> 100% atheism. Was raised some kind of protestant I forget which one, and derived tremendous spiritual and psychological relief when I realized all of that was absolute nonsense at the age of 9.
As an armchair Taoist (and psychologist/neuroscientist), I consider this as jumping from the frying pan into the fire, or another frying pan at least. Although, the current popularity of this metaphysical framework is undeniable, as was the historic (and current) popularity of many more traditional metaphysical frameworks (religions).
I would say there are substantial behavioural similarities (thinking styles and patterns, epistemic approaches, etc) that can be reliably observed, and despite their claims that they "have no opinion" on the existence of God, it's pretty easy to get them to slip up if one is debating from an actually neutral position. Also, they tend to have quite strong emotions on the subject for people who have no opinion.
Regardless, any such claim that it is another religion can be quickly debunked by a quick Google of a dictionary definition:
>> religion: the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods
The dictionary entry proves that atheism is nothing at all like religion.
As an armchair Taoist (and psychologist/neuroscientist), I consider this as jumping from the frying pan into the fire, or another frying pan at least. Although, the current popularity of this metaphysical framework is undeniable, as was the historic (and current) popularity of many more traditional metaphysical frameworks (religions).