own sake rather than to be a good person so that we don’t burn in hell for eternity.

An atheist can have faith that the combination of curiosity and skepticism (the foundations of science) will solve far more problems than begging a seemingly non-existant supernatural being for a divine intervention.

An atheist can have faith in the idea that we–as a species–are accountable for our own actions.

And so on.

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121

And, btw, @nonselcei, atheism and agnosticism are likewise not mutually exclusive.

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