Introduction
Some people of a religious persuasion have asserted that atheism is a faith. Hearing this, Bill Maher said, If atheism is a faith, then abstinence is a sexual placement. Related analogies rebutting the jejune notion that non-perception could be a faith are out there, this kind of as, if atheism is a religion, then ‘bald’ is a hair shade and ‘off is a Television channel. You get the concept.
By definition, those who comply with a faith share a set of common beliefs. The only thread atheists have in frequent is disbelief – in a god or gods. Which is not significantly of a faith.
Wikipedia implies there are about 4200 religions on earth earth. How are religions generally recognized? For starters, they are related with structured, defined sets of beliefs or worldviews. Religions have narratives, symbols and expectations that members are anticipated to satisfy. Religions have supernatural traits, with belief in the existence of things for which there is no proof or naturalistic rationalization. Illustrations incorporate beliefs in heaven and hell, an afterlife, miracles, peace in the Middle East or in the efficacy of prayers – or other ritual (e.g., rain dances, voodoo) made to alter the thoughts of an imagined Infinite or alter the course of nature.
Atheists by any identify (e.g., freethinkers, secular humanists, infidels, agnostics and so on) maintain no this kind of religious perspectives. On this foundation, it appears that Actual wellness, a philosophy that embraces and extolls reason and all that science involves, would hardly qualify as a religion.
A Stunning Statement
Properly, that is what I thought. Then I saw the artwork and protect produced for Wellness Orgasms: The Entertaining Way to Live Well and Die Healthy, my most current operate co-authored with Dr. Grant Donovan, the enigmatic thinker from Perth, Australia. In a final edit, Grant had written an odd sentence in the protect blurb that I advised we rework. The sentence go through as follows:
Orgasms, wellness orgasms, that is, have never ever sounded so wholesome, so interesting or so sensible as the authors present True wellness as the only faith.
OMG.
Donovan’s Contemplating in Labeling Actual Wellness A Religion
Because atheism by any identify is not a religion, unless of course the definition of religion is so stretched as to be meaningless, the sentence seemed in need to have of fix. Definitely we would not want to symbolize True wellness as a faith. I wrote to Grant and created my case.
The fantastic polymath explained the rationale for this unsettling clarification:
Au contraire, wonderful Tzar of WO. The very last sentence personifies irony, satire, sarcasm and hyperbole all in a single small, little corner of infinite place. It will be the sentence they review at WO universities and seminaries a hundred several years from now, and ponder in amazement.
I can also see a Fox reporter interviewing you when the book is launched.
Fox Reporter: ‘Dr Ardell, you denounce faith in your e-book but then you assert Genuine wellness and WOs are the only religion. Is that not a tad hypocritical?’
Don: ‘Not in the the very least, Mr. Peabrain. It has been verified throughout the whole background of human meaninglessness that most folks require head-altering medicines and virgins in the clouds to make their miserable life encounters even mildly bearable. WOs and the pursuit of Genuine wellness presents indicating to wretched lives in a quasi-secular, religious-kind way. Apart from, Tim Mackie LGBTQ (irony and satire in the U.S.) is a far excellent religious motion to ISIS. We just need to carve out a WO-primarily based caliphate from Tampa to New York.’
Nicely, I do adore irony, satire, sarcasm and hyperbole, even a lot more when it truly is bound in a tiny, tiny corner of infinite area. And, if this sentence will spark an interview at Fox Tv and supply a bit of fodder for undergraduates in the twenty second century, why stand in the way?
Even if True wellness is marginally connected with religion in this playful tongue-in-cheek manner, handful of viewers of WO will mistake both of us as fans for faith. Right after all, we equally feel, together with Pat Condell, that faith (other than Real wellness) disapproves of first believed the way Dracula does sunlight.
Be nicely and seem as significantly as you can on the brilliant side of lifestyle-and purpose.
Postscript
A federal district court docket in Oregon declared Secular Humanism a religion! Holy horrors, what was that about?
Not theology, philosophy or deference to common use of English, it turns out. The selection by Senior District Judge Ancer Haggerty was rendered to manage the non-theistic group the identical lawful rights as religious teams. The Plaintiffs in the case, the American Humanist Affiliation (AHA) and Jason Holden, a federal prisoner, sought recognition of humanism in order that Mr. Holden could have the exact same rights as prisoners of a spiritual persuasion. Humanism, much more or considerably less like atheism and other varieties of affiliation such as Actual wellness, is described by AHA as an moral and existence-affirming philosophy totally free of perception in any gods and other supernatural forces.
The choose cited present lawful precedent and observed that that denying humanists the same legal rights as groups such as Christianity would violate the Institution Clause in the U.S. Structure (i.e., Congress shall make no law respecting an institution of religion).
The court finds that Secular Humanism is a faith for Institution Clause functions, the ruling study.
Although most humanists and other godless varieties never want to be affiliated with any kind of religion, in this occasion, at the very least, the greater pursuit of equivalent legal rights trumped such normal and legal classifications.
Greg Epstein, the chaplain at Harvard, was quoted as follows relating to this unusual verdict:
I really will not care if Humanism is referred to as a religion or not. But if you happen to be going to give special rights to religions, then you have to give them to Humanism as well, and I consider that is what this case was about.
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