People who claim atheism is a religion are:

[beam me up scottie]

Last edited Sat Nov 28, 2015, 06:50 AM - Edit history (1)

27 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Ignorant
	11 (41%)
	Bigoted
	0 (0%)
	Trolling us
	7 (26%)
	Bloated from drinking too much koolaid at the church social
	0 (0%)
	Not worth the effort
	1 (4%)
	On the wrong website, FreeRepublic is that way ---> (not kidding, they say the same thing, Google it)
	3 (11%)
	I like pie
	0 (0%)
	Other (please give your own explanation, and don't hold back heathens)
	3 (11%)
	All of the above
	2 (7%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[bvf]

1. Where's the option

"Probably on DU time-out"?

[beam me up scottie]

2. You could choose other.

There are members who aren't on a timeout who keep posting this right wing talking point.

[bvf]

3. Actually, I went with trolls.

Although I know a few folks IRL to whom "ignorant" would apply.

That aside, my comment was meant as a big "hello" to one particularly obnoxious sort who is probably paying close attention.

[beam me up scottie]

4. Oh, right! Our friend who loves to lurk and alert on everything.

Everyone moon the folks in the peanut gallery!

[onager]

19. Mooning initiated, Captain...

[beam me up scottie]

20. !

[skepticscott]

5. We need polls

Where you can pick more than one option. So that we can properly call the rabid anti-atheists on the carpet.

[beam me up scottie]

6. Good point!

I only had room for one more option so I added all of the above.

[Hoppy]

7. A religion is the attempt to explain the unknown. "We don't know," is such an attempt.

So it is a religion and as such is entitled to 1st. Amendment protection.

[beam me up scottie]

8. Atheism is defined as the absence or rejection of belief in gods.

It doesn't attempt to explain anything.

From American Atheists:

WHAT IS ATHEISM?

No one asks this question enough.

The reason no one asks this question a lot is because most people have preconceived ideas and notions about what an Atheist is and is not. Where these preconceived ideas come from varies, but they tend to evolve from theistic influences or other sources.

Atheism is usually defined incorrectly as a belief system. Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods. Older dictionaries define atheism as "a belief that there is no God." Some dictionaries even go so far as to define Atheism as "wickedness," "sinfulness," and other derogatory adjectives. Clearly, theistic influence taints dictionaries. People cannot trust these dictionaries to define atheism. The fact that dictionaries define Atheism as "there is no God" betrays the (mono)theistic influence. Without the (mono)theistic influence, the definition would at least read "there are no gods."

Why should atheists allow theists to define who atheists are? Do other minorities allow the majority to define their character, views, and opinions? No, they do not. So why does everyone expect atheists to lie down and accept the definition placed upon them by the world’s theists? Atheists will define themselves.

Atheism is not a belief system nor is it a religion. While there are some religions that are atheistic (certain sects of Buddhism, for example), that does not mean that atheism is a religion. Two commonly used retorts to the nonsense that atheism is a religion are: 1) If atheism is a religion then bald is a hair color, and 2) If atheism is a religion then health is a disease. A new one introduced in 2012 by Bill Maher is, "If atheism is a religion, then abstinence is a sexual position."

The only common thread that ties all atheists together is a lack of belief in gods and supernatural beings. Some of the best debates we have ever had have been with fellow atheists. This is because atheists do not have a common belief system, sacred scripture or atheist Pope. This means atheists often disagree on many issues and ideas. Atheists come in a variety of shapes, colors, beliefs, convictions, and backgrounds. We are as unique as our fingerprints.

https://atheists.org/activism/resources/what-is-atheism

[SwissTony]

21. THAT'S an attempt? Gee, you're easily satisfied.

What about science? That attempts to explain the unknown.So, by your logic, science is also a religion.

I don't know where the 1st Amendment comes in. Don't I have the right to say "2 + 2 = 56"?

[bvf]

35. Excuse me,

but IMO religion is the very absence of any attempt to explain the unknown. Its continued survival depends wholly on people willing to wallow in ignorance.

"We don't know" is just a lame answer to a ridiculous question.

The day some imaginary being manifests itself with an explanation for the weirder puzzles of physics like entanglement, or a proof of the ABC Conjecture in mathematics, is the day I'll give the question some consideration.

[LostOne4Ever]

39. "We don't know" is not an attempt to explain the unknown. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

52. Hmm, and my hobby is

not collecting stamps. Yes, that makes as much sense as what you just said.

[Yorktown]

9. I sincerely believe Atheism is a religion.

And I can prove it:

every morning, I pray to nothing; every night, I fall asleep praying to nothing.

I believe in nothing -> 'nothing' is my god.


Put it in your pipe and smoke it, Mrs. Atheist.

[beam me up scottie]

11. That's Ms. Atheist to you!

I asked others what we worship but so far I haven't gotten an answer.

Nothing is what I was looking for, thanks!

[Yorktown]

13. My apologies, Ms. Atheist.

Anyway, Ms. or Mrs., you're burning in Hell for not believing.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha;

(cavernous believer's laughter)

[beam me up scottie]

14. I prefer Hell, I hear the parties are to die for.

[opiate69]

48. Nice marmot.

[Yorktown]

49. Ach! Zomevone kaught on my leettle tjoke, ich sehe! Eindrucksvoll!

[opiate69]

50. Nihilists! Fuck me.

I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.

[Yorktown]

51. Anyway, now you know why I don't believe in Jesus

[Silent3]

10. I went with "ignorant", but "trolling" is a good part of it too.

It's an amusing hypocrisy the way so many theists try to use calling atheism a religion as a jab. If they really thought about it, and weren't just trying to annoy, they'd realizing they were accusing atheism of not being inherently reasonable -- just like their own religion isn't inherently reasonable.

[beam me up scottie]

12. EXACTLY!

You explained it perfectly.

And the self described agnostics get to pretend they're not really agnostic atheists so they can feel superior to both.

[AlbertCat]

25. It's an amusing hypocrisy the way so many theists try to use calling atheism a religion as a jab.

Indeed. "It's just a religion.... oh wait!"

It's like woo-mongers who poo poo science and then try to justify their outrageous claims by dressing them up in science-y jargon. 'Cause, that science-y sounding stuff makes it legit! But science is not worth respecting...?


Anyway, I went with "ignorant".... in the sense that some religious people cannot step outside the box and even imagine a person who does not spend their (valuable) time doing religious-y things or doesn't have religious-y thoughts. But we do Blanche... we do!

In fact I find religion to be totally ego-driven. It's all about the religious and everyone and everything on Earth and in the universe is just like their back yard.

[MindPilot]

15. Trolling, absolutely.

Every once in a while you run into those "atheism is a religion" types who are amazingly strident and tenacious in telling us how wrong we are to not recognize that our non-belief is a religion.

For me, I am put off by the atheist groups that hold on to the trappings of church, congregational singing, "worshiping" Darwin and Ingersall, atheist "invocations" in place of prayer. Those things all feel religious to me and I want nothing to do with them.

However this argument that agnosticism is superior because it engenders a more open mind is something I see more and more frequently. The rise of the militant agnostic is fairly new and I think just another tactic by the religious to marginalize those of us who don't do worship.

[beam me up scottie]

16. What you said, all of it.

The apologists love to push the "reasonable" agnostic meme and have to resort to redefining atheism to do so.

[SwissTony]

22. I don't understand these "churchy" meetings, either.

I wouldn't even think about going to one. I simply do not see the point. In fact, I'd run a mile in the opposite direction.

I call myself an atheist but I'm agnostic in the sense that I can't say with 100% certainly that there is no god. Just 99.99%. I also can't say with 100% certainty that unicorns don't exist. Maybe someone will find one in, say, the Amazon jungle. But if you ask me whether god(s) exist, I'd say either "no" or "Do unicorns exist?"

There is actually a precedent for the "unicorn" possibility. In 1697, Dutch explorers found black swans in Western Australia. Up until then, Europeans thought all swans were white. So, who knows? But I don't lie awake at night thinking about the possibility. And the world is a lot "smaller" now in the sense that we know much more about it.

[beam me up scottie]

28. Technically that makes you an agnostic atheist.

Almost all of us are, we don't believe gods exist but we can't say with absolute certainty that none do. It's the only logical position imo.

[SwissTony]

33. Yep.

And, logically, I'm also a a-unicornist and a a-leprechaunist. Just can't prove either doesn't exist.

Breaking news: I've just ordered an unicorn on Craigslist. I'm sure it's genuine. I'm going to call him Horny Dobbin.

[beam me up scottie]

34. "Horny Dobbin"

:

[Binkie The Clown]

17. What? You mean it's NOT a religion?

I was sure that belief and lack of belief were the same thing.

[beam me up scottie]

18. Shocking, eh?

Maybe they think if they say it often enough it'll come true?

Because it's always the same ones.

[mr blur]

23. Sorry bmus, you missed out "Incredibly Stupid" and "Ray Comfort",

although, I guess, they're synonymous.

[beam me up scottie]

29. Oops! My bad!

[deucemagnet]

24. A little from column A and a little from column B,

but mostly not worth the effort.

[beam me up scottie]

30. True, but I can't always stop myself.

I hate right wing talking points.

[Curmudgeoness]

26. I chose "trolling us"

because I see that in two different ways. First, they are just trying to get our goat (bleeeeeat). But also, they are here reading everything and hoping to find things that offend them. Both ways, they are trolls.

[beam me up scottie]

31. Goats and trolls...sound like a video game.

[Curmudgeoness]

37. Well, you might remember that there is already a fairy tale about them.

If you wish to develop a video game, this might be a good place to start.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Once upon a time there were three billy goats, who were to go up to the hillside to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was "Gruff."

On the way up was a bridge over a cascading stream they had to cross; and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll , with eyes as big as saucers, and a nose as long as a poker.

So first of all came the youngest Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge.

"Trip, trap, trip, trap! " went the bridge.

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll .

"Oh, it is only I, the tiniest Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, with such a small voice.

"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the troll.

"Oh, no! pray don't take me. I'm too little, that I am," said the billy goat. "Wait a bit till the second Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger."

"Well, be off with you," said the troll.

A little while after came the second Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge.

Trip, trap, trip, trap, trip, trap, went the bridge.

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll.

"Oh, it's the second Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, who hadn't such a small voice.

"Now I'm coming to gobble you up," said the troll.

"Oh, no! Don't take me. Wait a little till the big Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger."

"Very well! Be off with you," said the troll.

But just then up came the big Billy Goat Gruff .

Trip, trap, trip, trap, trip, trap! went the bridge, for the billy goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under him.

"Who's that tramping over my bridge?" roared the troll.

"It's I! The big Billy Goat Gruff ," said the billy goat, who had an ugly hoarse voice of his own.

"Now I 'm coming to gobble you up," roared the troll.



Well, come along! I've got two spears,
And I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears;
I've got besides two curling-stones,
And I'll crush you to bits, body and bones.


That was what the big billy goat said. And then he flew at the troll, and poked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to bits, body and bones, and tossed him out into the cascade, and after that he went up to the hillside. There the billy goats got so fat they were scarcely able to walk home again. And if the fat hasn't fallen off them, why, they're still fat; and so,



Snip, snap, snout.
This tale's told out.

[beam me up scottie]

38. I love that one!

I haven't thought about it in ages, brings back wonderful memories, thank you!

[Iggo]

27. ...jealous of how easy it is to attack religion.

[beam me up scottie]

32. Ha! Good one!

[bvf]

36. +1,000 n/t

[LostOne4Ever]

40. I think that for the vast majority of people it is simple ignorance

[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=teal]But the trolls and bigots are just so much louder that they seem to be a bigger population than they really are....at least that is what I want to believe.[/font]

[beam me up scottie]

42. This.

I don't mind ignorance but when people keep using anti-atheist talking points and slurs after they've been informed that they're being intolerant it's obvious that they're just plain old bigots.

[rexcat]

41. Willfully ignorant...

Comes to mind.

[beam me up scottie]

43. Yep.

And it's the same ones, over and over again.

[lindysalsagal]

44. Sexually repressed.

Religion is getting off on dominance and violence. I drive by a sign in front of a church with the times for the living nativity display. I can just imagine the circus sideshow, all those children staring at the result of god screwing this placcid woman. They're wondering, doesn't she wonder what happened? Isn't Joseph jealous? I'd be freaking out if that happened to me."

Societally approved sexual voyerism.

Creepy.

[beam me up scottie]

45. Oooooooooooo, that's a good one!

[olddots]

46. ignorant and trolling can be combined as clueless

they don't have a clue about how clueless they are so they are fundamentally clueless

[beam me up scottie]

53. They are fundamentalist thinkers.

Everything is either black or white, I'd hate to live with someone like that.

[trotsky]

47. I love how none of them grasp the irony...

that they are using the idea of religion AS AN INSULT.

[beam me up scottie]

54. Right?

Still hasn't dawned on them that they're damning their own faith.

Not believing in gods is as irrational as believing in them!

Wait, wut?

[Major Nikon]

55. Not all who do it intend any insult

Some just make ridiculous subliterate statements like 'you believe there isn't a god, therefore you have belief!' and they have managed to convince themselves on that warped basis.