Atheist Response to the Federal Court of Appeals on Atheism is a Religion?

Atheism is not a religion. Not believing in something, no matter what, is not a religion.

If I remember that case correctly (sorry, not going to go look it up) but the whole idea was that religious groups were getting access/benefits to areas and resources simply because they were a religious group. A group of atheists (I'm sure they were just bored, but still, right is right) wanted access to the same resources and weren't allowed because they weren't religious. So the judge basically said that if the atheists wanted to have a study group on atheism then they had that right, and that the prison had to treat is just as they would a religious (so they classified it as a religion, even though they acknowledged that it wasn't a religion, but for purposes of equality, it was the easiest thing to do).

Again, not checking that specific link, but I remember reading about that a long time ago. It was never a ruling that Atheism is a religion, only that those who don't believe in god still retain the rights to have access to the same benefits as those who are religious.

edit: bleh, couldn't keep myself from clicking on the link. It was the study group case, here's the important paragraph from that article:

'The Supreme Court has said a religion need not be based on a belief in the existence of a supreme being. In the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins, the court described “secular humanism” as a religion.'

So the right to not believe, and to promote that stance is just as valid in the eyes of the government as a religious stance. That's what it came down too.

Since I don't live in Wisconsin this ruling does not apply to Me . What does religion have to do with this inmates desire to start a group ? He should be allowed the freedom to start a group for any purpose He desires as long as it hurts no-one .

Your link doesn't really explain much about the situation but if they were denying him his study group simply because it was an atheist study group then they made the right decision.

Maybe because he's in prison they have to call it a religion for him to be able to do it or something in which case do what you gotta do.

The decision aside, there is a reason for promoting atheism in prisons. Atheists form 0.02% of the prison population, whereas Christianity = 76%. It is in the public's best interests.

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