Comments on: Atheism is not a belief system, ok? Got that? Why must we repeat ourselves? http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2009/07/richard-says-adult-children-afraid-to-confide-in-their-parents/ Information clearinghouse for research and information about child religious freedom rights. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:59:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Richard_Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2009/07/richard-says-adult-children-afraid-to-confide-in-their-parents/comment-page-1/#comment-4329 Richard_Collins Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:09:23 +0000 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=646#comment-4329 Thanks for further clarifying my post. I was really going after the Christians who want to put atheism in the religion category so they can claim secularists (atheists/humanists) are allowed to teach their religion in the public schools so why can't they teach Christianity. Boy are these people thick and persistent. There is no law against Christians practicing their religion in the public schools, the objection is to using the power of government to favor a specific religion. The doctrine of religious neutrality has been in force practically since our founding, but conservatives will not recognize the wisdom of this policy. Thanks for further clarifying my post. I was really going after the Christians who want to put atheism in the religion category so they can claim secularists (atheists/humanists) are allowed to teach their religion in the public schools so why can't they teach Christianity. Boy are these people thick and persistent. There is no law against Christians practicing their religion in the public schools, the objection is to using the power of government to favor a specific religion. The doctrine of religious neutrality has been in force practically since our founding, but conservatives will not recognize the wisdom of this policy.

]]> By: anti_supernaturalist http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2009/07/richard-says-adult-children-afraid-to-confide-in-their-parents/comment-page-1/#comment-4325 anti_supernaturalist Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:43:53 +0000 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=646#comment-4325 <b>** Atheism is not a religion . . . not a quasi-religion . . . not even an association</b>** • The word 'theism' is an abstraction about an abstraction, religion. 'Theism' is an abstract noun which collectively refers to every religion (another abstract noun) which espouses the existence of at least one god, usually one having a personality, which interacts meaningfully with human beings. The group of theistic religions would include: Xianity, Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, ancient Greco-Roman polytheisms. It would not include: Theravada Buddhism or Chinese ancestor worship. These are non-theistic religions. Theist and atheist alike can agree about which religions are theistic. Religions are reasonably well-defined "objects" (associations) which can be discriminated and counted. Such agreements, shared by supposedly antithetical camps, are for me "the salt which never loses its savour." Atheism is essentially a viewpoint which denies that any god whatsoever exists. For the so-called Big-4 Near Eastern monotheisms, the atheist claims that of God and Yaweh, Ahura Mazda and Allah, not one of them exists. These fictional characters have no greater status as beings than Gilgamesh, Zeus, Sherlock Holmes, or Batman. Let's be clear. Theism is not a religion. Atheism is not a religion either. • A religion is a praxis. One defining characteristic of 'religion' is that it form a recognizable social unit sharing common practices, identifiable from within and without. (Despite its theistic stance, the Boy Scouts is not a religion. It is however a voluntary association.) Atheism embodies no common praxis -- it has no creeds, no rituals, it has no common symbols, no outward means of identification. Atheism is not a voluntary association. Of course, there are voluntary associations which espouse atheism. ** Atheism is not a religion . . . not a quasi-religion . . . not even an association**

• The word 'theism' is an abstraction about an abstraction, religion.

'Theism' is an abstract noun which collectively refers to every religion (another abstract noun) which espouses the existence of at least one god, usually one having a personality, which interacts meaningfully with human beings.

The group of theistic religions would include: Xianity, Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, ancient Greco-Roman polytheisms. It would not include: Theravada Buddhism or Chinese ancestor worship. These are non-theistic religions.

Theist and atheist alike can agree about which religions are theistic. Religions are reasonably well-defined "objects" (associations) which can be discriminated and counted. Such agreements, shared by supposedly antithetical camps, are for me "the salt which never loses its savour."

Atheism is essentially a viewpoint which denies that any god whatsoever exists. For the so-called Big-4 Near Eastern monotheisms, the atheist claims that of God and Yaweh, Ahura Mazda and Allah, not one of them exists. These fictional characters have no greater status as beings than Gilgamesh, Zeus, Sherlock Holmes, or Batman.

Let's be clear. Theism is not a religion. Atheism is not a religion either.

• A religion is a praxis.

One defining characteristic of 'religion' is that it form a recognizable social unit sharing common practices, identifiable from within and without. (Despite its theistic stance, the Boy Scouts is not a religion. It is however a voluntary association.)

Atheism embodies no common praxis — it has no creeds, no rituals, it has no common symbols, no outward means of identification. Atheism is not a voluntary association. Of course, there are voluntary associations which espouse atheism.

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