Calling atheism a religion is like:

• calling bald a hair style
• not collecting stamps is a hobby
• abstinence is a sex position
• off is a channel on the television
• barefoot is a type of shoe
• unemployed is a job

Atheism is the absence of belief. Period.

Any assertion that atheism is a religion is UTTER NONSENSE!!

No, we have no holy books, no dogma, or Creed, we are human, striving to be better for ourselves and those round us without fear of punishment or promise of reward.

To some everything is a religion. If it were a religion we would get all the perks that the religionist get and, of course, we do not.

If im part of a "RELIGION" where is the tax exempt status?

Atheism is a religion like baldness is a hair color and abstinence is a sexual position.

Religion is a form of belief. Specifically in a divine being (or beings) responsible for creating and overseeing the world/universe. So religion is a subset of belief, and not all belief is necessarily religion.

Atheism is a belief, but if anything, it's the opposite of religion. It could be considered a non-religion or an anti-religion, but certainly not a religion.

Some people (who need to buy a dictionary) seem to consider strong and passionate belief to be religion. They are wrong.

No, it isn't. We are not worshiping deity that dosn't exist. I've been an athiest for approx. 5 weeks and it's quite liberating.

I'm with you. It is the absence of religion, which is a hard thing for a lot of people to understand. It's only fair. I can't comprehend faith either.

I don't mind their lack of understanding, though. It's the condescension that irritates me. But I suppose that's coupled with their lack of understanding. The idea that something is missing in my life seems more like a way for them to explain their religious idiosyncrasies.

I was watching a show the other day. A couple got married, one was an atheist, the other an extremely conservative Christian. They eloped. She, the Christian, asked him to lead her family in prayer to smooth things over with her family. I was completely offended. They just don't get it. Would she ask a Jewish man to say a Christian prayer? No, because she would grasp how offensive it would be to ask. But it's okay to disregard the belief system of an atheist.

Yes, I know they're fictional people, but I see this crap all of the time.

I sort of think it's the opposite of religion? There is no book of magical happenings and punishments for believers; no mandates to go to war with other tribes; no vindictive monster to object worship; no "testing of faith", etc., etc., etc.

Most atheists/agnostics (many perhaps is a better term) just don't believe the hype any longer, if we did in the first place. What's the BFD? Why is that so difficult to accept or understand?

What's the old saying? Atheism's a religion like "off" is a TV channel or "non stamp collecting" is a hobby.

Honestly, more of a state of anti-religion if anything. I'm not sure when or how this whole "everything is a religion" trend started but it's horribly annoying.

There are many definitions of Atheism. Check out www.evilbible.com for a lot of talk on the subject; however, I like to make up my own personal definitions:

1. An Atheist is a person who has thought about God for some time and has decided that it is far more likely that Man created God and not God created Man.
2. An Atheist is a person who believes that the evidence that “God does not exist” is so overwhelming that you can make the jump to yes, “God does not exist”. For example, I cannot prove that my wife is not a covert secret agent for the Chinese government; however, all the available evidence that I have strongly suggests that she is not.
3. An Atheist is allowed to change his or her mind as new information becomes available.

   ---

   Atheism is not a religion because a religion requires that you accept various dogmas as truth. Atheism makes no such requirement.
   Religions require beliefs in ideas that must be true because the men that wrote down those ideas were inspired by their particular supernatural deity. If you do not accept those ideas, then you can be severely punished – you can be killed, tortured, or simply be ostracized from your friends and family. To aid in the propagation of the religion, free speech must be restricted so that evil ideas, that is, ideas that contradict the religion, are crushed. But you have free speech – as long as that speech does not challenge the religion. And you have free will. That is, you can either choose to believe in the religion or you can be punished in the fires of Hell forever.
   Religion preys on our human nature to propagate itself. It assures us that we will live forever if we just submit to God and do what the various priests tell us to do – including giving them a lot of money. (After all, how much is your soul worth?) Religions make us feel good by telling us that we are loved by God, that we have a purpose in life, that we are very important and that we are a part of something that is wonderful. Religion tells us that we, the members of the religion, are very good, those believers outside of our religion are not so good, and atheists are evil because there can be no morality without God.
   With religion, truth is based on the writings of the sacred texts and these truths cannot be changed. With Atheism, “truth” is based on experimental evidence and can be changed as new evidence becomes available. Atheists seek the truth through observations of the world.
   Religious people know they have the truth because they have accepted the teachings in their sacred texts. Atheists will seek answers to: Why are some people Gay while others are not? – while deeply religious people will simply stone Gay people to death or throw them off of tall buildings because: “If a man lies with another man, it is an abomination unto the Lord – and both shall be put to death” (Leviticus 20:13)
   ​

It's not a religion but the complete lack thereof. That being said, I believe that atheism is still a point of view on religion just as theism is.

Is the absense of a religion a religion? I used to watch a youtuber called Nonstampcollector. As you can see he equated it to a hobby. Does the absense of a hobby still make you a hobbieist? So I conclude that the source of the original question can be found in irrational projection on behalf of the poser of the question.

Sure but I prefer Humanism. It is a belief system that mocks Christianity where it falls short and yet is a clear set of ideals. Whereas atheism is more like an absence of belief in anything that isn't seen, humanism is the belief in human compassion, complex reasoning, and a set of morals that are innate which I quite enjoy

No. And belief doesn't even come into it. It's just an outlook to life and existance in general that lays competely outside the domain of any religious group/sect that has the agenda of the mind control of others. It's actually an irreligious outlook. Well that's my 'take' on it anyway.

That's because believers do not understand, or refuse to understand, Atheism and so turn it on its head. They think that Atheism is simply a belief or faith that there is no God as opposed to refusing to be entrapped by a belief in God. They mistake the freedom of Atheism for a slavery to a negative faith. Some believers even think that Atheists really believe in God deep down are really just rebelling against God a la Satan.

NO!

This idea is the result of an intentional false narrative from theologians which is centuries old.

Religious theologians actually teach a false narrative about Atheism and Agnosticism.

They teach believers Agnostics are "Doubters" and Atheists "Deniers", as if their assertion of God is already proven and a non believer is in denial of a fact. They teach Agnosticism and Atheism as points on a linear line, on the left, Theism, In the middle Agnosticism, and on the right Atheism, this is FALSE and INTENTIONAL by theologians.

A-Theism is a response to Theism, the a prefix denotes "lack of"
This is a position on belief, you have a belief in a God, or you lack a belief in God.

A-Gnosticism is a response to Gnosticism, the A-prefix denotes "lack of"
This is a position on Knowledge, you claim to have knowledge of a God, or you claim to lack such knowledge of a God.

Religion does not want to even acknowledge Gnosticism, because by doing so they have to admit Atheism (a lack of belief) has weight.

With the FALSE linear model, they teach followers that Atheists are COUNTERCLAIMING, claiming that Theists claim there is a God, Agnostics do not know, and Atheists claim there is no God. That is wrong both on linguistics and basic honesty.

I would say the Xians want to put you in the kind of box they understand, also the box the leaders have decided best suit their agenda/s.
Of course it isn't a religion, yet regardless of those inane claims, I WOULD say atheism is a "belief system", in that religions cannot be disproved,

Atheism is merely a DESCRIPTION of a world view. Ditto THEISM. A world view, outlook or RELIGION can be ether! The mistake Atheists AND Theists make is equating theism with religion and atheism with anti-religion.

Theists can be non-religious. Atheists can be religious. The three are not mutually exclusive. I can see the folly THEISTS often have about these things, but my concern is that ATHEISTS don’t see this!

Do you believe bacon is a vegetable?