Why are there so many Atheist in the Religious and Spiritual section?

As someone else observed, these questions come up on the general page as well. I never thought to come here until I saw questions addressed to atheists. When I saw how many questions there were, and how many misguided opinions on atheists there were, I decided it was important to answer questions in this category. Atheists are just like everyone else.

I just recently posted a question regarding people like you. Let me copy and paste it here for you.

Why do people ask why atheists are in this section?

Their claim is that since atheists have no religion, then they don't belong here. I find this completely stupid. Do you have to be pregnant or a parent to go the "Pregnancy and Parenting section"? Do you have to have a pet to go to the "Pets" section?

NO....Atheists are here because we have an opinion on religion. And most of us, (like the in the pet section, people who have HAD pets but don't currently have one) is exactly the same concept as a Christian turned atheist. Even though we don't have a religion (pet) anymore.....does not mean we have no say in the religion (pet) section.

Period.

shaolt20, you don't talk about Zeus daily because people don't go aroubd shoving him down your throat. You don't go to the grocery store during easter or christmas time and get bombarded by all that religious paraphenalia. Atheists have to live with that daily. It's like living in an islamic country where the stores are closed on fridays for prayers and you can't shop or you have to cover your body everyday because of the society you live in. You think you will still think of islam as often as you think of zeus in that situation?

On the question of why there are so many atheists on yahoo Q &A , i think it's because people do not like to admit that they are atheists because believe it r not people get suspicious of you and distrust you if they knew you weren't religious. Most people i know (~99% of them) do not know I am atheists and the other 0.75% choose to ignore it. I just don't talk about it unless it comes up because as you may have noticed here on yahoo Q&A, christians ironically take offense (and actually feel attacked by you) if you say you hold different beliefs. It's like it's a personal crime against them. Amazing!

Wisdom, just because people defend their beliefs doesn't mean it is a religion. I am as passionate about female empowerment as i am about my agnostic/atheist beliefs. Does that mean female empowerment is my religion?

Because the category is Religion and Spirituality, not Believers in Religion and Spirituality. In any other category you will find proponents on both sides of an issue. It's just that believers get upset when people don't think the same way that they do. Your type of question is not asked in the other categories.

I didn't use to think that Atheism was a religion, until I started debating them. Atheists have doctrines of infallibility and can be just as dogmatic as some Christians. I think it is a religion for some.

There are religious Atheists, though not all Atheists are religious. One example is Religious Humanism. I've included a source below if you're interested in reading more about it.

Also, since Atheists are so frequently attacked for their view of the world, it seems we should have a presence here to defend ourselves or our world view.

For the record and in response to some other answers, when someone is referring to me, they had better capitalize Atheist. I see it as part of my identity, my culture and yes, there is an Atheist movement.

Damn, I really didn't want to have to drink tonight.

This section is ABOUT religion and spirituality, not FOR the religious and spiritual.

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Religion affects every single creature on this planet, and it is therefore my duty as a human to have an opinion about it.

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Atheists can be spiritual

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Atheism is not a religion, it is a lack of belief in any god - from there, we vary.

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Edit - I have to agree with chancelikely's edit.

Social drinking!

EDIT: You know, I was going to be nice and point out the search function to a guy who's been a member since Tuesday, and is perhaps asking an honest question. But now I see through your embellishments to your question that you're just another fundie troll.

You probably also wonder why so many people think that religious people have such a poor understanding of anything other than what they are told to believe.

Agnos-with out belief-Greek atheism same thing except a tad different.