You're actually describing nihilism. Atheists don't have faith they have certainty.

well its not a religion its just a belief....

You should rephrase the question, because atheists will come with the defenition of religion which states an organized belief in a deity or something like that. You should probably say "faith" instead of religion

That's more of a statement then a question but I get ya'. Atheism is the opposite of a religion because it is the lack of faith in things that are unproven. If I sat here a gave a Christian 100 scientific reasons why the Bible was false, they would still belive in it. If you showed an Athiest rock solid evidense there was a God, they'd probably change their views. That's the difference between religion and Athiesm... Well, one of many.

I do believe it is a religion. I am an atheist myself, and to me that doesn't mean the belief in nothing. It is more like you have power over yourself, to create your own belief system. And the only person that judges you is ultimately yourself. Not taking into account the legal system of course.

(smile) Yes, in a way, it is. Atheism also has its pantheon of "prophets and saints". They also claim many that they are mistaken about ,e.g., Thomas Malthus, Ben Franklin, Darwin, Freud, Clarence Darrow, and Einstein. None of these were atheists. Atheism also has no one political agenda. Staunch democratic liberals and conservatives, socialists, communists, benign and non-benign dictatorialists are all represented in the atheist "faith". Some are people of great moral sense and values, and some are total rotters. Some are very intelligent and some are pretty ignorant and moronic,...pretty much like everyone else.

Well, you are right in some way. The diet of eating nothing could also be considered a diet. And believing in nothing could be considered a belief. And silence is also some kind of music or speech. Consider also that there are different kinds of atheists, for instance some who believe in nothing, others who believe in the inexistence of God. I don't think that all atheists are always steadfast in their "non-belief". And of course, refusing the existence of a god does not mean that you don't have ethics or that you don't find a meaning in your life.

Definately not, it's not a religion. Atheism has no dogmas, no set of believes, all that defines an atheist is that he doesn't believe in god. It's like someone that 'doesn't collect comics'. Would you call this a hobby? If yes, I would have an infinity of hobbies, would that make sense? It's not a believe in nothing, it's just NOT a belief. However, there are some atheists that act like it is a religion, those are the ones that say they're 100% certain that there is no god, and not open for any reconsiderations.

I would differ slightly by calling them spiritual.Nothing or belief in nothingness is Buddhism.Every path is leading to the same truth but you should not stop on the path or you will forget the destination called truth!We call it self-realization.There is NO God there to look at in Hinduism.It is called Brahman.Knowledge of the Self only!But it is alright to call that whatever that suits a person! Call it nothing,God,Jehovah,Allah or whatever!That is One!

If you have faith that god(s) do not exist, you could make a case for atheism = religion. However, most of us simply have no faith. The absence of belief is not the same as a belief in absence.  

You are absolutely correct. Atheists have no more to go on than their own personal faith that there's nothing up there, or no creator of any kind. Certainty in this matter is very close to stupidity. Agnosticism is a rational position.

Don't agree with you that it is stronger religion. Right or wrong how many Atheists do you know that would die for their beliefs

I suppose there are atheists who have an unyielding faith that there is no God. For most of them it is just a simple discarding, much the same as lack of belief in the Easter Bunny. I don't believe in the Easter Bunny and that doesn't really require any faith on my part. You are trying to define atheism in the context of your already-existing belief in a deity. It just doesn't work that way. Even Richard Dawkins, the supposed arch-villain of atheism, has said that he'd be more than happy to find out that there was a God. He's just not going to believe merely because someone tells him to.

A religion is a belief in a deity. Atheism is a name given to people who don't believe in a deity. No, atheism is not a religion.

So-called "strong atheists", who believe with 100% certainty, that there absolutely is no God, could be called religious. How? They believe strongly in that which they cannot prove, and will defend their belief, some even proselytizing it on the web, with bumper stickers, etc. Any belief system which cannot be proven requires a measure of faith, thereby making it a type of religious belief. This, IMO, is not true of weak atheists, who can also be called agnostics. They just don't believe in God, but also acknowledge there possibly could be a creator of some sort.

No one can speak for atheists. About the only thing that can be said is that we don't believe in gods. Beyond that - everyone's got his or her own individual position. Me? The way I see it is that there is no evidence to support any of the common definitions of god(s). And there are an infinite number of things that I can imagine, for which there is equally little evidence, that I also don't believe in (but just might exist somewhere in some other dimension or far corner of this one). So, I'm almost certain there is no god - so close to, in fact, I don't mind rounding up. That is the opposite of faith in a position. I don't go to some atheist anti-church to reinforce my devotion to a non-god. I simply don't credit one set of myths and stories above any others. They are all equally unlikely to describe an objective truth. Now I have to say I find it amazing when religious people try to knock atheism by calling it "a religion". I know what's going on - they realize arguing against a rational point of view with an irrational one is a very tough battle and so they attempt to make atheism look irrational - but do THEY know what they are doing? Knocking their own position even harder? :-) +5

Your opinion looks like paradox... How can believing in nothing mean something?!

I believe you are right. A fundamentalist religion. A US Federal Court of Appeals agrees with you: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45874

what is the question? are you questioning your own opinion? what evidence do you have to support any of your statements?

All religions are organized, have a belief structure, concern themselves with the supernatural, include rituals of some sort, make distinctions between special/serious ideas/things and non-special ones (ie, sacred and not sacred), and attempt to answer questions of "ultimate meaning." Atheism has none of these characteristics, so it in no way can be considered a religion. As for atheists all being nihilists: not believing in gods, leprechauns, unicorns, or flying spaghetti monsters says nothing about a person whatsoever.

The words ‘belief’ and ‘religion’ are not mutually exclusive. Therefore, your logic is invalid.

Stronger belief that Christian or Jewish? How so? It doesn't take very much faith to learn about the natural world and witness it with your own eyes, ears, touch and taste. It takes tremendous faith to believe that there is some supernatural being that created everything and exists outside of the natural laws of the universe.

Belief in nothing,Hummm sounds empty.

By that logic, your non-belief in the Easter Bunny is a religion. Atheism is not a belief in nothing. Atheists are capable of believing in all sorts of things. They just don't believe in God. You are attempting to define something by it's negative. You should try writing a check drawn on an empty bank account by claiming the account is actually full of nothing and thus valid. That makes no sense and neither does your absurd assertion.

Regardless of your opinion, atheism is not a religion, and I am perfectly willing to change my lack of belief for deities as soon as theists can show some evidence.

"Ve don't care. Ve still vant ze MONEY, Lebowski -- or ve fuck you up!" You're thinking of nihilism. Atheism, to borrow from Sam Harris, is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.

A belief in nothing? Now that is a good description of all religion. If this statement of yours is what you truly believe, then no wonder your religious. Oh...and thanks for the DownRate...proves my point really!

too right! all praise nothing!

Well if they believe in nothing, it shouldnt matter if somebody believes in something. But they set out and try to disprove the disprovable...the same religions try to Prove the unprovable. It all comes down to BELIEVE / DO NOT BELIEVE either COULD be correct, and its all redundant. But they sure do waste alotta time disproving the nothing they say is nothing. I would think they would do other things.... But....whatever. Its all on them, and us...and everyone. We all have a choice.

My opinion is very different to yours. To be fair, it doesn't come down to a matter of opinion at all. It is a matter of language. Definition of religion - # a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality" # an institution to express belief in a divine power; "he was raised in the Baptist religion"; "a member of his own faith contradicted him" Atheism is neither a strong belief in a supernatural power nor an institution to express belief in a divine power. Atheism, is by its very definition, an absense of faith and religion. Therefore, it is a belief of course, but not a religion. I also think you cannot group all atheists together to say they are steadfast in their non-belief - atheists all have different levels of their lack of belief, some may be more easily convinced than others; just as some Christians and Jews have a stronger faith in God than others.

Why does this statement come up so much (yes, it is a statement. Adding a question mark to it does not make it a question). I'm sure others will repeat what they have said the other 100 times in the past few months someone has stated the same absurd notion. I'll just add that if atheism is a religion, by your definition, you have a lot of religions, like not believing in Santa Claus.

I think you're reaching. And maybe trying to make it seem more important than it is. To me athiesm is just a rejection of a belief. I don't think it really goes any farther than that.

Belief should be personal. Maybe then it wouldn't cause such a damn stick either way.

Christians aren't steadfast in their beliefs? That's sad. If you aren't steadfast in your beliefs then why have those beliefs?

Atheism is a religion like NOT collecting stamps or NOT playing golf or NOT joining a club is a hobby. You are wrong..period as usual.

Fine with me.

Atheism is not a religion. It is a lack of beleif in any deity or religion. Christian and Jews and any other religion are very steadfast in their beliefs, Most religious people I know believe very strongly in God. I am very steadfast in my belief in God. Athiest are very steadfast in their beliefs but I have seen Atheists turn religious and vice versa. how steadfast someone is depends on the individual.

Huh? Oh dear......

Actually most atheists don't believe in nothing. They just believe it's impossible for god to exist the way most religions claim.

Yes, it is. When you come right down to it,atheism(together with the theory of evolution), is just another way to try and explain why we are here, how we came to be, and what might come next.

Atheists cannot prove there is no God just as theists cannot prove there is one. Both ideologies rely on belief without proof (faith) of the reality.

If it's a religion what is it's plan of salvation? We KNOW there isn't any god to be worshipped. No belief needed, there is no proof of ANY God. http://www.nobeliefs.com/

Everyone believes in nothing otherwise the word nothing wouldn't be in our vocabulary.. When someone asks what's on your mind you say: Oh nothing... Obviously you believe in nothing also..

Atheism is a lack of religion. Atheism is a religion like bald is a hair colour.

I disagree. Atheism is not a belief in nothing, its no belief in a god. That is all. Also, if you look up religion, you will see that religion, by definition, involved belief in supernatural entities. This is the opposite of atheism. That is why it is called "A"theism. - Do you consider not collecting stamps a hobby?

To some atheism could be classified as a religion. The courts ruled atheism a religion. I can't tell you off hand what state it was. As a Christian, I personally don't see it as a religion. With that being said, it's virtually impossible to know "everything" about a particular topic, and it's certainly impossible when that topic is an infinite God. So there has to come a point where you realize you have enough information to come to a conclusion, even if unanswered questions remain. Atheists decide that their view is correct even though they do not have have exhaustive information to support it. Do they know for sure that there is no God? Have they investigated every argument and evidence for the existence of God? Do they possess exhaustive information on the question of God? Can they answer every objection to atheism? Of course not. It would be impossible to do so. Since the atheist, just like the Christian, is dealing in the realm of probability rather than absolute certainty, he or she has to have a certain amount of faith to believe that God does not exist. Although he claimed to be an agnostic, Carl Sagan made the ultimate statement of faith in atheistic materialism when he claimed that " the cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be." How did he know that for sure? He didn't. How could he? Just like the atheists now, he was a limited human being with limited knowledge. Sagan was operating in the realm of probability just like Christians are when they say God exists. The question is, who has more evidence for their conclusion? Which conclusion is more reasonable? If one looks at the evidence presented down through the centuries, the atheist has to muster a lot more faith for their belief that God doesn't exist, than a Christian does for their belief that God does exist. I suppose in a round about way, I can see how some people could consider that a religion.

It's actually not a belief in nothing. It's a belief in remarkable accomplishment without intelligence involved. Despite the fact that even the simplest of non biological systems require intelligence to created, they believe the most complex ones somehow were created without intelligence.

OMG. Which planet are you on? 'A belief in nothing'?LOL Some people like to see facts, reality, objective observations to believe NOT people, miracles and stories which have no provable basis.

its a religion , a belief...just one that deny's a 'higher power' than themselves...they have FAITH in themselves ....and nothing to acheive or look forward to once they die.....alone and lost, but alas, their CHOICE and FAITH...:) thatsJustme

You do know the saying about opinions don't you "Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks." And that is all I am going to say about that ! regards JakobA PS: Please note the exclamation point after the last line. That is what makes this an 'answer' to your 'question'. ;-))

It is not a belief in nothing. It is a reasoned conclusion in the face of (in this case) a lack of evidence to proof an assertion. A "belief" is nothing more than a specified opinion. It is held in a person's mind, without regard to evidence or proof. Lot's of people have lots of "beliefs" that are simply not true ("I believe in ghosts, I believe in unicorns" etc.) A valid conclusion, is not a "belief". It is the end product of a process of non contradictory identification.

Eh? So all theists have weak faith, and all atheists are stalwarts in theirs? I approve of your narrow minded views. And to answer your utter lack of a question, atheism is a type of religion. Similarly, blue is a color shirts can come in. There are also things that are blue, but aren't shirts, you follow? (I doubt it) There are theistic religions. There are also atheistic religions. Any belief system that doesn't specifically say there is one or more gods is atheistic. In fact, anything that doesn't have to do with a deity is atheistic, usually because it has nothing to do with religion. Anyway, I fail to see what's so important about arguing semantics.

i can't believe 52 people have responded to this...it's not even a question...i see the question mark but a question mark does not a question make...

And your question is?

non-belief is a broad term. broad enough to include anything from zoos to Santa Claus. non-belief in itself is not a religion. being specific in that non-belief would be a step to becoming a religion, but isn't quite there yet

Wrong. Atheism is a disbelif in a god or gods. Nothing more, nothing less. And Atheism isn't a religion just like theism isn't a religion.

Not in my case. It is a working hypothesis. Having checked all the Gods on offer, I d not believe in them, and see no sign of any others. Therefore I will live my life on the basis that there is no God, until such time as one turns up. I am only "steadfast" in wanting evidence before I believe in something,.

Very true. EVERYONE has a religion ... ot at least, all people are religious. A religion is simply your belief about God, the spiritual world and life itself. And Everyone has beliefs or doubts on all those fronts. They therefore, have 'religion' and religious viewpoints in their lives. Even atheists, for instance ... they have faith in nihilismLOL! Everybody has a religion. Their 'god' is themselves, or it is something they invest their time or lives in. They, in effect, 'give' their lives for it. ;) ... and, when pressed to it, they defend their belief, their religion or viewpoint, with "religious fervour"LOL

It's not a religion but it is a faith. Atheism is faith that there is no intelligent creator in existence.

If being atheist is the belief in nothing then obviously I wouldn’t believe in religion either...and if atheism is a religion then I can be atheist either. See how stupid that is?.....enjoy-welcome to your world.

Athiesm is a belief in nothing. Period. End of story. You don't know that many athiests to speak for them all.

You've made a statement, where is the question?