Is Atheism a Religion?

It’s an old question, and on the surface would seem easy to answer. As an Atheist, to me Atheism isn’t a religion.

But I also don’t think it is quite that simple.

An oft quoted point of the theistic is that

Atheism is a religion, the Supreme Court said so.

There are of course a couple of problems with that:

1. Not all of us are Americans (I know, it’s a surprise to a certain section of the population of this planet), and so the dictates of your judicial system are of little relevance to us.
2. You committing the logical fallacy of Appeal to Authority.
3. If you are a theistic American, do you hold all court decisions to the same level of authority? Do you now accept that Intelligent Design is indeed religious in nature?

To me, the answer to the question isn’t a simple yes or no. It’s a bit more nuanced than that. Exactly what is the question being asked? What point is trying to be made? What information are you actually after?

Lets look at the definition of Religion. The Oxford English Dictionary (the authoritative source for British English) defines Religion thus:

1 the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. 2 a particular system of faith and worship. 3 a pursuit or interest followed with devotion.

So, using definitions 1 or 2, defining Atheism as religion can be likened to defining bald as a hair colour, and not collecting stamps as a hobby. I.e. it isn’t. However, I can concede that using the third definition an argument could be made that would classify Atheism as at least maybe religious in nature. It’s not an argument that I would agree with, but I can accept the argument can be made.

There is also another way of looking at Religion that I would argue Atheism does fall into, and in fact is often useful. If you define Religion as:

Any worldview that deals with a God or Gods

Atheism is, by definition, dealing with a worldview about Gods. As such, it falls within this definition. I also think that’s it’s definition that the US Supreme Court decisions are pointing at (but I am neither American, nor a lawyer, so what do I know?). It’s the definition that, again for our American cousins, allows Atheists to be Atheist with the same freedom under the First Amendment as Christians to be Christian etc.

So, ask me if I’m religious, and I’ll tell you “No, I’m not”.

Ask me what religion I am, and I’ll tell you “I’m Atheist”.

Possibly related posts:

1. Atheism is the New Fundamentalism – IQ2 debate
2. Science and Religion
3. Why do Atheists care about Religion?
4. Atheism and Morality
5. Atheism, a Cost/Benefit analysis