That's stretching the meaning of faith beyond reason. Pun intended. What you are talking about isn't religious faith. Which I believe was what he was talking about. Yes people don't know the future. So they have to make assumptions about how things will work. And they act based on that. But that isn't religious faith. If things don't work how people expect, people change their assumptions. Change what they have faith will happen. If you want to use that word. But you can't do that in religious faith. You have to believe in something against all evidence to the contrary. Or lack of evidence.
We could get really detailed here. I don't want to go that far.
By the definitions of "religion," all people have religion. And their religion involves a great deal of faith, no matter who they are.
When a person talks "formal religion," one that has a name and some holy or sacred writings, remember that he interprets the doctrine and aspects of his formal religion differently than everyone else who has the same formal religion... differently at least a little.
The religion of a little child often can be twisted this way and that in the little child, by those who want to train him in formal religion. But his religion that is based in reality is strongest of all religions. This is because he still holds the memory of how he was created and built in Mommy's tummy, even though he can't express the concepts involved, and even though he can't easily be made to understand that he might be being asked to express them. The rest of us have chosen to bypass such complicated memory concepts, and in so doing we have made our religion less than reality... usually far less.
The idea that atheism is not a religion, or that atheists and others live without religion, is entirely false... by the definitions of what religion is. All suggestions of belief or faith, and all faith systems, are simply attempts at describing reality. The further we get away from the reality of the little child, the further we get into religion.
(credits to dictionary.com)atheism does not in any way contain a fundamental explanation for the universe and its origins, it does not contain a set of beliefs, etc. atheism is just the lack of religion, or as biomech (i think, a bit fuzzy) put it earlier, irreligious.
prefix a -> not
theism -> belief in the existence of supernatural beings, or gods, that created the universe or something.
atheism -> lack of the belief in the above.
atheism is literally not religion.
However, number 6 in the definition fits atheism, especially when the atheist is adamant in thinking about and expressing the points to his atheism, and the fact that he is an atheist.
You are finally getting the picture that I said above - did you read it? Everyone has religion. Religion is the way of life for people. Why? Because nobody knows what the future is. That is why people have religion. religion is their attempt to identify the least harmful path and the most joyful path in this life of not knowing anything about the future with certainty.
'least harmful,' i think, isnt completely true as well; there's plenty of harm that can come from religion (ISIS is a great example, although an extreme case), its just that the extreme displays of faith these people can manage can blind themselves into believing whatever theyre doing is for the greater good or something. this post wasnt worded very well, oh well.
