by Sean Prophet

Religion, from Wikipedia as applied to atheism:

Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals which generally involve a faith in a spiritual nature and a study of ancestral traditions, wisdom, and knowledge of the varied paths of human life. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to faith as well as to the larger shared systems of belief. In the larger sense, religion is a communal system for the coherence of belief —typically focused on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be supernatural, sacred, divine, or of the highest truth. Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, traditions, and rituals are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy.

Atheism fails this definition on almost all counts. Here are the exceptions:

• Atheism is a system of thought.
• Atheists usually have moral codes, practices, values, institutions (of technology and higher learning)
• Atheists not only "may have some overlap with concepts in secular philosophy," they pretty much invented secular philosophy.

Religion, from Dictionary.com:

re·li·gion     /rɪˈlɪdʒən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[ri-lij-uhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2.	a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

3.	the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

4.	the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.

5.	the practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.

6.	something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience: to make a religion of fighting prejudice.

7.	religions, Archaic. religious rites.

8.	Archaic. strict faithfulness; devotion: a religion to one's vow.

—Idiom

9.	get religion, Informal. a. to acquire a deep conviction of the validity of religious beliefs and practices. b. to resolve to mend one's errant ways: The company got religion and stopped making dangerous products.

• (a limited window into) the cause and nature of the universe (through ever-improving scientific evidence) 
• a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs: (universality, reciprocity);

  a point or matter of ethics or conscience (relative to objective and universal human nature)
• strict faithfulness; devotion (to principles of evidence)

Theists are on slippery ground when they insist atheists are "just another religion" and are as "fanatical as religious fundamentalists." Whoa, wait a minute: "Just another religion?" I guess that means the religious themselves are content to trivialize their own beliefs, and are well aware of their intellectual shortcomings. They also seem to be quite aware of their own fanaticism. Why is it that the religious can so clearly see the falsity of every other god and religion except their own?

While some atheists may behave badly, this is not usually what upsets the theists. What really gets their goat is that we refuse to bend on our requirements for evidence, no matter who gets offended. So the fanaticism attributed to atheists is a clear psychological mirror-image projection, based on the chronic theist inability to support their truth claims.

Atheists don't have rituals, we don't have holy books that can't be questioned. We don't believe in the supernatural. There is no central Atheist governing body. We do not claim the universe has a purpose. When we do make claims about the origin of said universe, it is with the understanding that our knowledge is limited and continuously subject to revision. This is terribly uncomfortable for people who are used to dealing in certitudes. They talk about an uncaused "first cause" to the universe and then get mad when we laugh?

Though most theists would never acknowledge it, their arguments with Atheism are really arguments with science (which many derisively label 'scientism'). Just ask the people at the pro-'intelligent design' Discovery Institute who have attempted to both distort and at the same time co-opt science to prop up their religion. Their logo is a globe with the digital binary code of science and court pillars. Their cynical attempt to play both sides of the argument and appeal to gross popular ignorance ranks a new low for theistic mendacity.

I'll concede that we Atheists can wax "religious" about our requirement for empirical evidence. This is non-negotiable. The scientific method has given us every component of the modern world--which theists apparently enjoy every bit as much as we do. Empiricism has led to an explosion of understanding and communication. We should remind the theists that if they are reading this sentence, they are using a computer which would never have been built if not for stringent application of the methods of empiricism. Without the benefits of our methods, theists would still be copying their scriptures with quill pens.

People enjoy the fruits of science whether they believe in it or not. They can pray over their broken car all they want, but if they want it fixed, they call a mechanic. We may make some people uncomfortable about the idea of death, but we've also given them antibiotics. Scientific truth is of a different order than the so-called 'truths' of scripture. It takes a lifetime of study, passion, and dedication to keep them separated. For this form of devotion, atheists should never apologize.