Is Atheism a Religion? Ken Ham Insists It Is
Answers in Genesis CEO and President Ken Ham has argued that atheism is a religion that is rising in America, and is being openly supported by government-run schools.
"AiG points out that as a non-theistic religion, atheism is a belief system that attempts to explain everything in our world, including how the universe came to be and how one should relate to his fellow humans. As such, it's a naturalistic, comprehensive worldview (as opposed to a supernatural one) often referred to as secular humanism," Ham wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
"Generations of our young people, including many in our churches, have been educated in government-run schools in the religious view of naturalism, which in reality is atheism," he added.
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A recently released study by the Pew Research Center found that belief in God in America is declining, with young adults especially less likely to be religious than the older generations.
The 2014 Religious Landscape Study of 35,000 American adults found that belief in God has dropped to 89 percent from the 92 percent mark in 2007, and other aspect of religious life, such as daily prayer and service attendance, have also all experienced a decline.
The number of religiously unaffiliated rose from 16 percent to 23 percent, supporting a growing trend of Americans leaving religious belief.
Most atheists disagree that atheism is a religion, however, as the American Atheists organization explains on its website:
"Atheism is not a belief system nor is it a religion. While there are some religions that are atheistic (certain sects of Buddhism, for example), that does not mean that atheism is a religion. Two commonly used retorts to the nonsense that atheism is a religion are: 1) If atheism is a religion then bald is a hair color, and 2) If atheism is a religion then health is a disease."
Ham, who in his latest post called on Christians to reach secularized people "with biblical truths," has made the claim that atheism, or at least naturalism, is a religion on several occasions before.
Back in September he slammed Unstoppable, the newly released book on climate change by Bill Nye, as promoting "the religion of naturalism" and seeking to "brainwash generations of kids."
"It is true that Bill Nye's religion of evolutionary naturalism causes him to wrongly interpret climate change. So, in essence, Bill Nye's new book is indeed a religious book!" Ham wrote.
The book laid out a call to action for society to tackle the rising problems with climate change, with Nye seeking to debunk myths and misunderstandings surrounding global warming.
Nye and the AiG president participated in a highly publicized debate back in February 2014, which sought to establish whether creationism is a viable interpretation of the origins of the world.
