Does Atheism = No beliefs?

That's the meat in the burrito, so to speak. Religion, by definition, revolves around the existence of the supernatural and the relationship human beings have to the supernatural. Science, by definition, is a systematic investigation of the natural world. It rejects the supernatural because the supernatural, by definition, exists outside the scope of natural laws. Atheists, by definition, lack belief in the supernatural, at least insofar as the supernatural relates to deities. (Whether atheists are equally agnostic or skeptical of other supernatural claims, such as poltergeists or channeling spirits, is another topic.)Considering that science doesn't deal with the supernatural, and atheists reject the existence of the supernatural, is it so surprising that scientists are far more likely than the general public to be atheists? There's your overlap.To my mind, this also rules out the possibility that atheism can be considered a religion. I would also say that non-theistic practices such as Buddhism or Taoism are essentially non-religious and atheistic as well. (Both Buddhism and Taoism have taken on the trappings of cultural religious practices, but these are more incidental than essential.) It's pointless to talk about atheistic "beliefs" as being somehow equivalent to religious beliefs. No matter how many times creationists repeat the falsehood that "evolution is just as much a belief as creationism", that doesn't make it true. Atheists may accept certain well-evidenced propositions as true - such as the diversity of life not requiring the intervention of a deity - but that doesn't mean that they "believe in" them.

---

I have no time for lies and fantasy, and neither should you. Enjoy or die.
-John Lydon