Is Atheism a New Religion?

Atheists are people who believe that god or gods (or other supernatural beings) are man-made constructs, myths and legends or who believe that these concepts are not meaningful. It has recently been argued that Atheism is becoming a type of religion. Recently, in the last month, gatherings for non-believers have been set up. "It's a nice excuse to get together and have a bit of a community spirit but without the religion aspect," says Jess Bonham, a photographer. Similarly to other religious ceremonies, songs are sang together as a group however, in an atheist ceremony, followers sing Stevie Wonder and Queen songs, songs without a religious message or meaning.

The ‘religion’ makes people feel like they are part of a group without having to have religious rules and following religion.  Followers say "It's not a church; it's a congregation of unreligious people." The followers consist of overwhelmingly young, white middle class individuals who claim to be ‘excited to be part of something new’ This would suggest that religion hasn’t become secularised but has become De-Christianised as there are new followings like atheism and other new religions like Scientology. Due to the large number of young followers, if atheism is a religion as suggested in the title, it could be that the youth has become re-sacralised. Atheism has celebrity followers such as Ricky Gervais who have made it fashionable to be more assertive about having a lack of religious faith and to think about what it means to be an atheist. This may have made people feel more comfortable about not having any religious views, leading to the high attendance of the atheist gatherings. This is similar to scientology which has a huge list of celebrity followers which may make the religion more popular.

 

As stated by BBC news “The Sunday Assembly certainly did better business than at the evangelical St Jude and St Paul's Church next door, where about 30 believers gathered to sing gospel songs and listen to Bible readings in comparison to a congregation of over 300 in the atheist gathering. But Bishop Harrison, a Christian preacher for 30 years, says he does not see his new neighbours as a threat, confidently predicting that their spiritual journey will eventually lead them to God.”



Atheists are becoming more vocal

Feminists and Marxists would be in favour of Atheism as they believe that other religions oppress women and benefit the capitalists however Atheism  does not have ‘rules’ or beliefs and it could be argued that followers have more free will. Functionalists on the other hand may favour religion as they believe it answers important questions, for instance life after death. Substantive definitions of religion would also denyAtheism as there is no belief in God or the supernatural.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21319945

Charlie and Leah