Has Atheism Become a Religion? Yes, it's the Huffington Post, so you know it's going to be stupid.
Military personnel who identify themselves as "Atheists" have requested chaplains to tend to their spiritual needs. ...
Those identifying themselves specifically as "Atheist" composed the 18th largest group of 43 possible categories of "self-described religious identification." ...
Atheists routinely, strategically, and often vociferously position what is often described as their "secular-humanist" views against religious traditions. ...
Consider all the comments made by self-identified Atheists on articles published in the Religion section of the Huffington Post. ... This assertive, us-against-them tone (in this case, against established religion) is characteristic of new religions. ...
Taken together, these four elements suggest that Atheists regularly demonstrate attributes -- desire for spiritual sustenance, the importance of self-identification, offering their worldview as an alternative to other religious systems, and an assertive if not competitive style of engagement with other religious points of view -- usually exhibited by religious folk of all persuasions.
I see it not infrequently: the worst way theists can think of to insult atheists is to call atheism a religion.
(via Tufts Freethought Society, who delivers the smackdown)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please pick a handle or moniker for your comment. It's much easier to address someone by a name or pseudonym than simply "hey you". I have the option of requiring a "hard" identity, but I don't want to turn that on... yet.
With few exceptions, I will not respond or reply to anonymous comments, and I may delete them. I keep a copy of all comments; if you want the text of your comment to repost with something vaguely resembling an identity, email me.
No spam, pr0n, commercial advertising, insanity, lies, repetition or off-topic comments. Creationists, Global Warming deniers, anti-vaxers, Randians, and Libertarians are automatically presumed to be idiots; Christians and Muslims might get the benefit of the doubt, if I'm in a good mood.
See the Debate Flowchart for some basic rules.
Sourced factual corrections are always published and acknowledged.
I will respond or not respond to comments as the mood takes me. See my latest comment policy for details. I am not a pseudonomous-American: my real name is Larry.
Comments may be moderated from time to time. When I do moderate comments, anonymous comments are far more likely to be rejected.
I've already answered some typical comments.
I have jqMath enabled for the blog. If you have a dollar sign (\$) in your comment, put a \\ in front of it: \\\$, unless you want to include a formula in your comment.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.