Resolved: Atheism is Not a Religion

My arguments will affirm the resolution that Atheism is not a religion. Terms Defined: Atheism: 1 archaic : ungodliness, wickedness 2 a : a disbelief in the existence of deity b : the doctrine that there is no deity Atheist: one who believes that there is no deity Religion: 1 a : the state of a religious b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance 2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices 3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness 4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith Faith: 1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions 2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust 3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs Belief: 1 : a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing 2 : something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group 3 : conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence Evidence: 1 a : an outward sign : indication b : something that furnishes proof : testimony; specifically : something legally submitted to a tribunal to ascertain the truth of a matter 2 : one who bears witness; especially : one who voluntarily confesses a crime and testifies for the prosecution against his accomplices — in evidence 1 : to be seen : conspicuous 2 : as evidence Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com... Contention 1 Atheism does not contain any elements of organized religion. Sub Point A: To be considered a religion a belief system must conform to a certain mold. I'm not talking about a cookie cutter model of other religions, but a certain set of rituals that make it both unique from other established religions and provide the followers of said religion with guidelines on how to observe their religious beliefs. For instance in Christianity you need to believe in God, there are many religious gathering places for you to attend, and there is a book of rules that provides the basic tenants of Christianity. The same can be said for religions like Islam and Judaism, the criteria may not be exactly the same, but it is similar. There are also religions that do not believe in an all-powerful supernatural being such as Buddhism [1]. The thing that Buddhism does share with other religions is that there are very specific guidelines that are meant to guide Buddhists throughout their lives. Sub Point B: Atheism does not have any of these guidelines. The only universal aspect in Atheism is the disbelief in deities. There may be many ideas that Atheists can live by, but there is nothing that hold true throughout the whole of the system. An excellent example of this is that while the theory of evolution is something that many Atheists believe in; it is not required that you believe in evolution to be an Atheist. Contention 2 Belief does not equate faith, and faith is a basic tenant of religion I am not denying that Atheism is a belief, but belief is not a universal tenant of most religions. Faith is a universal tenant of most religions. To illustrate my point I will refer to belief in things not commonly believed in like the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot. For the sake of this debate lets say that I believe that the Loch Ness Monster exists, this is because I have seen the evidence given in support of the monster and it seems to me that it exists. This is different than having faith that the Loch Ness Monster exists. To have faith one needs no evidence, while to believe one must only think that the evidence of a thing proves it to be true. Contention 3 Atheism has no founder. For an organization to being it must have some form of foundation. It does not matter if that foundation is a person, a group of people, a book, or any other thing that could possibly set forth guidelines that dictate action. Atheism does not have anything like this. There were Atheists who by being Atheists popularized the disbelief in existence of deities, but there is no single person or group that can claim to have founded Atheism. [1] http://www.buddhanet.net...