Is atheism a religion?

[il Padrino Ute]

Federal attorneys argue that it is.

So, if it turns out that atheism is recognized as a religion, what happens? Do public schools stop teaching evolution?

[old_gregg]

Federal attorneys argue that it is.

So, if it turns out that atheism is recognized as a religion, what happens? Do public schools stop teaching evolution?

Evolution is not dogma, it is empirically verifiable truth.

[il Padrino Ute]

Evolution is not dogma, it is empirically verifiable truth.

I'm not saying that evolution is dogma, so I don't know why you'd bring that up. It was just a question that was more TIC than anything else.

[Jacob]

Evolution is not dogma, it is empirically verifiable truth.

That's a funny way of putting it, isn't it?

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Where's SU when we need him?!

[SandYFan]

Atheism is a belief system, so sure.

[woot]

While I enjoy the thought that some of the "atheism is a religion!" crowd might end up having their tax dollars subsidize some atheists, this topic baffles me. Is the goal to simply remove "religion" as a meaningful word?

We've hashed this argument out probably a dozen times already on CUF so it's not unexpected. At least this time it doesn't seem to be the usual religious folks trying to bring atheism down to their level. It would be nice if something like this is what finally got the government to stop subsidizing religion altogether.

[LA Ute]

New York Times, Jan. 22, 2013:

In Britain, where the Church of England is a laughing stock lately, the percentage of Britons professing no faith has nearly doubled in the last decade — which might explain the rise of an atheist church....

[Sleeping in EQ]

At different times, both Christians and Muslims have been called atheists. This was, I understand, at least partly because of their monotheism.

[statman]

Evolution is not dogma, it is empirically verifiable truth.

Absolute and utter hogwash.

At some point there are assumptions that have to be made - points at which empirical evidence is not present and big assumptions have to be made. Atheists have their faith about how to answer those questions. Deists have theirs. NEITHER is provable or disprovable. BOTH are religions - one answers the unanswerable with God, one without.

[SoonerCoug]

Federal attorneys argue that it is.

So, if it turns out that atheism is recognized as a religion, what happens? Do public schools stop teaching evolution?

???

This is classic.

This is the problem with religion. It confuses people about what it means for something to be true.

[Sleeping in EQ]

???

This is classic.

This is the problem with language. It confuses people about what it means for something to be true.

FIFY.

[SoonerCoug]

I just discovered that if you google Stephen Hawking and Mormon, a post of mine is the second link that comes up. That makes me feel important.

[old_gregg]

Absolute and utter hogwash.

At some point there are assumptions that have to be made - points at which empirical evidence is not present and big assumptions have to be made. Atheists have their faith about how to answer those questions. Deists have theirs. NEITHER is provable or disprovable. BOTH are religions - one answers the unanswerable with God, one without.

what assumptions are you talking about?

[woot]

Absolute and utter hogwash.

At some point there are assumptions that have to be made - points at which empirical evidence is not present and big assumptions have to be made. Atheists have their faith about how to answer those questions. Deists have theirs. NEITHER is provable or disprovable. BOTH are religions - one answers the unanswerable with God, one without.

Um what? It seems like you just called evolution a religion on equal empirical grounds as actual religions. You've already demonstrated that you suck at thinking with your racist screed, so I guess pile away.