Re: ATHEISM - A Side-Effect of Religious Stupidity

"Kelsey Bjarnason" <kbjarnason@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:5nhrf5-vjp.ln1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Tue, 13 May 2008 20:04:15 -0500, SongBookz wrote:
>
>> "Kelsey Bjarnason" <kbjarnason@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>> news:jmapf5-vjp.ln1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> On Mon, 12 May 2008 22:32:57 -0500, SongBookz wrote:
>>>
>>>> "Kelsey Bjarnason" <kbjarnason@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>>>> news:mbdlf5-u05.ln1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>>>> [snips]
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sat, 10 May 2008 00:32:43 -0500, SongBookz wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Atheism qualifies as religion under word's, "religion," definition:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the
>>>>>> universe
>>>>>
>>>>> Whoops, sorry, you dropped the ball there.  The one key aspect of
>>>>> atheism is that it is precisely about *not* having a belief.
>>>>>
>>>>> Nice try, though.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> "A-theism" is not equal to "a-religion."
>>>
>>> No, it's equal to "a theism", the lack of belief in deities.
>>>
>>> Which is *exactly* as I said.  It is precisely about *not* having a
>>> belief, in contradiction to your assertion that, I quote, "A set of
>>> **beliefs**..." [emphasis added]
>>>
>>>
>> "A-theism" refers only to "without theism (or deity," a synonym).. it
>> does not refer to religion.
>
> Let us try this again.
>
> Theism means the presence of a belief.
> Atheism means the absence of that belief.

Incorrect - "Theism" is from the Greek, "Theos" meaning "god."

"A-theism" equals "a-theos," or "without god."

It says nothing about religion.

A god is not a requirement for religion - religion is simply a set of 
beliefs concerning "the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe."

Whether you believe the universe was created by a god or several gods or 
whether you believe it was resulted from a Big Bang - you have the basic 
requirements of a religion.  Which is one reason the court was correcting
in 
classifying atheism as a religion.

Terrell