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Advocates of this idea often mix it in with other ideas about secular "religions" (such as liberalism, agnosticism, and environmentalism) being religions. The concept of atheism-as-a-religion is separate from the atheist "churches" such as the Sunday Assembly. This is often considered a point refuted a thousand times. 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Advocates of this idea often mix it in with other ideas about secular "religions" (such as liberalism, agnosticism, and environmentalism) being religions. The concept of atheism-as-a-religion is separate from the atheist "churches" such as the Sunday Assembly. This is often considered a point refuted a thousand times. 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margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #fa0000; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#fa0000"><b>Going One God Further</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Atheism" title="Atheism"><font size="4" color="White"><b>Atheism</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#ffe5e5;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheism" title="Category:Atheism"><img alt="Icon atheism.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/b/b0/Icon_atheism.svg/100px-Icon_atheism.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/b/b0/Icon_atheism.svg/150px-Icon_atheism.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/b/b0/Icon_atheism.svg/200px-Icon_atheism.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#fa0000; text-align:center;"><b>Key Concepts</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffe5e5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Atheism" title="Atheism">Atheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Agnosticism" title="Agnosticism">Agnosticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Antitheism" title="Antitheism">Antitheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/FAQ_for_the_Newly_Deconverted" title="FAQ for the Newly Deconverted">FAQ for the Newly Deconverted</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#fa0000; text-align:center;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheism" title="Category:Atheism"><font color="white">Articles to not believe in</font></a></b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffe5e5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Everlasting_No" title="Everlasting No">Everlasting No</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Secular_Woman" title="Secular Woman">Secular Woman</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maryam_Namazie" title="Maryam Namazie">Maryam Namazie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Secular_religions" title="Secular religions">Secular religions</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#fa0000; text-align:center;"><b><a href="/wiki/Category:Atheists" title="Category:Atheists"><font color="white">Notable heathens</font></a></b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffe5e5;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/David_Miliband" title="David Miliband">David Miliband</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ron_Reagan" title="Ron Reagan">Ron Reagan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adam_Carolla" title="Adam Carolla">Adam Carolla</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Riley_Dennis" title="Riley Dennis">Riley Dennis</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Atheism" title="Template:Atheism">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Atheism" title="Template talk:Atheism">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Atheism&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>If atheism is a religion, then bald is a hair color.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Mark Schnitzius<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><br /> <b>Atheism as a religion</b> is the idea that <a href="/wiki/Atheism" title="Atheism">atheism</a> is just another <a href="/wiki/Religion" title="Religion">religion</a>, and not the absence of one. Advocates of this idea often mix it in with other ideas about <a href="/wiki/Secular_religions" title="Secular religions"> secular "religions"</a> (such as <a href="/wiki/Liberalism" title="Liberalism">liberalism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Agnosticism" title="Agnosticism">agnosticism</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Environmentalism" title="Environmentalism">environmentalism</a>) being religions. The concept of atheism-as-a-religion is separate from the atheist "churches" such as the <a href="/wiki/Sunday_Assembly" title="Sunday Assembly">Sunday Assembly</a>. This is often considered a <a href="/wiki/Point_refuted_a_thousand_times" title="Point refuted a thousand times">point refuted a thousand times</a>. It is also separate from the fact that some atheists may legitimately participate in some religions (such as <a href="/wiki/Confucianism" class="mw-redirect" title="Confucianism">Confucianism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Hinduism#Concept.28s.29_of_God.28s.29" title="Hinduism"> Hinduism</a>, <a href="/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhism</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism" title="Unitarian Universalism">Unitarian Universalism</a>), as well as illegitimately form part of some (as with some clergy in the <a href="/wiki/Church_of_England#Atheist_and_agnostic_clergy" title="Church of England"> Church of England</a>). </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Arguments_about_atheism_being_a_religion"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Arguments about atheism being a religion</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#Atheism_functioning_as_a_religion"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Atheism functioning as a religion</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#Considering_atheism_a_religion"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Considering atheism a religion</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Arguments_about_atheism_being_a_religion">Arguments about atheism being a religion</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Atheism_as_a_religion&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Arguments about atheism being a religion">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Arguments against the religious nature of atheism tend to make evident that atheism has no creed, and is just a group of people with a shared disbelief in all the <a href="/wiki/God" title="God">gods</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> As atheism is being defined as a lack of something, many people just consider it the state of there being no religion.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[note 1]</a></sup> Atheism would be better considered the lack of something. This argument could lead to <a href="/wiki/Agnosticism" title="Agnosticism">agnosticism</a> being a religion, but agnostics do not believe certainly in any religion, so also should not be considered to have a religion. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Definition" title="Definition">Definitions</a> of a religion from various sources generally read in such a way to preclude atheism from consideration. </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, <a href="/wiki/Belief" title="Belief">beliefs</a>, and practices… <p>4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith </p> </div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Merriam Webster <a href="/wiki/Dictionary" class="mw-redirect" title="Dictionary">Dictionary</a><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[3]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Atheism lacks multiple beliefs as in the second definition (definitions 1 and 3 are irrelevant). Atheism precludes <a href="/wiki/Faith" title="Faith">faith</a> from reasoning, and as such can not be held to with faith. Ergo, those definitions makes clear that atheism is not a religion. </p><p>Indeed, the etymology of the word atheism comes from the Greek <i>atheos</i> (αθεός), meaning without god(s). </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Atheism_functioning_as_a_religion">Atheism functioning as a religion</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Atheism_as_a_religion&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Atheism functioning as a religion">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span> Atheism is a religion like how Ken Ham is a scientist </div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">— Hemant Mehta <sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[4]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Atheism is sometimes considered a religion option on surveys and in the resulting graphs that are products of those. Certain atheist organisations such as <a href="/wiki/American_Atheists" title="American Atheists">American Atheists</a> contain some of the trappings of a <a href="/wiki/Religion" title="Religion">religion</a>, such as a symbol, a website, and sometimes meetings of believers in such organisations as Skepticon.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[5]</a></sup> There are also atheistic “churches” such as <a href="/wiki/Sunday_Assembly" title="Sunday Assembly">Sunday Assembly</a>, and religions where many of the attendees do not believe in God, such as <a href="/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism" title="Unitarian Universalism">Unitarian Universalism</a>. These can be considered the religious form of atheism, as opposed to normal atheism that does not require any ritual. The most radical atheists, such as some <a href="/wiki/New_Atheism" title="New Atheism">New Atheism</a>-affiliated people, tend to encourage or tolerate proselytizing of atheism, making atheism more like a religion. </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Considering_atheism_a_religion">Considering atheism a religion</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Atheism_as_a_religion&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Considering atheism a religion">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Many of the people who believe that atheism is a religion are <a href="/wiki/Conservative_Christian" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservative Christian">conservative Christians</a> who find that they cannot understand how others lack <a href="/wiki/Faith" title="Faith">faith</a>, and so just presume that it is in fact a religion. This is also often done when it is politically expedient, framing atheism as a religion so that it can be disconnected from its base in a lack of support of faith from other realms of <a href="/wiki/Knowledge" title="Knowledge">knowledge</a> besides religion. Some forms of <a href="/wiki/Confucianism" class="mw-redirect" title="Confucianism">Confucianism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhism</a> also lack any gods. Almost any blogging site or <a href="/wiki/Social_media_platforms" title="Social media platforms">social media platform</a> with any <a href="/wiki/Conservative" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservative">conservative</a> presence at all will eventually have a few people claiming that atheism is a religion because of their view of the divide between <a href="/wiki/Science" title="Science">science</a> and religion. <a href="/wiki/Quora" title="Quora">Quora</a> has quite a few conservative writers claiming that atheism is a religion, sometimes in conjunction with liberalism.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[6]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Atheists_Outline_Their_Global_Religious_Agenda" title="Atheists Outline Their Global Religious Agenda">Atheists Outline Their Global Religious Agenda</a> is a notable example of a <a href="/wiki/Creationist" class="mw-redirect" title="Creationist">creationist</a>, <a href="/wiki/Ken_Ham" title="Ken Ham">Ken Ham</a>, claiming that atheism is a religion of sorts. </p><p>To no one's surprise, some of <i>the very same people</i> who claim atheism is a religion will also try to insist that Christianity is <i>not</i> a religion.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[note 2]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Atheism_as_a_religion&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Christianity_is_not_a_religion" title="Christianity is not a religion">Christianity is not a religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Secular_religions" title="Secular religions">Secular religions</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Atheism_as_a_religion&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.atheistalliance.org/about-atheism/is-atheism-a-religion/">Is atheism a religion?</a> - Atheist Alliance International</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Atheism_as_a_religion&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!msg/alt.atheism/elbOCoYNT28/SoC5_m3QTu8J">alt.atheism post, 23-Dec-1993</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://www.quora.com/Is-atheism-just-another-religion">[1]</a>, <a href="/wiki/Quora" title="Quora">Quora</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion</a>. Religion, Merriam Webster <a href="/wiki/Dictionary" class="mw-redirect" title="Dictionary">Dictionary</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://youtu.be/5ZPAJYfrtEs?t=15">[2]</a> </span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.religioustolerance.org/atheist6.htm">http://www.religioustolerance.org/atheist6.htm</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.quora.com/Is-atheism-just-another-religion/answer/Jeffery-Lebowski-2">https://www.quora.com/Is-atheism-just-another-religion/answer/Jeffery-Lebowski-2</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Atheism_as_a_religion&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">This is technically false, as non-theistic religions do exist (as mentioned at the top of the page). Atheism is simply disbelief in gods.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-8">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">It's like <a href="/wiki/The_United_States_as_a_Christian_nation" title="The United States as a Christian nation">they're trying to claim immunity to</a> <a href="/wiki/Separation_of_church_and_state" title="Separation of church and state">separation of church and state</a> (while also using that concept to hobble their opposition), <a href="/wiki/Religious_Right" title="Religious Right">or something</a> <a href="/wiki/Dominionism" title="Dominionism">like that</a>…</span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Atheism_as_a_religion&oldid=2627288">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Atheism_as_a_religion&oldid=2627288</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" 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