I can name at least 4 religions that lack a deity off the top of my head:

Secular humanism - you can get humanist weddings and funerals, and it does provide a worldview and ethical values
Buddhism - the buddha is NOT a god, and although some forms of buddhism have become theistic, the original buddhism as described by the buddha is atheistic
Satanism - Satan is a symbol, not an actual literal being, and there's ethical values and ritual practice
Taoism - This one is arguable, but "the way" doesn't strike me as being anything like a concious being

You're right that it doesn't really matter whether or not a particular philosophy is a religion or not with regards to how correct it is (if anything, i've noticed that where something is classified as a religion it tends to get away with far more nonsense and way less criticism), but it's still a relevant category to have.

O ok, Master Gareth set the record straight again. No further input needed from me.

if I was trying to convince you, that question might matter.

This post was last modified: 03-05-2012 01:59 AM by skyblue1 .

Scientology do not have a god either.

Like i said all a belief system need to become a religion is ritual.

They are a religion (cult in fact). They have a bunch of ritual. They pray, call Rael a prophet...

http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank...ideaId=190

LOL you have quite a point there gareth.

Then again, it appears to be what is clinically described as a monomania. Not sure what happens if the subjective fixation of a monomania is completely wiped out..do the subjects then find a new fixation due to whatever organic brain dysfunction is present in said subjects?

I don't think that speculators such as Sitchen have proven their point.  I do acknowledge, however, that there are a lot of differences between us and Chimps that are more than a bit odd to account for through natural selection or even sexual selection.  Both of those processes tend to be conservative.  Change tends to happen more slowly.  After just a few million years we have humans building cities, sending ships in to space, and composing love poetry.  

Key differences between us and chimps:

1) Humans are intensely mobile.  Chimps are intensely territorial once they settle in a group.  Hunter-gatherers traveled far and wide.

2) Monogamy and paternal involvement.  It is here that the key differences are shown.  Fathers have made a key difference in the evolution of our species.

3) The development of liberal art forms like religion, poetry, music and art.  

4) More sophisticated manipulation of tools.  Larger brain size.  

Chimps might be good at these things in a lot of ways.  Goodall definitely changes our perspective.  There is a lot to admire in the intelligence of chimps.  And, there is a lot *NOT* to admire in the arrogance of humans, including one other key difference between us and chimps; namely our use of #4 to create totalitarian ideologies which are unknown to chimps.

Of particular attention is #2.  It may well have been that the paternal monogamy and more intense involvement of fathers made a difference in our evolution.  Question:  How did that happen so fast?

I do not believe any self-respecting alien would want humans as slaves.  If Sitchen were right and humans rebelled, I think that the aliens would simply ship our jobs to the Planetary Republic of China and cut labor costs.  I sincerely doubt Planet X, at least in the form proposes by 2012 theorists on the internet (some planet could exist out there, but not "Nabiru").  But, the fact that so much changed in so little time is a mystery.  That I acknowledge.

i have nmade this point before but humans would be terrible slaves, a race of insects controlled by pheromones would work much better humans are to independent and intelligent.

Change in evolution happen quickly. I think it was Gould who wrote on that. We can see it in elephant today: They grow smaller tusk.

The standard picture of Darwinian evolution - of a monkey gradually transforming into a human - is incredibly misleading. Evolution tends to see periods of rapid modification in response to evolutionary pressures, interspersed with periods where not much happens at all. There were also many branches of humanity which are now extinct. We are only just beginning to understand the complexity of human evolution.

There is also a misconception that we are the most highly evolved form of life and that evolution is a process where life forms become more highly evolved. In fact, since prehistoric times in Europe, human brains have shrunk by 25%. Humans got smarter because there was a survival advantage in being smart. Once we got "civilized", this survival advantage was much less significant.

Oh I am not so sure, vampy! I am yet to see any convincing evidence of significant differences, other than lip shape, other than in those of african descent, and a loss of fur, at least in a great many humans I have seen, met and observed

Its probably not a certainty that all the branches of human, and proto-human that are now extinct are extinct due to evolutionary pressure. Being driven out and/or slaughtered by newcomers, is another potential explanation in some cases. As well as genome dilution via interbreeding in the case of those (sub)species
with sufficient genetic compatibility to produce offspring (or in the case of george bush...seemingly derived from the successful (debatable) interbreeding of a negro and a white chimpanzee of course)

Atheist religions are not anything new, and yes... they tend to focus on a singular cultural icon/concept.

I would suggest it's more like 1/3 smaller (if we compare Neanderthal brains with human brains)

Neanderthal brains were 1/3 larger. Think of it this way:

Neanderthals brains are 4/3 the size of a modern human's brain.

Modern human brains are, therefore, 3/4 the size of a Neanderthal's brain (we take the inverse).

If a modern human's brain is 3/4 the size of a Neanderthal's brain... then it is 1/4 smaller (3/4 NB + 1/4 NB = 1 NB).

1/4 = 25%