All religion is baseless bullshit, so yes, it is problematic in itself.
It is divisive by nature/design.
And it is made worse by people abusing it for power over others or discrimination.
I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say it’s all baseless. It could just as easily be the passing down of allegorical tales — stories seeded by some guiding or controlling force countless generations ago in our collective development. There are even arguments for things like a collective consciousness or sub-atomic networks, suggesting that our linear experience of time might just be a way of processing information.
Honestly, who really knows? But speaking as someone who has oscillated between Christianity, Buddhism, and atheism in my youth, I’ve come to see atheism as just as much of a limiting dogma as any other belief system.
After posting my comment, I figured the baseless part might get some critique, but I decided to leave it. I meant it as ‘not based in realty or not based on facts’, if that helps clarifying.
Also, if you heap in atheism with Christianity and Buddhism, you don’t understand what atheism is.
Christianity and Buddhism are actual systems of belief, while atheism is simply a lack of belief in any god or deity.
Anyone who does not believe in some god/deity/greater power, is an atheist. Whether they like it or not, that’s what it is. A simple definition about a persons lack of belief. It does not come with any other rules or dogma. No rituals or leadership at all, so it can’t be a system.
I wouldn’t say I heap them in together. At times in my life I have rejected a belief in anything ‘higher’, which fits your definition of atheism, although perhaps my mindset was closer to an agnostic atheist stance, which to me is more along the lines of ‘I don’t believe, but I can’t be certain as there’s a limit to my knowledge’, as opposed to being a strong proponent of the belief that there is nothing beyond death.
All religion is baseless bullshit, so yes, it is problematic in itself.
It is divisive by nature/design.
And it is made worse by people abusing it for power over others or discrimination.
I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say it’s all baseless. It could just as easily be the passing down of allegorical tales — stories seeded by some guiding or controlling force countless generations ago in our collective development. There are even arguments for things like a collective consciousness or sub-atomic networks, suggesting that our linear experience of time might just be a way of processing information.
Honestly, who really knows? But speaking as someone who has oscillated between Christianity, Buddhism, and atheism in my youth, I’ve come to see atheism as just as much of a limiting dogma as any other belief system.
After posting my comment, I figured the baseless part might get some critique, but I decided to leave it. I meant it as ‘not based in realty or not based on facts’, if that helps clarifying.
Also, if you heap in atheism with Christianity and Buddhism, you don’t understand what atheism is.
Christianity and Buddhism are actual systems of belief, while atheism is simply a lack of belief in any god or deity.
Anyone who does not believe in some god/deity/greater power, is an atheist. Whether they like it or not, that’s what it is. A simple definition about a persons lack of belief. It does not come with any other rules or dogma. No rituals or leadership at all, so it can’t be a system.
I wouldn’t say I heap them in together. At times in my life I have rejected a belief in anything ‘higher’, which fits your definition of atheism, although perhaps my mindset was closer to an agnostic atheist stance, which to me is more along the lines of ‘I don’t believe, but I can’t be certain as there’s a limit to my knowledge’, as opposed to being a strong proponent of the belief that there is nothing beyond death.