Is atheism a religion?

No, I say.

Yes, as a person who has taught Religious Studies I can say uniquivicabally that Athiesm is a religion.  The word comes from the Greek word Theos, meaning God or of God.  When you put an "a" or an "i" in front of a word in Greek you are negating the word.  All Atheism means is no god.  But it still has all the trademarks of a religion.  It answers the question of whether or not God exists.  It has an orgin for creation, generally a scientific explanation.  It has moral and ethical laws.  Atheists still think it is bad to kill someone just for different reasons.  Life becomes sacred, not because it was a gift, but because there is nothing after it.  And I have found Atheists to be just as, intolerant, bigotted, ignorant, about science as well as religion, absolutist and just down right stupid as people whom claim a religion.  So there is no difference between the two. 

Both are belief systems and any system of beliefs has adherents whom are well informed and faithful to those beliefs and those who only pay lip service to them.  Every system also had adherents whom follow those beliefs on blind faith, for whatever reason, and are therefore suceptable to the most idiotic claims.

There isn't a difference at all.

Nor is it, i believe, a cult, although in much of the USA, at least, people consider it so.

Senchaen,

I agree with your evaluation of the moral/ethical/etc. about various kinds of people, but that doesn't make me a religious person. Perhaps I should have started this with my definition of religion. I suppose it's too late now. My second attempt at a topic here, and I've, apparently, already failed again...

By the way, for what it's worth, I knew the etymology of atheism, but thanks for tossing it in here.

Now go to theism. That's belief in one or more gods. That's an affirmation, not a denial. Surely these are fundamentally different.

First, you didn't fail.  You asked a question.  You got an answer.  It may not be the answer you wanted, but it is still an answer.  Second, the affirmation or denial of God are both answers to the same question.  It isn't the answer to the question, that makes something a religion or not, but the question itself.  Does God exist?  And if the answer to that question is a foundational belief which provides the presupposition used to answer many of its other questions, then it is a religion.  And so yes, Theism, Atheism, hell, science are all religions.  They all ask the same questions, they just give different, and I would say, biased asnwers.  And yes, science is biased.  Third.  I myself, believe in God and I'm not religious.  Belief, or the lack there of, does not make someone religous.  Whether or not that person adheres to a certain doctrine based upon the answers to those questions to the exclusion of other answers, is what makes a person religious.  So you can be an Athiest or a Theist and not be a religous person.  Just as you can have a Christian who is not a religious person.  You are confusing the individual with the group.  They aren't the same thing.  This is what we call (in this context) the Fallacy of Composition.

And actually Atheism isn't a cult in the U.S.  Polls have actually found that as we shift generations people are becoming less religious.  And as such, their views on Atheism have changed.

It's a rejection of belief, not a religion. By definition:

"Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is the absence of belief that any deities exist."

So clearly it is not a religion. Perhaps you should check out the agnostic view?

"ag·nos·tic

The rejection of belief, is in itself a belief, and therefore self-contradicting.   As such, the idea that Atheism is not a relgion because it rejects belief is false.  Even the idea of rejecting a belief in a god or gods, is still stating a beleif about said god or gods.  So therefore, because it is answering the question of whether a higher power exists, then yes it is a religion.

Americans aren't dumb, aravind. But this, along with evolution and firearms, is a topic about many of them seem to feel very touchy.

Senchean, I can appreciate what you are trying to say, but I I think we're speaking from two different points of view. Please re-read the definition of atheism that I posted. It clearly states that atheism is the absence of belief. It may seem self-contradicting, but the common notion of someone saying "I am an atheist" means "I don't believe a higher power exists." So there you go, that person is saying they don't BELIEVE. That is a lack of belief if I've ever heard one...

Agnosticism might be more in line with what you said. With agnosticism you have, in a simplified nutshell, a statement of "I BELIEVE there could or could not be a higher power, but I do not know which side, if any, is right - If any are right to begin with."

Anyone care to hear A Mormon's opinion on this subject?

Absolutely. Each of us involved in the discussion has their own beliefs or a reason for lack of belief, so I for one would like to hear yours. I don't know much about the Mormon faith, and I'd like the opportunity to hear your 2 cents.

Thanks Knight. By the way, I don't know anyone with a working time machine.  Anyway, in the purest definition of the word, it is not a religion, as a religion is the reverence for, and faith in, a diety. However there are those that contend that any belief system is a form of religion. Now, just for conversation sake, I submit the following. That thing that a person devotes most of their time to is their god. So if an atheist spends their whole life not believing in a god, living that belief system, and "preaching" that belief system to others, does that than not make atheism their religion? Is not this a form of reverence? There are many "gods" in our world. Money, sex, drugs, television, work, food, video games, social media, etc, etc. So what god do each of us serve?

Hey, Red Skull! Perhaps do you mean atheists retarded?

I hear you, Wilkes, but I think calling money, sex, drugs, television, etc. etc. a God would be going a step too far. I'd call those obsessions. You hear all the time the expression "That person is obsessed with video games" or something like "Donald Trump is obsessed with money", etc. I'd honestly be shocked to find someone (even Trump) bowing down and worshipping their job as if it were a diety. Call them a workaholic or a money hoarder, definitely, and if you can, get power of attorney or whatever it's called and have them committed to an insane asylum, yes. But worshipping any of those things as if they were a religion unto themselves, well, that would be a disturbing thing indeed and probably taking the discussion of athiesm and whether it is a religion outside of context.

Yes it is. It worships Athos, one of the 3 Musketeers.

Not really. Atheism is just a negation of a claim. It does not mean you believe in an alternative systematic view on the world to that of a given religion. It doesn't mean you believe in some origin to the universe theory, nor does it mean you have morals and ethics. Life doesn't "become sacred" because you reject the claims of gods existing. Atheism just doesn't have a belief system at all. It is merely a negation of an claim. 

But there are people who wish to make a religion out of atheism, claiming that science is something to believe in. But of course science cannot contradict religious propositions, simply because religions use "faith" for the ground upon which their beliefs stand. So a scientist could very easily be religious. And people may not know a thing about science, but still reject any claims of mystical Beings floating about;)

"I don't believe in god" is a negation of a claim. Atheism (notice the -ism) is a belief system.

OMG like whatever.