well, Taoism isn't actually a religion, it's a philosophy

It's certainly evolved into a religion and is now considered one, really. No religion started out necessarily as a religion, they were mostly philosophies in their earliest incarnations.

Perhaps, though the Eastern concept of "religion" is somewhat different from the way Westerners perceive it.

Taoism is primarily a philosophy though. The religious aspects (which are not really part of Taoism) are just traditional Chinese religious beliefs.

also, Taoism is one of the three ancient Chinese philosophies: Taoism, Confucianism and Legalism

I'm outright, an atheist and this is going to go a little bit off the beaten path, but eh. If anything I say here offends anyone I apologize, but I'm just going to go on to explain.

Frankly, I'm tired of people outwardly stating that Atheism is a religion, I've seen it said a million times and every time I do... it makes my blood boil. Okay so maybe not that bad, but you get the point.. it happens far too much. The word 'religion' is something that I do not want to be involved with in any way, shape or form... and that's because I feel that the word itself is poison, never mind the actual implication of it. Yes, I do understand that there are many people out there who are hardworking decent people, many of whom will never participate in the faucets of their specific religion that REALLY boil me (..flashbacks to Jesus Camp right about now). My problem does not lie with these people, but with the institution of religion itself.

It's hard to express without aids... anyone here see Religulous? If you haven't, go see it and then you'll pretty much get where I am coming from. I'm not going to go out and tell someone that they should believe what I do though, that's something that turned me away from religion almost entirely. I do understand though, that for some people it is also a coping mechanism... for the people that I love, I would not want to take that away from them.

I guess it boils down to a quote from a Vatican priest in Religulous when asked how to convince people to change faiths;

"You don't, just let people live and die with their stupid beliefs."

Followed by a quote from one of my favorite songs pertaining to the subject;

"It's not for you to say, what every heart should pay... it's another body and soul that isn't your own."

Oh great, another Religion thread.
EVERY time someone starts this, it dosent end well.
good job apsham, i'm athiest too.
or realist; anyways, i dont believe in god.
its too far fetched

To be honest, this was an old one that was only a few topics down... has been around since 04 it seems.

Technically, by the definition of religion, Atheism is a religion. A religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. If you think that there is no supreme being that created it all, that is a belief now isn't it?

Also, I suppose that it should have been clarified at the beginning of this thread, but "religion" can also be seen as a classification of the government. Hence you can call Taoism a religion, even if people argue that it is a philosophy, because it is recognized by the government as a religion and thus is protected under the law. Atheism is also recognized in this way, and thus may be considered a religion.

If you don't want to call it a religion you do not have to, but you don't have to get pissed that other people do when it falls perfectly within the definition of what a religion is. I think part of your pent-up anger at the term religion comes bad experiences with Christianity, based on your mention of Jesus Camp.

As for Religulous... you do realize it was a satire of Judeo-Christian institutions of the modern day, right? While funny, it is still confining the idea of religion to only one part of religion. Sorry to rant, but I've studied a lot of ancient religions as both a Pagan and a history major and it does irk me when people only see "religion" as limited in such a fashion.

It's nice to have your technical counterpoints to stuff that I mentioned like Religulous.. but the fact of the matter is, I was using that to explain why I don't have a religion today. I outwardly stated that my viewpoint could be summed up in much the same way that Bill Maher sees it.. the point of the movie is quite clear. You don't have to explain it to me, I'm not a child... but now that we're past that...

Jesus Camp was mentioned because it's disturbing.. nothing more and nothing less. If you look at that movie and aren't a little bit irked or shocked.. then just, wow. I've had experiences with religion and only a few of them have been horrible... horrible enough to give me my viewpoint solely by itself? Not really.

And finally the issue of atheismreligion.... I've talked about this FAR too many times and it just goes bad places. So I'm just going to post this as a read, and be off with it;

http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/ath/blathm_rel_religion.htm

re⋅li⋅gion
   /rɪˈlɪdʒən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ri-lij-uhn] Show IPA
–noun
1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
2. a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.
3. the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.
4. the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.
5. the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.
6. something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice.
7. religions, Archaic. religious rites.
8. Archaic. strict faithfulness; devotion: a religion to one's vow.


I would say it fits number 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. Your article did little to convince me that atheism is not a religion. He set up his own rules about what makes a religion and then claimed that atheism doesn't fit.

And that's what I'm doing. Your point?

I do not do ANYTHING that a right minded person would identify with a religion, and unless it comes up... I try to never mention my beliefs to anyone else. I frankly don't mind that I don't know many liked minded people and I have no want to try and change people's minds. You can throw every dictionary definition in the WORLD at me but it's not really going to change the point that I came in here and stated my thoughts on religion, in the form of my own world view. I believe in human beings for human beings and I personally do not want to associate myself with anything to do with religion, religious practices or religious beliefs... I'm not looking to debate anything really, it's just that simple.

then stop posting?

No? Because every post afterwards has been replying to someone else? Who didn't understand my point? So I was clarifying it?

So... you have to be right?

It's okay, I understand. You don't have a religion. It's okay. You can stop posting here now.

We can talk more about how Taoism isn't a religion instead. Stop worrying about it.

As I said in my original post, if you do not want to call it a religion, that is fine. I just said I don't think you should go off on others who do consider it one.

And here comes Elara with the mature response.
But she basically summed up how I feel about it. You don't have to agree with us and we don't have to agree with you. It's as simple as that.

And you don't have to justify how I feel anymore than I do.. I could have censored it, but what's the sense of that? No matter how irrational it is, that's how I feel.. so I said it. That's all really.

and yet you keep posting about it....

Because you do? It shouldn't matter to you, in the least bit, that I keep posting about it because it doesn't have any effect on.. anything. It frankly disturbs me more that this is the only thing you can ever really say back to me on the subject. It's a discussion forum. I'm discussing... shocker.

I'm just confused because you seem very defensive about the whole subject. It's as if the mere suggestion that you might have a religion is the most offensive thing we could say to you.

And really, what else do you want us to say? We disagree with you and we've stated our reasons. You disagree with us... where else can we go from here but to agree to disagree about the subject.

oh, and I'm supposed to keep posting about things. I'm a mod and this is one of my forums.