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My opinion: Atheism is an opinion. :o)

Worshipping is the central and organizing core of a religion. Since an Atheist does not believe there is anything to worship, he/she doesn't have a religion. It is a passive state.

However, should one believe that there is an all powerful force (or being) that created and organizes the universe and our lives, one would not be passive. One would be in such awe at such a power, intellect and force that it would be the dominant factor in guiding one's actions.

One would then worship, express one's beliefs to others, and encourage them to join one in worshipping. This is a religion.

To believe that their is a higher force/power/God is a choice most people make without analysis. The Christian Bible quotes their Savior/Son of God/Diety, Jesus Christ, as saying (paraphrasing) "come to me and accept me as a child".

This means it is not an intellectual exercise to decide to accept this belief. It is an unquestioning decision and commitment.

One does not accept a God as one solves an algebraic equation. It is not rational deduction. Religion and belief is accepting things humans do not understand, nor can they know - but do answer questions that we all have:

(1)Why am I here?
(2)Am I a superior being to other creatures on Earth.
(3)Does my life have meaning beyond eat, sleep, work, play, live, die.
(4)When I die, is that the end? Is there anything else beyond that event.
(5)Do I possess a "soul". Do humans have a "soul", or spiritual, not physical, essence as a part of our being.
(It would be comforting to believe that this was the case and that it existed in some way after we expire.)

Oh well, I'm not a church going, bible reading person, but I do understand those who are. And, I'm not a believer in ghosts, etc., but there have been occasions when I felt something - not physical - altered events for me. Whether it was my deceased Father or my good friend who died in a motorcycle accident, I had a subtle "sense" of being helped in some way.

That's why religions exist.

That's why religions exist.

There was a post on FR about a popular columnist's conversion to Christianity while attending Columbia (Prager?). In a nutshell: he equated the hedonistic actions with not fearing a God. Ergo, God brings structure to the earth.

The problem I had with the essay is this assumes that man's an evil beast to start off with that needs to be whipped into shape. And the only way to do this is to setup a framework where you believe in a higher power than yourself.

How is this different from the divine right of kings? They can justify their position as look at what the common peasant does: rolls around in the mud and can barely feed himself.

A theist can argue that the king is just another earthly bound creature that's prone to the same faults as man. But their answer in believing something that's not of this world isn't much better. Its another "believe in this ruler ... however this one you can't see."