So during my short time in the religion section of nairaland I have seen quite a lot of Christians with a lot of issues.

I spend little time creating topics compared to reading the topics of others and comments. And while doing both actions I have seeing a lot of Christians who are just plain dishonest and it'll be a total waste of time to try and have any reasonable discussion with them.

The following is a number of utterances/arguments (long post warning!) from a Christian that will prove to you that you're wasting your time trying to expect a reasonable discussion from these people.

_________________________________________


1. Claim Christianity is not a religion.

The very first sign of a dishonest Christian.

This is usually a case of "special pleading" where a Christian tries to assume a unique status for their faith or to "special plead" Christianity from the common pitfalls of religion. You hear stuff like:

"All religions are lies but Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with God"

"Religions makes laws but Christianity does not have laws because of grace."

Some have even gone further to argue that because Christianity is not a religion The separation of religion and state does not apply to Christianity. And so the teachings of christianity can be used to pass laws into the constitution.


It is rather ironic that these sort of people dust their bags and go to church every sunday. Not going to church on certain service days is termed a "sin." Even though there are no "set/written" laws.

They pray to God in a certain way, ending their prayers in a certain way. And offering responses to those prayers in a certain way using a certain phrase. And is not a religion.

Most all Christians have a certain doctrine they follow in their churches.
A doctrine which is a carefully selected set of behavioural standards (dressing, eating, sexuality etc). But they insist it is not a religion. Because they have no "laws."

These people fill in "Christianity" into forms and questionnaires when asked about their religion. Even though they claim to have "no religion."

It is even more ironic that these people do not ask their churches to begin paying taxes. Since the tax exemption for religious institutions no longer applies to them.

A Christian that claims Christianity is not a religion is a dishonest Christian. Because Christianity sure fits both the colloquial and dictionary definition of religion.

Religion
/rɪˈlɪdʒ(ə)n/

noun
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.

Christianity believes, references and worships a god called Yaveh. So it is by definition a religion.

Christians who deny this have shown a very clear sign of intellectual dishonesty and should be avoided at all cost. As any expectation of a fruitful discussion with them will -more often than not, result in futility.

_________________________________________


2. Atheism is a religion.

This is another case of a Christianity trying to dishonestly equate atheism to other religions.

According to the above definition of religion, Atheism does not fit in. Because Atheism does not believe in any god. Atheists do not have a certain kind of practice like a "church" or any other common gathering they are obligated to attend. There are no doctrines in Atheism. No set dress code, No set sexual preferences, no set lifestyle. Zero. Zilch.

The only common ground for any two Atheists even under the same roof is their non belief in all the gods.


Atheism is a lack of belief in all the gods and it is no less a religion just like not watching TV or not swimming is a hobby.

No one answers "Not Samuel" or "Not Anita" or "Not Buhari" to the question "What's your name?" So "Not believing in all religions/gods(Atheism)" cannot be an answer to the question; "What's your religion?"

Christians that classify Atheism as a religion are ignorant about what it means or more frequently, lying. It is a dishonest attempt to undermine atheism and bring it on par with other religions including Christianity.


________________________________________


3. Quoting the Bible as evidence for God.

This is one of the most common signs of an intellectually dishonest Christian.

This is chiefly because the actual foundation of a Christians belief in God is based on the Bible. And so it will be illogical to try to use the Bible to try and justify a belief that was born from reading the Bible in the first place.

It is like providing the evidence of Superman using a Superman comic.

Or providing evidence that Harry Potter exists based on what was written in the book of Harry Potter.

Santa Clause books cannot serve as evidence for Santa Clause.

Christians that do this are engaging in a circular form of reasoning and are dishonestly presenting
a circular argument:

Why do you believe God? Because the Bible says so.

Why do you believe what the Bible says is true? Because the Bible is the Word of God.

Why do you Believe the Bible is the word of God? Because the Bible says so.

Again, Why do you accept what the Bible says as true?
Because I believe in God and Bible is God's word."

And the cycle repeats itself.


A Christian quoting biblical text as evidence for Yahweh is not any different from a Muslim quoting Quran text as evidence for Allah or a fanatic Harry Potter follower quoting Harry potter's books as evidence for Harry Potter.

Christians who do this are unable to argue for their God based on neutral grounds and are being intellectually dishonest.

When discussing with Christians that quote the Bible as an evidence for the Bible or the God of the Bible, it is a clear sign of dishonesty. And they're best avoided as trying to reason with their ilk is surely an exercise in futility.


_________________________________________






4. Prophecies as evidence of Bible and God.

This in itself has been the downfall of a lot of Christians in the religion section of nairaland.

Some Christians claim that the Bible contains a lot of prophecies that have been fulfilled. some also go on to vouch for their pastors to have made prophecies that indeed happened to come true. And therefore their religion must be true.

This is a dishonest argument because

A. Prophecies are being made across all major religions. And all major religions also do claim their books to have predicted certain events that did happen to have come through. So if indeed prophecies come true it happens in other religions as well so it is not an unfalsifiable evidence of the true religion.

B. We have cases of other documents which are not at all religious and that have predicted events that did happen to come through. There are experts in various fields of study who predict what will happen( like discoveries, new challenges etc) in their fields of study, 30 to 50 years and we find it to be so. This does not make them "divinely inspired or infallible."

The recent black hole image that was captured in 2019 was theorized and predicted by Albert Einstein. This does not mean that Albert was necessarily a man of God or a prophet.

Prophecies are often a result of mere predictions or at best, a calculated guess.

C. A lot of prophecies in religious books are ambiguous. Specificity is one of the properties of an actual prophecy. And the religious books fail woefully in that area. A lot of prophecies in the Quran and the Bible are vague and several events could be fitted to match these "prophecies" and tagged as "fulfilment."

D. Christians usually ignore the unfulfilled prophecies in the Bible when they say that prophecies validate their claims. Does that also mean that the unfulfilled prophecies invalidate their claims?

Or perhaps, the prophecies that were "fulfilled" are merely predictions that could have happened anyway given the non-existent timeframe given to expect the fulfillment.

Also, there is no way to reject the possibility of prophecies that were "fulfilled" being, in fact orchestrated. Someone who prophecies the death of a man, for example, could send killers after that man. And claim it was a "fulfilled prophecy" when, in truth, he orchestrated the whole process himself.

Prophecies are not evidence and it is a nonsensical way of proving that your religion must be true when, in fact, other religions also claim to have prophecies and you don't regard them as true because of that.

Until you can do that, you are presenting a dishonest argument based on the bias you previously held.




I will halt here for now but as I see more nonsensical arguments from Christians I will add it to this list and with debunking (of course!).

What other bullshit Christian arguments can you add to this? Let me know.

Omo orun apaadi o

Bump

Did u see my mssg @bacteriologist

Hermes019:
Did u see my mssg @bacteriologist

Hi just logged in. What's up?

Let's read old topics on Sundays shall we?

Bacteriologist:

Religion
/rɪˈlɪdʒ(ə)n/

noun
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.

You left this out of the list of possible definitions.

re·li·gion
/rəˈlijən/
noun
a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance.
"consumerism is the new religion"

This is from the dictionary as well.

Bacteriologist:

2. Atheism is a religion.
This is another case of a Christianity trying to dishonestly equate atheism to other religions.
....Atheism is an idea, and like any other idea out there, it can become a religion of sorts for it's adherrants.
Atheism is a lack of belief in all the gods and it is no less a religion just like not watching TV or not swimming is a hobby.

In a sense they are right, if you consider the definition of the word "religion", you might see why.

According to TheBrahmavâdin, an idea becomes a religion as soon as it becomes an authoritative truth, a truth to mind which we deem to be a duty.

For so many of so-called atheists who show up in this chat space, atheism, the idea, is indeed a religion seen in the way they approach ideas contrary to that which they claim and in some cases those who post these ideas.

Kobojunkie:

You left this out of the list of possible definitions.

This is from the dictionary as well.

In a sense they are right, if you consider the definition of the word "religion", you might see why. According to TheBrahmavâdin, an idea becomes a religion as soon as it becomes an authoritative truth, a truth to mind which we deem to be a duty. For so many of so-called atheists who show up in this chat space, atheism, the idea, is indeed a religion seen in the way they approach ideas contrary to that which they claim and in some cases those who post these ideas.

Education is religion according to this why don't you call it that? Professional athletes and sports people are also practicing religion by this but I haven't heard you call sport a religion.

This is just disingenuous nonsense.

Bacteriologist:
So during my short time in the religion section of nairaland I have seen quite a lot of Christians with a lot of issues.

I spend little time creating topics compared to reading the topics of others and comments. And while doing both actions I have seeing a lot of Christians who are just plain dishonest and it'll be a total waste of time to try and have any reasonable discussion with them.

The following is a number of utterances/arguments (long post warning!) from a Christian that will prove to you that you're wasting your time trying to expect a reasonable discussion from these people.

_________________________________________


1. Claim Christianity is not a religion.

The very first sign of a dishonest Christian.

This is usually a case of "special pleading" where a Christian tries to assume a unique status for their faith or to "special plead" Christianity from the common pitfalls of religion. You hear stuff like:

"All religions are lies but Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with God"

"Religions makes laws but Christianity does not have laws because of grace."

Some have even gone further to argue that because Christianity is not a religion The separation of religion and state does not apply to Christianity. And so the teachings of christianity can be used to pass laws into the constitution.


It is rather ironic that these sort of people dust their bags and go to church every sunday. Not going to church on certain service days is termed a "sin." Even though there are no "set/written" laws.

They pray to God in a certain way, ending their prayers in a certain way. And offering responses to those prayers in a certain way using a certain phrase. And is not a religion.

Most all Christians have a certain doctrine they follow in their churches.
A doctrine which is a carefully selected set of behavioural standards (dressing, eating, sexuality etc). But they insist it is not a religion. Because they have no "laws."

These people fill in "Christianity" into forms and questionnaires when asked about their religion. Even though they claim to have "no religion."

It is even more ironic that these people do not ask their churches to begin paying taxes. Since the tax exemption for religious institutions no longer applies to them.

A Christian that claims Christianity is not a religion is a dishonest Christian. Because Christianity sure fits both the colloquial and dictionary definition of religion.

Religion
/rɪˈlɪdʒ(ə)n/

noun
the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.

Christianity believes, references and worships a god called Yaveh. So it is by definition a religion.

Christians who deny this have shown a very clear sign of intellectual dishonesty and should be avoided at all cost. As any expectation of a fruitful discussion with them will -more often than not, result in futility

.

You Used only one part of the popular definition of religion and you did not lay the other parts of the definition, for the appreciation of the whole, to wit

a particular system of faith and worship.
plural noun: religions
"the world's great religions"
a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion.

The word "religion" has more than one meaning other than the one you laid up there.

And these other meanings come into play when Anti Christians Wrongfully Use it as a weapon, to which, Christ Followers would have no other choice than to dispose the of it, on the whole!

But if Anyone finds a word that only has one meaning for the belief in God, and no other meaning, we shall stand with and by it and some of us here are willing to fall with it.

Going to the other parts of your presentation.

Bacteriologist:
So

2. Atheism is a religion.

This is another case of a Christianity trying to dishonestly equate atheism to other religions.

According to the above definition of religion, Atheism does not fit in. Because Atheism does not believe in any god. Atheists do not have a certain kind of practice like a "church" or any other common gathering they are obligated to attend. There are no doctrines in Atheism. No set dress code, No set sexual preferences, no set lifestyle. Zero. Zilch.

The only common ground for any two Atheists even under the same roof is their non belief in all the gods.


Atheism is a lack of belief in all the gods and it is no less a religion just like not watching TV or not swimming is a hobby.

No one answers "Not Samuel" or "Not Anita" or "Not Buhari" to the question "What's your name?" So "Not believing in all religions/gods(Atheism)" cannot be an answer to the question; "What's your religion?"

Christians that classify Atheism as a religion are ignorant about what it means or more frequently, lying. It is a dishonest attempt to undermine atheism and bring it on par with other religions including Christianity.

Same Rule Applies here, what goes for the goose, goes for the gander!

Do unto others, what you want them to do unto you.

Bacteriologist:

3. Quoting the Bible as evidence for God.

This is one of the most common signs of an intellectually dishonest Christian.

This is chiefly because the actual foundation of a Christians belief in God is based on the Bible. And so it will be illogical to try to use the Bible to try and justify a belief that was born from reading the Bible in the first place.

It is like providing the evidence of Superman using a Superman comic.

Or providing evidence that Harry Potter exists based on what was written in the book of Harry Potter.

Santa Clause books cannot serve as evidence for Santa Clause.

Christians that do this are engaging in a circular form of reasoning and are dishonestly presenting
a circular argument:

You already understand that many of them do not "know what they do", (even though they think so, until you point out to them) do go easy on the children, let them off.

And of course being children, it is not necessary to insult them or cause them shame, unless of course they drew first blood, which I know you can still overlook, since they are children.

Bacteriologist:

Why do you believe God? Because the Bible says so.

Why do you believe what the Bible says is true? Because the Bible is the Word of God.

Why do you Believe the Bible is the word of God? Because the Bible says so.

Again, Why do you accept what the Bible says as true?
Because I believe in God and Bible is God's word."

And the cycle repeats itself

As I said, they are children and you already know it, so leave them alone to grow.

Bacteriologist:

A Christian quoting biblical text as evidence for Yahweh is not any different from a Muslim quoting Quran text as evidence for Allah or a fanatic Harry Potter follower quoting Harry potter's books as evidence for Harry Potter.

Christians who do this are unable to argue for their God based on neutral grounds and are being intellectually dishonest.

When discussing with Christians that quote the Bible as an evidence for the Bible or the God of the Bible, it is a clear sign of dishonesty. And they're best avoided as trying to reason with their ilk is surely an exercise in futility.

Children do not understand that A Primary Evidence in Contention, No Part of it Can be Re-Used.

External Evidence must be used in this situation.

Bacteriologist:

4. Prophecies as evidence of Bible and God.

This in itself has been the downfall of a lot of Christians in the religion section of nairaland.

Some Christians claim that the Bible contains a lot of prophecies that have been fulfilled. some also go on to vouch for their pastors to have made prophecies that indeed happened to come true. And therefore their religion must be true.

This is a dishonest argument because

A. Prophecies are being made across all major religions. And all major religions also do claim their books to have predicted certain events that did happen to have come through. So if indeed prophecies come true it happens in other religions as well so it is not an unfalsifiable evidence of the true religion.

B. We have cases of other documents which are not at all religious and that have predicted events that did happen to come through. There are experts in various fields of study who predict what will happen( like discoveries, new challenges etc) in their fields of study, 30 to 50 years and we find it to be so. This does not make them "divinely inspired or infallible."

The recent black hole image that was captured in 2019 was theorized and predicted by Albert Einstein. This does not mean that Albert was necessarily a man of God or a prophet.

Prophecies are often a result of mere predictions or at best, a calculated guess.

C. A lot of prophecies in religious books are ambiguous. Specificity is one of the properties of an actual prophecy. And the religious books fail woefully in that area. A lot of prophecies in the Quran and the Bible are vague and several events could be fitted to match these "prophecies" and tagged as "fulfilment."

D. Christians usually ignore the unfulfilled prophecies in the Bible when they say that prophecies validate their claims. Does that also mean that the unfulfilled prophecies invalidate their claims?

Or perhaps, the prophecies that were "fulfilled" are merely predictions that could have happened anyway given the non-existent timeframe given to expect the fulfillment.

Also, there is no way to reject the possibility of prophecies that were "fulfilled" being, in fact orchestrated. Someone who prophecies the death of a man, for example, could send killers after that man. And claim it was a "fulfilled prophecy" when, in truth, he orchestrated the whole process himself.

Prophecies are not evidence and it is a nonsensical way of proving that your religion must be true when, in fact, other religions also claim to have prophecies and you don't regard them as true because of that.

Until you can do that, you are presenting a dishonest argument based on the bias you previously held.
I will halt here for now but as I see more nonsensical arguments from Christians I will add it to this list and with debunking (of course!).

What other bullshit Christian arguments can you add to this? Let me know.

As I said above, the Defence of Tender Years Avail those who argue this way!

Kobojunkie:



You left this out of the list of possible definitions.

This is from the dictionary as well.

In a sense they are right, if you consider the definition of the word "religion", you might see why. According to TheBrahmavâdin, an idea becomes a religion as soon as it becomes an authoritative truth, a truth to mind which we deem to be a duty. For so many of so-called atheists who show up in this chat space, atheism, the idea, is indeed a religion seen in the way they approach ideas contrary to that which they claim and in some cases those who post these ideas.

I left that out because it's not relevant to the discussion. Are you familiar with colloquialism?

If you think atheism is a religion just because it centers around an idea and pursues an interest you will not be necessarily wrong but that throws a myriad of other things into an already long list of pre-existing belief-centred religions.

Like football clubs, non governmental organisations, secret and open cults.

I am not sure you would be ready to debate a Chelsea follower on how they should convert from watching sports and starting coming to your church. You would sound insane but technically as you claimed, they're a religion.

That a word has different meaning does not mean we have to factor in the meanings into ALL discussions. If we have to, we must then bear the consequences that come with doing so.

Dtruthspeaker:
.


You Used only one part of the popular definition of religion and you did not lay the other parts of the definition, for the appreciation of the whole, to wit

a particular system of faith and worship.
plural noun: religions
"the world's great religions"
a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion.

The word "religion" has more than one meaning other than the one you laid up there.

And these other meanings come into play when Anti Christians Wrongfully Use it as a weapon, to which, Christ Followers would have no other choice than to dispose the of it, on the whole!

But if Anyone finds a word that only has one meaning for the belief in God, and no other meaning, we shall stand with and by it and some of us here are willing to fall with it.

Going to the other parts of your presentation.

The word Religion has more than one meaning.
So does many other words. Words like "bad" and "sick" can mean "good" in certain circumstances. The word "organ" can mean a musical instrument and a body part.

Colloquial and contextual definition of words are very important.

Theism refers solely to a belief in a god. But even it has another meaning (a morbid condition from an excessive consumption of tea).

Bacteriologist:



I left that out because it's not relevant to the discussion. Are you familiar with colloquialism?

If you think atheism is a religion just because it centers around an idea and pursues an interest you will not be necessarily wrong but that throws a myriad of other things into an already long list of pre-existing belief-centred religions.

Like football clubs, non governmental organisations, secret and open cults.

I am not sure you would be ready to debate a Chelsea follower on how they should convert from watching sports and starting coming to your church. You would sound insane but technically as you claimed, they're a religion.

That a word has different meaning does not mean we have to factor in the meanings into ALL discussions. If we have to, we must then bear the consequences that come with doing so.

How could it not be of relevance to the discussion when you have #3 up there in your list?

Atheism is an idea. Like any other idea out there, it can become a religion for some, as many of us on here have observed over time.

LordReed:


Education is religion according to this why don't you call it that? Professional athletes and sports people are also practicing religion by this but I haven't heard you call sport a religion.

This is just disingenuous nonsense.

Nothing disingenuous about it.

By the way, is educaton really an idea?

Kobojunkie:

Nothing disingenuous about it.

By the way, is educaton really an idea?

It is disingenuous. Its like saying the TV being off is also a DSTV channel.

Wait, you are actually asking that question? For realsies?

LordReed:


It is disingenuous. Its like saying the TV being off is also a DSTV channel.

Wait, you are actually asking that question? For realsies?

Take it up with the dictionary when you get the chance

Bacteriologist:


The word Religion has more than one meaning.
So does many other words. Words like "bad" and "sick" can mean "good" in certain circumstances. The word "organ" can mean a musical instrument and a body part.

Colloquial and contextual definition of words are very important.

Theism refers solely to a belief in a god. But even it has another meaning (a morbid condition from an excessive consumption of tea).

That is why we avoid ambiguous words or identify the specific meaning we intend to pass to avoid an open interpretation.

Or we draw out scenarios with which to guide us with the interpretation intended eg like your Superman and comic interpretation is a very apt explanation exhibiting your intention.

Kobojunkie:

Take it up with the dictionary when you get the chance

That's what you should do.

LordReed:


That's what you should do.

you are the one whining about the dictionary meaning of the word, not me.

Kobojunkie:
you are the one whining about the dictionary meaning of the word, not me.

All the whining is from you.

LordReed:


All the whining is from you.

Really?

Kobojunkie:
Really?

Yup

Kobojunkie:

You left this out of the list of possible definitions.

This is from the dictionary as well.

In a sense they are right, if you consider the definition of the word "religion", you might see why. According to TheBrahmavâdin, an idea becomes a religion as soon as it becomes an authoritative truth, a truth to mind which we deem to be a duty. For so many of so-called atheists who show up in this chat space, atheism, the idea, is indeed a religion seen in the way they approach ideas contrary to that which they claim and in some cases those who post these ideas.

There are things that make up a religion.


1. Designated behaviors and practices
2. Morals
3. Worldviews
4. Texts
5. Sanctified places, temples
6. Prophecies
7. Ethics
8. Organizations
9. Supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements.
10. Faith, beliefs
11. Rituals
12. Festive
13. Saints
14. Prayer, meditation

Etc

In this context Atheism doesn't even come close to be a religion because it lacks many of the listed above. Atheism is just lack in belief in god/s that's all.

But if you insist Atheism is a religion then we have to term many other things Religion which would become ridiculous.

tintingz:


There are things that make up a religion.


1. Designated behaviors and practices
2. Morals
3. Worldviews
4. Texts
5. Sanctified places, temples
6. Prophecies
7. Ethics
8. Organizations
9. Supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements.
10. Faith, beliefs
11. Rituals
12. Festive
13. Saints
14. Prayer, meditation

Etc

In this context Atheism doesn't even come close to be a religion because it lacks many of the listed above.

But if you insist Atheism is a religion then we have to term many other things Religion which would become ridiculous.

Go make your arguement to folks over at the dictionary companies abeg

Kobojunkie:

Go make your arguement to folks over at the dictionary companies abeg

There's no issue with the dictionary at all, it's you that's twisting and misinterpreting everything.

tintingz:


There's no issue with the dictionary at all, it's you that's twisting and misinterpreting everything.

no twisting there..i simply applied the definition as provided by the dictionary

tintingz:


There are things that make up a religion.


1. Designated behaviors and practices
2. Morals
3. Worldviews
4. Texts
5. Sanctified places, temples
6. Prophecies
7. Ethics
8. Organizations
9. Supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements.
10. Faith, beliefs
11. Rituals
12. Festive
13. Saints
14. Prayer, meditation

Actually that's not true. Numbers 4-14(including number 2) are not necessary for something to be recognised as a religion. You are basing your concepts of a religion on the Judeo-Christian worldview and western bias but in reality what constitutes a religion is really more complex.

As kobojunkie pointed out, any ideology can become a religion. Atheism isn't meant to be a religion but over the years has morphed into becoming one for alot of its adherents even without them recognising.

In many western countries, even at the judicial level there's been this constant shift on how to recognize and in giving their organisations the same rights as any other mainstream religious organisation. See the Kaufman v. McCaughtry (2005), Seventh circuit court of appeal ruling for an example.

jamesid29:

Actually that's not true. Numbers 4-14(including number 2) are not necessary for something to be recognised as a religion. You are basing your concepts of a religion on the Judeo-Christian worldview and western bias but in reality what constitutes a religion is really more complex.

So it's only on Judeo-christian those listed exist? When infact it exist in over thousands Religions out there? Name any religion.

If those are not necessary has to be Religion what then is it?

As kobojunkie pointed out, any ideology can become a religion. Atheism isn't meant to be a religion but over the years has morphed into becoming one for alot of its adherents even without them recognising.

In many western countries, even at the judicial level there's been this constant shift on how to recognize and in giving their organisations the same rights as any other mainstream religious organisation. See the Kaufman v. McCaughtry (2005), Seventh circuit court of appeal ruling for an example.

Lol, you really quoted out the bolded, like what's the connection?

Any ideology can be Religion as long as it follows the listed. Atheism is lack in belief in gods that's all. Like Lordreed said can you call an off TV a cable channel?

Kobojunkie:
no twisting there..i simply applied the definition as provided by the dictionary

What definition?

tintingz:


So it's only on Judeo-christian those listed exist? When infact it exist in over thousands Religions out there? Name any religion.

Sir,You need to read more on other religions outside of the major ones. There have been many religions that do not include many of what you wrote, for example there are nontheistics schools within Hinduism or Buddhism( as this religions in their pure form do not require a belief in God or gods ). Cārvāka is an ancient belief system founded purely on materialism principles. You can look up many other religions past and present that do not fit the bill of what you posted.

The fact that you even believe a religion needs saints to be one reflects your Judeo-Christian worldview. Like I said earlier, what constitutes a religion is more complex than a listing of things on a checklist.

Lol, you really quoted out the bolded, like what's the connection

I'm guessing you didn't read up on it ,but that's fine sir. The summary is that Kaufman won the case ,so atheist organisations for the purpose of the law are considered religious organisations and are conferred with the same protections. This was a watershed moment as it paved the way for other rulings which places atheism as a protected belief system at the same level as any religion. (see Burwell v. Hobby Lobby as a subsequent and more concise example)
The main reason why I pointed you to it is so you can follow the proceedings and see how the judges and experts had to grapple with what is and is not a religion or belief system. It's definitely not a simple checklist

Any ideology can be Religion as long as it follows the listed. Atheism is lack in belief in gods that's all. Like Lordreed said can you call an off TV a cable channel?

@the bolded is obviously wrong. It's too simplistic a worldview.
Ah, the good'ol if atheism is a religion or belief system then ....(off is a TV station,bald hair is a hair colour and so on). The problem with these statements is that they are false equivalences. Those things usually listed are not ideologies or concepts. No one says anything can become a religion, what is said is any ideology (ideas, concepts) can become a religion. For example there's a cult of Elvis today and you will be surprised by how many people are part of the religion. They replaced the real Elvis with an idea of him and center their beliefs around this idea. I know it's easy to dismiss them as silly but its an extreme example of how powerful an idea/concept can be.

So back to the question, is atheism a religion? Short answer: Yes and No.
No in its historical sense and at its most basic form.

Yes in the modern sense in that many of its adherents have a core set of beliefs and positive claims. It's also possible to map many of their behaviours onto the behaviours of adherents of other established religions and belief systems. Problem is some do not realise this and some choose to deny it.

PS: I used the word many here intentionally because I do not mean all atheist.