Atheism is a Religion

My opponent calls me a liar. Let me reiterate for the readers that my opponent is the one who copied and pasted over half of his beginning argument from obscure 3rd party websites. And he says that I lack integrity? Don't be absurd. Ignorance is the epitome of stupidity. While this is a very insightful aphorism, it in no way, shape, or form furthers your argument. Also, as I said earlier, if you do not wish others to compare your God to other nonexistent entities, please do not post further on debate.org on questions of God and then play the "hurt feelings" card. Even if the Supreme Court did label atheism a religion, it means nothing. The truth of a thing is not grounded in mass appeal or consensus (law). It was considered lawful, by the Supreme Court, for human beings to own other human beings, and for slave masters to kill slaves if they felt it was necessary. This was, by the way, justified using Biblical scripture. I implore you to consider the following: A Sociologist by the name of Lawrence Kohlberg shed a great deal of light on the stages of moral development in human beings. I will address the latter 2 stages of his theory. •Level 2 (Conventional Stage) – The stage at which humans conform to societal norms, authorities, and the social-order with respect to the question of right and wrong. •Level 3 (Post Conventional Stage) – The stage at which humans recognize abstract, universal ethical principles. (i.e. killing is wrong even if it is my father killing someone) Kohlberg's theories prove that it is unwise to use authority as an absolute standard of truth, because just like us, they are errant humans, and can (gasp) be incorrect. Truth exists independently of the Supreme Court and of any authority. I already addressed your perception of atheism as a group with an objective, you say; "It is a lot easier to get places and do your practices (?) when you are not a religion…" On top of this being written awkwardly, I addressed your ideas on the atheist political objective in my last post. You didn't address a single one of my points stemming from the last round in which I covered this. I will now address your ideas on… Whatever your last argument was, though it is still very unclear. •Creed – "No God, anti-God, Pro-homosexuality, anti-Chrisian." The first 2 are just different ways of saying the same thing. Yes, strong atheists believe there is no God. We've established this. There is also no central atheist dogma, so no, atheists are not "pro homosexuality", though I personally am opposed to the persecution of a group on the grounds of any inherent difference. Atheists are not necessarily anti-Christian either. We just do not believe in God. That's all. It would be like me saying all Christians are Nazis. No, only some Catholic bishops supported Fascism in Europe. It would be inane for me to say that because some members of a group did something, all members of a group agree with the action. Also, there is no ‘percieve(d)' separation of church and state. It was a principle spelled out by our founding fathers. It is a matter of fact and not perception. •Crisis- Insofar as I am aware, atheists had nothing to do with the corruption pandemic in every form of religion from the dawn of time. There are no ‘atheistic ideals'. There is only 1 idea: God doesn't exist. We didn't create corruption in your religions, you did. This should raise some questions in the minds of any who believe their religion was divinely inspired. •Assemblies- Every organization has meetings. The United Nations has scheduled meetings. Is the United Nations a religion? •Pulpit- Yes, when people speak publicly they often do so on a stage, stool, etc. This is truly a point in your favor and is completely relevant to this discussion. •Evangelistic- Atheists would not be evangelical if religions did not threaten our continued survival as a species. You blow up abortion clinics, kill one another, and halt the spread of science in the name of religion. Now people who think that if they blow themselves up, they'll get 70 virgins in paradise are attaining nuclear power. We'll stop being evangelical when you stop threatening the human race. •Celebration over converts- Yes, we like it when people are aware of the truth. Just like your father was proud when you took your first steps. •Zealots for their cause- this is a hilarious one. ‘Zealots'. Need I even touch on what religious zealots have done to the developing world? Out of respect for the knowledge of my readers, I am not going to insult them by answering such a ridiculous claim. Sorry, my opponent limited me to 5,000 characters again because he knows I won. I apologize to all of you who hoped I would have addressed his entire argument. I also apologize if I've offended anyone, I sometimes get lost in the heat of arguing a point. Vote Con! Thanks guys.