Specific Topic: Atheism should not be counted as a religion
nor irreligion Reason: 1) There are many differences between atheism and other religions. 2) Atheism is divided. Outline: I. Introduction A. Misunderstanding of the word B. Thesis II. Body A. Definition of a religion B. Relation between irreligion and atheism C. Belief systems D. Division among atheists E. The common ground of atheism and other religions F. Atheistic religion III. Conclusion A. My opinion B. Restatement of the thesis
Should atheism not be counted as a religion nor irreligion?
For hundreds of years, atheism is often mistaken for irreligion while the real meaning of it is the lack of belief in god(s). I, myself, even thought it too but now I know for the fact that it is not a belief system. In our society, there are many self-identified atheists with the incorrect assumption or a proper understanding. Although, It also should not be counted as a religion nor irreligion. The reasons being that there are many factors that differentiate atheism and other religions and even within the atheism itself is divided into sects making them ununited.
The differences between atheism and other religions are varied. But first, what defines a religion? According to the Internal Revenue Service or the IRS(2018), every religion has to pass their main 14 categories all together with some exceptions. Atheism applies only one of the 14 meaning, by definition, it is not a religion, but there is more evidence suggesting that atheism doesn’t count as a religion. For instance, irreligion is not counted as atheism, although atheism can be a part of both irreligion and religions. People tend to mix up those two together. Atheism is not the rejection of god, it is not the disbelief but rather just the absence of belief, therefore it should not be counted as a belief system as reported by David Nicholls. In many, if not all religions, we can obviously see that there is some form of belief or faith but atheism does not support that at all. Still, atheists can associate with one another which is quite the opposite of irreligious. When I say it can be a part of both irreligion and religions, I mean both religious people and non-religious people can also not be a god believer. In fact, some religions nowadays accept atheists as a follower.
In my opinion, I think that atheism is very much ununited. We can even say that all atheists are different. One of the main purposes of a religion is to people with different backgrounds together, no matter where they come from, what race they are, no matter what they’ve done, they should always be welcomed, however atheism itself does not unite people, it divides them. The only common ground of atheism has is the lack of belief in god. It should not be counted as the centre of society like other religions which have numerous common grounds such as moral principles, sacred scriptures, clergy,etc. As I mentioned before, atheism can be a part of religions. The opinion of Austin Cline(2018) is that many religions like Christianity and Islam have sects or groups of people with different religious believes that dedicates to atheism, but others like Buddhism is sometimes considered an atheistic religion. Atheistic religions are religions that do not deny the existence of god but also do not get involved with it. This is the reason atheism does not have a definite group and remains ununited.
In my perspective, atheism is more of a state of mind in which people tends to ignore the idea of god rather than a religion or irreligion in view of the fact that there are major differences between atheism and other religions and atheism divides people instead of uniting them.
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References
What is atheism?. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.atheistalliance.org/about-atheism/what-is-atheism
Is atheism a religion?. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.atheistalliance.org/about-atheism/is-atheism-a-religio n
What is Atheism?. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/about-atheism
Zuckerman, P. (2016). Is Atheism Just Another Religion?. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-secular-life/201607 /is-atheism-just-another-religion
"Churches" Defined. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/churches-religious-organi zations/churches-defined
Austin Cline. (2018). Are There Any Atheistic Religions?. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/are-there-any-atheistic-religions-2484 15
David Nicholls. (n.d.) Is Atheism a Belief?. Retrieved from https://atheistfoundation.org.au/article/atheism-belief