How religion and atheism are similiar

"Religion" comes from the Latin word "religare" which means "to bind". It basically means something to which someone is devout to. We tend to think of religion as the worshiping of a deity and that athesim is the antithesis of religion, but this is not necessarily so. Religion is merely a set of beliefs or a worldview. In this regard atheism shares many attributes to religion:

*They both revolve around a central figure whose births are celebrated.  For Christians its Jesus, for atheists its Charles Darwin.

*They both have their preachers to preach their gospel. For atheists it's people like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, etc.

*As with all religions, non-believers are treated like heretics.

*They both require faith. Yes even evolution requires faith. It remains a theory and the changing of one kind into another kind, as Darwin described, has never been observed in nature or recreated in the laboratory. And let's face it, none of us where there at the begging.

More to come...

You don't need religion to be moral?

Here's why that statement is completely bunk, the ancient world prior to Christianity was a violent and brutal place. There was no such thing as morality or empathy, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. It was Christianity that single-handedly set the standard for morality across the board. Christian morals has become so intertwined within society that people have forgotten where it came from. Here are some quote's from "How Christianity Changed The World" that emphasizes that point:

"Some moderns with no religious beliefs, of course, have high ethical standards and often show humanitarian concerns quite independent of Jesus' teachings. Professor Schmidt, however, tellingly shows how such secular morality could hardly have been possible without prior Judeo-Christian ethic that influenced generation after generation. Any "noble pagan" today recoils, for example, from the thought of killing babies, but "noble pagans" of antiquity prior to Christianity did not so recoil."

"People who today see murder and mass atrocities as immoral may not realize that their beliefs in this regard are largely the result of their having internalized the Christian ethic that holds human life to be sacred. There is no indication that the wanton taking of human life was morally revolting to the ancient Romans. "

"When modern secularists show compassion today upon seeing or hearing of some human tragedy-for example, massive starvation, earthquake disasters, mass murders-they show that they have unknowingly internalized Christianity's concept of compassion."

"As Josiah Stamp has said, "Christian ideals have permeated society until non-Christians, who claim to live a "decent life" without religion, have forgotten the origin of the very content and context of their decency."

"During World War II on a remote island in the Pacific, an American solider met a native who could read, and the native was carrying a Bible. Upon seeing the Bible, the solider said, "We educated people no longer put much faith in that book." The native, from a tribe of former cannibals, replied, "Well, it's good that we do, or you would be eaten by my people today," this is only one illustration of how Christ's magnanimous influence has taught people that human life is sacred. It is one of Christianity's outstanding legacies."