I know they can't, thats why I think they are not a religion, because they don't gather. You can believe in God without having a religion.

They do have a belief system though. The believe that God doesn't exist and whether its through rationalization or how they were raised, its still a belief.

As for the force, its not a god. Its closer to Buddhisms I think. Its just an energy that connects all living things. It does not have dominion over anything and it can be controlled.

a strict diet regime can also be a belief system so do that mean "Richard Simmons" is a God ...everyone believes in something but the controversy starts when they try to claim the belief as truth ...Atheism is not claming truth it is merely pointing out the fact that there is no proof that it is truth

Buddhisms is a religious philosophy in which the practitioners are following a human place into the role of God just like Christianity placed Jesus in that role

no matter the religion or the philosphy you will find either a God or a human in the role of God...Atheism have neither

Since when did I ever say having a belief system has to do with God? My only point was that some people on here said that atheism didnt have a belief system when in fact they do. Though depending what a diet is for it is not necessarily a belief system. If the diet can be scientifically tested then it would be able to be proven or disproved.

I will disagree with you views on religion and philosophy. I can not say that I am well versed in every philosophy and religion that existed so I do not have the proper knowledge to argue my point.

so if you are christian and don't believe in scientology then does that makes you a "scientolgy atheist"?.. or do that simply means you don't believe in scientology ...if religious people feel they have a choice to believe in a God then shouldn't people have a choice not to believe in a God without having to form a religion to not believe in a God .. wouldn't that defeat the purpose



don't worry about it "Chazster" just considered that I'm right

Why do you keep arguing on something that I am not arguing on. I have said several times that I do not think atheism is a religion, so why do you try to argue with me like I think it is. I merely said they had a belief system and that does not imply religion.

No, I don't consider people right when I don't agree with them. I don't agree Buddhism and jediism have a "god persona".
I also doubt you have the back ground of all the religions and philosophies to back your claim.

come on "Chazster" ..I mean how much do I have to know ..either it's a religion that has an unseen or unprovable God which includes everything non-human or it's a philosophy that has a human in the role of a God ..anything other than that can be considered as being Atheism

Red wrote:



Thanks for giving me the opportunity to clarify:

I absolutely DO NOT consider atheism to be a religion, and I think it is WRONG to suggest that atheism is a religion. No matter how 'religious' some atheists may be, it will never make atheism itself a religion. Even if, 50 years from now, there are Dawkinite churches in which people sing praise to the enlightened "Richard Dawkins", and hold the writings of Dawkins to be 'absolute truth', and consider Creationism blasphemy, and go out on street corners in pink sheets dancing and trying to make converts....it would STILL not make atheism a religion. It would just mean that -some- atheists formed the requisite social arrangement to be considered a religion.

Consider this:

The ONLY quality -needed- to be an atheist is (following a definition given by another earlier in this thread) is -the lack of positive belief in a God-. (The fact that many atheists also have a positive DISbelief in a God doesn't change this - since they also lack a positive belief in a God. (Of course, 'God' is undefined here, but lets keep this simple!) )

Making any kind of assumptions about the -other- beliefs of all the individuals that meet this criteria is just wrong. Some atheists are rationalists, some are not. Some 'believe in evolution', some do not. Some generally look to beliefs of modern scientists for their own beliefs, some do not. Some make a big deal about certain virtues or values, some do not. Some atheists have rejected one idea of God; some have rejected many; some may simply not care; some (living in a jungle island somewhere?) may have not been exposed to the idea of God.

Being 'atheist' all by itself says so very little about the person, the other beliefs they have, how they come to their beliefs, etc.

So its crazy to think that mere membership into the set of people who share this one -lack- of a belief directly implies participation in anything resembling a 'religion'. However, it does not necessarily directly PRECLUDE participation in a religion, nor 'religious like processes'.

What about a person like me who must first have the concept (or word) "god" clearly defined before professing belief or unbelief?

I believe that anything is possible and I am open to most theories of reality etc.

What exists? What does not exist?

Aliens might exist. And maybe they don't. I've not seen any proof in person one way or another, but I have acquired a lot of evidence that indicates that they do. Ten years ago I would have called that idea crazy.

Aliens may be friendly or they may be our enemies or even predators.

Gods may exist. Aliens may be pretending to be gods.

Angels may exist. Aliens may be pretending to be angels.

Aliens may be from other planets, or from other dimensions.

I'm talking any humanoid intelligent life forms here. Aliens, gods, angels, demons, draconians, vampires, were wolves, etc. may all exist.

Gnomes, fairies, dragons, lepracons, big foot, and the Lock Ness monster may all exist. Androids, clones and artificial people may even exist.

I don't know.

But think about this. In every movie you ever saw about vampires; there were people who scoffed at the idea of the existence of such things. And guess what? These people were always the first ones to get the blood sucked out of them.

Don't be crazy or paranoid.... But keep an open mind.

The truth may very well be a lot stranger than fiction.

JB

Massagetrade wrote:


Much appreciation for the clarification, it has broadened my understanding, not only of what you meant to say, but also gave me an opportunity to agree with what that was.

Have a great weekend!