On 11/26/02 7:03 PM, "Steven Brust" <skzb at dreamcafe.com> wrote: > At 02:45 PM 11/26/2002 -0500, Randi128 at aol.com wrote: >> Dennis wrote: Atheism is not a religion, but there are people who may make it >> into one. >> >> Atheists believe there is no God. Religion is a belief. By answering the >> question 'Do you believe in God' you are professing your religeous beliefs. >> The only way to be non-religeous is to not even acknowledge the question. > > It is certainly possible to define religion that way. It even makes a > certain amount of sense. But then we're left with needing a word that > means, belief in and reverence for a superhuman power. Right now we have a > perfectly good word for that: religion. If you want religion to mean > something else, please supply me with a word that means what we now mean by > religion, so we can talk about it. Buddhism's a religion. However, there's no belief in or reverence for any superhuman powers in it. Thus, I think your definition is somewhat broken. ;) Perhaps this: A systematic set of spiritual beliefs? Of course, that still rules out atheism, as atheism is not a set of beliefs, but a single supposition. -- We all remember. It's our curse. It is our freedom. --- an old madwoman in a cage from "Black Wine" by Candas Jane Dorsey