Seen in alt.atheism

[gridlore]

In response to a theist making the "atheism is a religion" claim.

"If you regard a lack of a religion as a religion then yes, it's a religion. In much the same sense as my not owning a car just means I've got a very special type of car." - Levy Oates

Comments

[lizw.livejournal.com]

*sigh* I've just had the whole "what is religion" debate inflicted on me again as part of my Introduction to Humanities course. I think the point the "atheism is a religion" crowd are groping for is that there can be functional similarities between atheism and religion for a vocal subset of atheists. I just wish they would express it better, and I wish religous studies academics would just agree to study the functions and get on with it, rather than arguing about substantive definitions.