Atheism is not a religion.

Thanks for reading and debating! :DWitty quotes:“Man is, and always has been, a maker of gods. ” -John Burroughs“The world would be astonished if it knew how great a proportion of its brightest ornaments-of those most distinguished even in popular estimation for wisdom and virtue-are complete skeptics in religion. ” -John Stuart MillBelief in supernatural beings“I would substitute "supernatural beings" or "deities" as a leader. Or someone with utmost power. Or someone to follow. Buddhism, Scientology, Realism, and Humanism are religions who do not believe in a supernatural being. ”Buddhism and Scientology are religions that fit into the context that I had lain out in round two. Realism and Humanism are philosophies that find their root in the objectivity of the universe and the realities of human existence, respectively. If my opponent chooses to assert that belief in a leader (not only gods or deities) is the first qualification of a religion, then I humbly allow him to make such a claim, and ask him, “Who is the leader of atheism? ”“Therefore, their followers are atheist. Therefore they believe loosely of the atheists belief. My loose logic is that all the non-theistic religions believe in ‘atheism. ’”This is a direct contradiction to what my opponent had just said. He considers leaders of religions on par with deities and gods, so if the religion was comprised of atheists in the true meaning of the term, then they would not follow such a leader, because they would not believe in the leader nor find his statements to have any truth value over supernatural claims or moral teachings. Even if non-theistic religions believed in atheism, this would not make atheism a religion. Notice how none of the religions or philosophies he mentioned out of the four include the word “atheism. ” Buddhism and Scientology are religions for the reasons I explained in round three; however, atheism, in and of itself, is not a religion, and neither is theism, in and of itself, a religion. They are simply terms describing the relative belief or lack of belief in god/s. “Pro has admitted in the practice of sacred objects in Scientology and has called it a religion. Logic Equation:Scientology ≈ Atheism beliefs ≈ Atheism ≈ Religion”Yes, Scientology is a religion. We agree on this, because it meets the requirements of a religion. You continue the contradiction from before right here. Scientology has a leader: L. Ron Hubbard, and as you pointed out, this suffices the first qualification of a religion. Conversely, atheism has no leader, no belief in such a leader or deity or god, and has nothing that indicates atheism to be a religion flowing from that belief. Atheism lacks these rituals, sacred objects, and dogma. You have not shown the link between atheism and religion, yet. “However, if you do not agree with this. I could fit blank and raw atheism into some (if not all) of these criteria. As for this criterion, atheists believe in the idea of morals or their own morals. That alone is an ‘authority’ or ‘deity’. ”You could not do so without compromising intellectual honesty or without playing semantics which are both frowned upon in debate. Atheists are free to believe in any moral code they choose whether it is shared by a variety of people or not. They are also free to be amoral, nihilist, or fatalist. It would be quite a stretch to say each atheist is his own god, as the definition of atheist means one who does not believe in a god. "God" is a belief, something of the mind. … a "moral" or "belief". Atheists have beliefs, but they do not have beliefs in gods. They can have beliefs in moral systems, economic systems, philosophy, science, compassion, etc. They can create their own moral codes, but most people, in general, have an accepted idea of what is right and wrong. Throwing battery acid in the face of a little girl who is trying to read would generally be accepted as bad, for example, while helping an old lady who has fallen receive medical treatment would generally be considered good. People take these general principles that are instilled in our deepest human integrity and apply them, only differing slightly from person to person, unless corrupted by dogma, hatred, ignorance or other force. People also decide for themselves about charity, benevolence, and the lengths at which it is acceptable to help others while sacrificing time, money, and resources for oneself. Some mentally handicapped people are amoral, some people have such hatred and have been exposed to so much violence, propaganda, and evil that their tolerance for such atrocious acts is high, this is why genocides occur. Atheists tend to shy away from dogma propagated by the state and the supposed “holy people. ”Since I say "God" is a belief, or self-imposed "authority",. .. abstract logic here. You have not convinced me and will probably not convince any of the judges with this poultry logic that each atheist is a god unto himself. Atheists don’t believe in gods, and are quick to criticize anyone who thinks he has god on his side or the divine approval of some deity or the solipsistic approval of a self-god. A distinction between sacred and profane objects. "Sacred"? …. This could be defined as "respected". .. .refute this. No and no, because respect is earned and it has a practical explanation behind that reason. Holy items are arbitrarily chosen as such and unquestionably and stupidly defended. Holy and profane things stem from a religion’s dogma, since atheism has no such dogma, it does not differentiate between items or practices considered holy or profane. This point you have tried to make utilizes semantics and is intellectually vacuous. Ritual acts focused on sacred objects"Own morals deem ritualistic acts. Ritualistic can be defined many differant ways. Like celebrations for game night could be seen as ritualistic. Making your own signature chili could be ritualistic. "More semantics. Plus, where does this ritual come from? Is it ordained from the gods of chili that atheists worship on a daily basis and make chili to appease the gods? Or does it stem from a repition of human action based on prior results and pattern formation? The latter. A moral code believed to be sanctioned by the gods. Morals = GodSanctioned by self already resolved. Self-gods already rebutted. Atheism is the lack of belief in gods; therefore, self-gods would not be a valid claim by an atheist nor a valid argument against this contention. Characteristically religious feelings Religious Feel is not present. I will give you this point. But religious feel is not needed for something to be religious. My opponent concedes this point. Prayer and other forms of communication with gods. Moral= God Self communication My opponent does not even directly refute this point, he just provides an equation of poor logic. He attempts to say that if an atheist is his own god (a fact we’ve established is logically impermissible), then talking to oneself is communication with the gods just like prayer. Sorry, not good enough. The premise has already been eviscerated: one who lacks a belief in gods would not make himself a god. Conclusion / Voting IssuesI have effectively demonstrated through the nine qualifications of religions that atheism is not a one. My opponent has made a half-hearted attempt to try to assert that atheism is a religion by mentioning the red herring of non-theistic religions; he then got around to addressing atheism itself, but could not create a reasonable argument, and resorted to semantics and poor logic. Atheists are not self-gods, and atheism, in and of itself, is not a relgion in any sense of the term. Con concedes my 5th, and 7th-9th contentions.