On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 16:09:44 -0500, Matt Whiting
wrote:

wrote:

On Mon, 22 Nov 2004 18:32:55 GMT, "Howard Nelson"
wrote:


Athiest is a religion. Reading further into the stats on that site they

say 15% of the world's population have no religion and that number is
falling, which I find surprising.

Probably so. Religion and revolution always rise when existence becomes too
harsh to rationally accept.


I also am curious about your assertion that "atheism is a religion".

As far as I know, there are no atheistic altars, no stone buildings,no
holy books, no wailing walls, no ceremonies, no prayers, no hymns,
indeed, none of the things that are generally associated with
religion..

If one were to define religion as a "belief a theory which cannot be proven
by scientific inquiry (i.e.. a faith) then atheism would qualify as a
religion since you can no more prove the absence of GOD then one can prove
the existence of GOD.



My definition of a real, authentic religion is that it requires at
least a few people who are willing to kill others who don't believe as
they do. Christianity, Islam, Hindu, Sikh, even Buddhism, (I
believe), all qualify.

That is the dumbest definition I've ever heard.


Other than that, it's just a belief system.

That is precisely what it is. Killing has nothing to do with it and is
an abomination to most true believers.

Are you kidding?

It takes a true believer to blow himself up for his god. Organized
religion has been killing people for hundreds, no, make that thousands
of years.

Even today, your organized religious leaders prefer to see people die
a ghastly, ugly death from AIDS rather than see them to put a little
rubber thingy on their John Williamses.

If that's not killing by religion, it's a damn good second.


However, it is more fun to look
at the fringe elements and ascribe their behaviour to the broader group.
Cowardly, but fun. Then again, folks that hide behind anonymous names
understand that all too well.


As far as I know, no atheist has ever killed anybody simply because he
didn't believe what the atheist believed. Stalin probably came close,
but I think his persecution of Jews and christians was political
rather than religious.

But I suppose that's arguable as well.

At any rate, religion is indeed the opiate of the masses, used by
leaders all throughtout history to sedate their followers. Never been
truer than today.

Except that the religions of philosophy and blind/false science are
gaining fast in popularity.

May I remind you that every religion but one must be a false religion,
and we're not too sure about that one.


I suspect in another 50-100 years more of
the masses will be controlled by philosophers and junk scientists than
by more traditional religions.

Let's hope so.




Let's hope so.