My father always said "I'm not an Atheist, because Atheism is a religion too." This led me to many philosophical discussion about the definistion of "Religion". It never failed, someone in the discussion would bring up Webster's definition of the word.

"1. A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality".

2. Institution to express belief in a divine power; "he was raised in the Baptist religion"; "a member of his own faith contradicted him"."

Even after a Wisconsin court ruled that Atheism a religion and the state's prison system violated prisoner's rights by not recognising it, people brought up Webster's once again.

I don't know when Webster became the leader in Philosophical discussion, but I have never bought it. A religion is a set of beliefs- A system to live by.

Boing Boing had this article today:

Church of Reality is an official religion
The IRS has recognized the Church of Reality as an official religion!



The Church of Reality is a religion based on believing in everything that is real. What makes it a religion is that what a person believes in is a personal choice. Most people choose to believe in some sort of fictional based religion. A Realist who practices Realism is someone who has dedicated himself to the pursuit of reality the way it really is and is committed to evangelizing reality to move society in a reality based direction. Realism is a doubt based rather than a faith based religion where truth is purified through scrutiny.

No strong belief in supernatural powers. This seems to be becoming the standard within our goverment, and this has happened because of a demand for it. There's plenty of natural based religions that worship the earth, and not a supernatural being or diety. There's even a sect of Buhdists that consider themselves Atheists. This doesn't meen that they are without religion.

For a long time, religion meant- Baptist, Catholic, Lutherin, etc. But, the definition has definantly changed now among people. We're not all willing to accept a bunch a fairy-tales and burning bushes, and etc. as cause to change the way that we live our lives.

Candy Cigarettes

You're a total badass, but you don't taste very good.