Briefly (cos I do prattle on a bit), I've been trying to put my finger on the definition and difference between religious and non-religious belief.  

A religious belief is one regarding the existence of dieties. An example of a non-religious belief is a belief in whether your wife is telling the truth.

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I Don't Believe in Atheists

From the New York Times bestselling author of American Fascists and the NBCC finalist for War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning comes this timely and compelling work about new atheists: those who attack religion to advance the worst of global capitalism, intolerance and imperial projects.

Chris Hedges, who graduated from seminary at Harvard Divinity School, has long been a courageous voice in a world where there are too few. He observes that there are two radical, polarized and dangerous sides to the debate on faith and religion in America: the fundamentalists who see religious faith as their prerogative, and the new atheists who brand all religious belief as irrational and dangerous. Both sides use faith to promote a radical agenda, while the religious majority, those with a commitment to tolerance and compassion as well as to their faith, are caught in the middle.

The new atheists, led by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, do not make moral arguments about religion. Rather, they have created a new form of fundamentalism that attempts to permeate society with ideas about our own moral superiority and the omnipotence of human reason.

I Don't Believe in Atheists critiques the radical mindset that rages against religion and faith. Hedges identifies the pillars of the new atheist belief system, revealing that the stringent rules and rigid traditions in place are as strict as those of any religious practice.

Hedges claims that those who have placed blind faith in the morally neutral disciplines of reason and science create idols in their own image — a sin for either side of the spectrum. He makes an impassioned, intelligent case against religious and secular fundamentalism, which seeks to divide the world into those worthy of moral and intellectual consideration and those who should be condemned, silenced and eradicated. Hedges shatters the new atheists' assault against religion in America, and in doing so, makes way for new, moderate voices to join the debate. This is a book that must be read to understand the state of the battle about faith.

http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781416567950-1

Unfortunately, you can only judge another's understanding by their words.

freediver wrote on Mar 8^th, 2008 at 10:29am:


That's true, however we can understand more about what a person believes by talking at length with them (the reality) rather than heading straight for the dictionary (the concept).

The best definition I have come across for religion is the Barnes & Noble (Cambridge) Encyclopedia (1990):

    "...no single definition will suffice to encompass the varied sets of traditions, practices, and ideas which constitute different religions."

In other words, religion is not definable because it is too diverse. The only hope that we have of describing a tradition or idea as religious or non-religious is by asking the people who subscribe to that particular idea or practice. To do otherwise is dishonest. 

So is atheism a religious belief? No. For one thing, it lacks the organisation that we normally associate with religions.

If you include 'atheism' in the same subset as religion, then you should also include cat lovers.

Are some atheists religious? - Well actually yes, although it depends on your definition of the word. Would you define Confucianism as a religion for example?

The whole topic is about semantics. After all if you asked "Do Atheists believe in God?", nobody would have bothered to answer, although even defining God might pose a problem. Our personal definition of God will vary according to one's own worldview, or the nature of our neural pathways as I personally see it.

In reality, I think we all know what Atheists believe.

I believe there is some value in discussing semantics in order to clarify rather than deliberately confuse meaning.

Atheism does not have the prerequisites to be called a religion. 

A lack of belief is not a set of beliefs (it is in fact, the absence of belief).

In the same way not having belief in fish that fire lasers from their fins is not a belief.

Since religions require a "set of beliefs" atheism cannot qualify

A lack of belief is not a set of beliefs (it is in fact, the absence of belief).

Absence of belief is agnosticism.

Since religions require a "set of beliefs" atheism cannot qualify

Just because the set of beleifs are harder to identify does not mean they don't exist. Furthermore, religion does not require a 'set' of beliefs.