Trying not to sound rude here, GIT, but many atheists look at it as ridiculous to infer that atheism is a religion and/or see it as a statement from ignorance. Using 'ignorance' in the true sense (that is, simply not knowing) I feel the statement is either from ignorance and/or it's a deliberate attempt to negate the atheist. I understand that because when I was a Christian I felt much the same way you do. Atheist do not follow a set of rules, dogma or anything to assert their disbelief. Some are pro life, some are pro choice. Some are very liberal, some are very conservative. And believe it or not, some believe we have souls and some reject evolution. Pigeonholing those who don't believe in a deity is unfair. It would be like saying anyone who believes in God is a Christian...which is a ridiculous statement.
I did not take offense and thank you for putting it the way you did.
I know they(atheists) do not like to be told this and will act as if it is a ridiculous statement.
Atheists are usually very intelligent individuals and it is hard for me at times to follow their logic - don't know if that is because they are smart or because their logic is flawed - kidding.
But they do follow a belief system even if it is "all their own". The def. of religion will say it is a belief system. To me, when you get to the bottom of all things a person does and says, they are working from a core belief of who they think "god" is. Whether God is a god of a "religious" group of people or god is the individual who says there is no god.
So, given the very definition of the word religion, they (atheists) are operating under a belief system, even if they are as diverse as the stars in the universe - it is their own religion of one perhaps. Because religion is generally formed by a body of people that is how we think of it and define it, but it does not necessarily mean there has to be more than one individual believing in any particular way - just given what the word itself actually means.
The example you gave shows even the diversity within a common "religious group" - it was abortion. You will find that even those in the same faith groups in Christianity will have different opinions on many things and abortion is just another one of those things. That can be seen on this board in a previous discussion even.
Point is that each of us are individuals and there is none of us who hold exact beliefs but among Christians we know there is a line that divides between major doctrinal beliefs and minor doctrinal beliefs. The minor are not things we necessarily fight over - they do not hinge on salvation - the major do.
So, I suppose Christians could argue the same thing atheists do - though our main belief is the same - there is a God, our minor differences however are numerous as well. The atheists major claim is there is no god and they too have many minor differences that amount, according to their own theological stance on god, to absolutely nothing, given there is no repercussion for any actions or beliefs they take.
With that said, this is taking in a large view of the said argument, that does not mean I hold abortion or many of the other differences amongst Christians as something trivial, because I do not. It is that according to the doctrine of salvation and who God is, that is the place where Christians are defined as being Christians and not being Muslims or Buddhists etc...
on July 25, 2011, 1:27 pm, in reply to "