[Cheese]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

Wrong! You believe there is no God. You believe that all religions are wrong. You hold these beliefs with a very limited understanding of the universe around you and what lies beyond. You've never seen beyond death but, believe there is nothing. Your understanding of the millions of religions in this world is so limited that you couldn't even name most of them but, because of your atheistic beliefs condemn them as folly much in the same way as I do because of my belief system.

Next to Atheism probably the only other religion you would have an intimate understanding of is Catholicism because of your background. Your understanding of scriptures is so limited you can't even differentiate between Catholic beliefs and New Testament beliefs. Nor can you differentiate between the old covenant and the new covenant. But ignorance doesn't stop you from defining and condemning my beliefs. In this you are more of a zealot than me.

Talking to you is like talking to...well you get it...everyone has explained this to you multitudes of times.

Atheism is not a belief system; if atheism were a belief system, it would consist of an integrated system of doctrines, beliefs, and ideas that would be used to provide guidance and stability in people's lives. Since it obviously does none of that, those who say that atheism is a belief system can't have the slightest idea of what they are talking about.

Many Christians seem to believe that atheism is a religion, but no one with an accurate understanding of both concepts would make such a mistake. Atheism lacks every one of the characteristics of religion. At most, atheism doesn’t explicitly exclude most of them, but the same can be said for almost anything. Thus, it’s not possible to call atheism a religion. It can be part of a religion, but it can’t be a religion by itself. They are completely different categories: atheism is the absence of one particular belief while religion is a complex web of traditions and beliefs.

An ideology is any "body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group." There are two key elements necessary for an ideology: it must be a group of ideas or beliefs and this group must provide guidance. Neither is true of atheism. First, atheism is by itself just the absence of belief in gods; it's not even a single belief, much less a body of beliefs. Second, atheism by itself offers no guidance on moral, social, or political matters. Atheism, like theism, can be part of an ideology, but neither can be an ideology by themselves.