More and more...I am starting to form the position that Atheism is in fact a religion. Of course, this very idea is abhorrent to Atheists, who mistakenly believe that not believing in God or the supernatural is equitable with not believing in anything. Furthermore, another mistake made in this case is that being an atheist is equitable with being more rational and intelligent. There are so many hypocrisies lurking here that it is disturbing. Atheism and Science go hand and hand. Although Atheism is not dependent on science per se to exist, most and many modern atheists are Darwinists and/or Naturalists. Dan Dennett is an example. Being probably agnostic myself, Dan Dennett is an atheist and philosopher I enjoy learning from, as he most definitely presents challenging and intelligent information about our world. Being intellectual, I try to entertain as many ideas as possible, so as to keep an open mind. Life after all is some infinitely open book of knowledge as far as I am concerned.
So, back to the issue of Atheism being a religion. There are several more traditional examples, especially Buddhism, which many atheists understand to be atheistic, but still hold on to the idea that Buddhism posits the supernatural into its philosophy. The Four Noble Truths are very basic, grounded ideas and have nothing to do with the supernatural at all. Tibetan Buddhism is another thing altogether. Atheistic Quakers exist and if one has a more complex understanding, Hinduism and Jainism for example, offer up negative theologies as well. The absence of God in religion is not a new thing.
Another thing of interest is "The Sunday Assembly", an atheistic church. Ninian Smart's 7 Dimensions of Religion do apply to something of this nature. The very fact that atheism is itself a belief system, since the existence of God or the supernatural cannot be proven, sets it up for religiosity. Religion as defined is more open for me and going to the root of the word, is more of a reliance on an idea, creed or belief as to how one lives one's life.
For me it does not matter either way...I do not however find salvation in Atheism.
Good luck in trying to do so...
