Did you know that atheism fits both theoretical and practical definitions of religion? Wait, what did you say? Atheism is a ‘religion’?
C’mon, do not be amazed by this saying! Here is what I mean to say.
Common misconceptions about atheism
Atheists always argue “I’m not a religious person, I am an atheist!” This is a common claim today by every atheist, especially in the Western world, but it is at heart an oxymoron. Maybe some of you think that atheism does not look like Judaism, Christianity, or Islam, atheism is surely a form of religion. This kind of statement has earned so much ridicule, slander, mockery, and rage more than once every time an atheist and a believer once collided. But most atheists argue that the very definition of atheism is “non-religious” or “a lack of belief in gods or God“. While it is true that atheists do not believe in God, that doesn’t mean they are not a believer or religious at all!
The real definition of atheism
Modern ‘neo-atheists’ assert that the definition of atheism, as they said, is “a lack of belief” in any form of supernatural things and entities and it includes gods, goddesses and deities.
Atheism is derived from the Ancient Greek ἄθεος atheos meaning “without gods; godless; secular; refuting or repudiating the existence of gods, especially officially sanctioned gods”. ¹ ^
The modern Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines atheism as “a lack of belief or a strong disbelief in the existence of a god or any gods..” ² The second sense defined this, in archaic, “godlessness, especially in conduct”. But when was the term atheism first adopted by most people?
If we try to look at the origin of the term, it is first used in 1546 C.E., based on the same dictionary. Another reference says that “In English, the term atheism was adopted from the French athéisme in about 1587. The term atheist in the sense of “one who denies or disbelieves” predates atheism in English, being first attested in about 1571; the Italian atheoi is recorded as early as 1568.” ³
Is it the real definition traditionally known by those who live during the Middle Ages? That’s not what it points out.
Consider the definition provided by the Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy ⁴, the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy ⁵, and other philosophical reference works as they define atheism as “the denial of the existence of God.” ⁶ Paul Edwards who was a prominent atheist and editor of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, defined an atheist as “a person who maintains that there is no God.” ⁷
Over the past years, atheists revised, distorted and changed the meaning of atheism to suit their desire. This is true when it was already prophesied in the Scriptures that “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” (2 Timothy 4:3 ESV) And “in their greed they will exploit you with false words.” (2 Peter 2:3, ESV)
Atheists have a belief and what they believe proves they are ‘religious’ on their atheistic faith.
Why are atheists considered to be ‘religious believers’?
Let’s try to look for the definition of religion here. But before that, I will clarify the most common misconception that religion always refers to the belief in God, and that is not true. Because there are lots of religions out there who also disregard the existence of God but consider it as a religion. For example, Buddhism does not hold a belief in a single Creator God, but no one today would claim that Buddhists are not religious. In fact, the definition of religion continued to evolve over the years.
Atheists have a lot of beliefs and it comes to personal beliefs. They BELIEVE that God does not exist yet no one of them can prove that claim at all. They believe in materialism views which states that only matters exist, and this world is governed by natural laws. They BELIEVE that all things come from nothing, and that no one created them yet no one of them until this day proves such a claim.
Another reason why atheists are religiously believers is because most of the time they build their own churches, and defend their naturalism worldview.
In his BBC documentary The Trouble with Atheism the award-winning journalist Rod Liddle indicates:
“ Some atheists have become rather dogmatic. Terribly certain in their conviction that there is no God and anyone who thinks there is is a deluded and dangerous fool. …atheists are becoming as intransigent about their own views as the people they so despise. Atheism is becoming a religion of its own. It already has its gurus and its revered sacred texts… It has its magnificent temples within which lie mysteries and unknowable truths.” ⁸
Reasons why atheism is a religion
1. Roderick Ninian Smart, a Scottish writer, and professor, defined a seven-part scheme for understanding both religious and secular worldviews. These can be understood as narrative, experiential, social, ethical, doctrinal, ritual, and material. ⁹
2. In history, atheism has a connection with “cult worship“. An example of the Cult of Reason during the French Revolution. The French atheist Pierre Gaspard Chaumette encouraged the “worship of Reason“. ¹⁰
3. Atheism and neo-paganism, and nature-worship. Atheists defended their naturalism worldview and always pointed out that “only matters exist.” There are lots of atheists who are severely believed in the idea of “creation ex-materia” which asserts that the universe was made by an infinite matter (nature) yet no scientific consensus proves such theory. Atheists worship “nature” and “matter” though they deny it by words but not by their actions and defense. In one of the biblical apocrypha texts called The Wisdom of Solomon, it speaks about the foolishness of “nature-worship”:
“Surely vain are all men by nature, who are ignorant of God, and could not out of the good things that are seen know him that is: neither by considering the works did they acknowledge the workmaster; but deemed either fire, or wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the violent water, or the lights of heaven, to be the gods which govern the world. With whose beauty if they being delighted took them to be gods; let them know how much better the Lord of them is: for the first author of beauty hath created them.”— Wisdom of Solomon 13:1-3, KJVAAE
In one article published by Creation Ministries International, they declare:
By “nature worship” and “neo-paganism” I refer to the atheist’s tendency to replace a sense of awe of God and seeking transcendence by relating to God with seeking awe and transcendence in nature. This natural high, as it were, is not merely enjoyed but it is enjoined and said to be holier than theism. Referring to our ability to “step off the Earth and look back at ourselves,” as was done in Voyager 2, Carl Sagan stated,
“I find that a chilling, spine-tingling, exciting, perspective-raising, consciousness-raising experience. It’s said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience.
The very first episode of his televised series entitled Cosmos, began with Carl Sagan stating,
“The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us—there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as of a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.”
Presupposing a God-free reality, why atheists seek transcendent experiences remains unanswered.” ¹²
Atheism is a religion. It is not only a religion or belief of the non-existence of God but a faith that all things come from an unguided chance and mindless material. It is commonly held by atheists and non-theistic groups of people.
One candid atheist wrote, “My attitude is not based on science, but rather on faith . . . . The absence of a Creator, the non-existence of God is my childhood faith, my adult belief, unshakable and holy.” ¹³
Atheism is often considered acceptable within Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism in India. These world religions adhere to atheistic views. Graham Lawton, an editor of New Scientist declares: “The truth is that atheism is not simply an absence of belief in god, but also a set of alternative beliefs about the origin and nature of the natural world” and he also said that “one of the most common is that ‘atheism is just another religion anyway’. There is no way to prove or disprove the existence of god, the argument goes, so to deny it is a leap of faith. Ergo, atheism is just like a religion.” ¹⁴
In one article on BBC News, instead of defining as “a person who LACKS BELIEF”, atheists “are people WHO BELIEVE that god or gods (or other supernatural beings) are man-made constructs, myths and legends or who believe that these concepts are not meaningful.” ¹⁵
The Bible says that “the fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good” and that “fools[a] despise wisdom and instruction.” — Psalms 14:1; Proverbs 1:7, NiV
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Jason Jeth Newshub 