Atheism and Secularism

Atheism is the non-belief in god(s). Atheists are those who have no belief in god(s). All humans (and animals, and everything else) are atheist until they first learn about, and then, choose to believe in, god(s). We're all born atheist, just as we are born apolitical. Atheism isn't, therefore, "a religion" and nor should it be capitalized, any more than "monotheist" or "polytheist" should be. In the English-speaking world, many people's definition of religion is biased towards monotheism_1,2 and so many people mistakenly think that "not believing in god" makes a person non-religious, and therefore, that anyone who is an atheist is non-religious. That's not true - there are some atheist religions, like Buddhism, and "atheist" means only no belief in god(s) and does not mean "not religious in general". Atheism is not the opposite to religion, it is only the opposite to theism.
This page:

1. Implicit and Explicit Atheism
2. We Are All Born Atheists
3. Atheist Religions
4. Questions
   1. Lower-case or Upper-case Atheism?
   2. Is Atheism a Religion to Some People?
      

1. Implicit and Explicit Atheism

Atheism is not a religion or a philosophy. Atheism simply means "without belief in god(s)". Most scholars recognize two types of atheist, and some employ a few subtle schemes to differentiate between them, although most the time both types of atheist are given the same nouns. The most of famous of these distinctions is that made by scholar George H. Smith (1979):

1. Implicit atheist (lower case atheism) is a person who has not yet learned about god(s), theism or religion. All people are born implicit atheists.
2. Explicit Atheist (upper case Atheism) is an atheist who understands what a god is and who has concluded that no such beings exist.

And another pair of terms can be used for explicit atheists:

• Gnostic atheists are those who are sure that no gods exist of any type. They have examined the philosophical arguments against god, and conclude that it is a self-contradictory or impossible concept. See God is Logically Impossible: The Argument for Atheism from Incoherence for some arguments that gnostic atheists might make.
• Agnostic atheists are those who do not think that god(s) exist, but, who do not think it is possible to completely disprove their possibility.

This latter pairing makes it clear that, as with all beliefs, humans have varying degrees of certainty. Richard Dawkins' scale places theists on a scale between 1 (completely sure that god(s) exist) and 7 (completely sure of atheism). So, we have identified three basic types of atheist - implicit atheist, and two forms of explicit atheist (gnostic and agnostic).
This basic definitions should make it clear that atheism is not a moral stance nor a moral choice. Individuals (including theists and atheists) adopt morals from their surrounding culture according to their own conscience. See: Religion and Morals which has some text on how theists derive morals from their religions and texts.
Some misuses of the word "atheism":

“In a traditional Christian or Islamic society, people are expected to proclaim faith in God, with a strong commitment to a well-defined belief system. Under such circumstances, an Atheist may merely be someone who harbours serious doubt. Arguably, in a polytheistic society an Atheist may be someone who does not believe in enough gods, such that a monotheist could be accused of Atheism.”

"Atheism" by William Sims Bainbridge (2011)₃

Unfortunately for Bainbridge, the word "atheism" does have a very particular meaning, from the Greek, meaning belief in "no gods", a-theos. In ancient, polytheistic Greece, Christians were indeed called "atheists" because of their rejection of everyday gods. This historical and technically incorrect usage of the word ought to be rejected else it cause mass confusion. If atheism and monotheism have the same interchangeable words to describe them volumes of texts on comparative religion would be ambiguous. The great benefit of using words to describe religions comes from the fact that words have meanings. Because once-upon-a-time Christians were called atheists does not mean that atheism can, or should, mean monotheist.

2. We Are All Born Atheists₄

“Every baby in the world is an atheist - even babies born into very religious families. It's true. No one is born believing in Allah, Jesus, or He Zur, the ancient Egyptian baboon god. [...] We all start out in life as atheists. Some of us finish life that way, too.”

"50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God"
Guy Harrison (2008)₅

Everyone is born an atheist. We have to learn about gods from Human culture, or at least to discern the presence of gods (in a subjective sense)₆. Until that happens, we are all implicit atheists. Hundreds of millions of people around the world have died as atheists because their local culture has had no concept of gods, or because they died before learning about them.
Also any animal that has no concept of gods is also an atheist. Jack Quintin asserts, on this basis, that atheism is actually 13.8 billion years old: "my single cell ancestors were atheist [and so were] my trilobite ancestors, my fish ancestors, my amphibian ancestors, my reptilian ancestors, my marsupial ancestors, my simian ancestors..."₇.

3. Atheist Religions

There are some religions that are atheist. This means, there are some religions that specifically hold that there are no gods. Most other atheists are not members of any religions.

“The ethical religions of the East [...] have no gods. Rather, they emphasize ethical ideals that relate the believer to the natural cohesion and unity of the universe”

"Sociology" by Anthony Giddens (1997)₈

Atheist religions include:

• Buddhism (See "Buddhism is an Atheist Religion" by Vexen Crabtree (2003))
• Confucianism
• Taoism
• Scientology
• Some African folk religion is atheistic₉.

There have also been many sects, cults, and schools of thought, religious or not, that have been atheist. For example many UFO cults are atheistic. The Raelians were founded by Mr Vorilhon when fluent French-speaking aliens told him that we had mistranslated the Bible, and in fact everything on Earth was built by the aliens. The infamous Scientology is a sci-fi, self-help, anti-alien religion with beliefs that don't include any kind of theism (hence, it is also atheist).

"The Causes of Fundamentalism, Intolerance and Extremism in World Religions, and Some Solutions: 9. Charting the Historical Records of Types of Religion - Who's Been the Most Tolerant?" by Vexen Crabtree (2012)

Atheist and poly-theist religions have the kinder record as far as wars and atrocities are concerned. The mono-theistic beliefs are particularly prone to bouts of genocide and war in their endless attempts to wipe out competing deities. Polytheism is better off as it naturally assumes a less violent attitude towards other Gods, and atheism because there is no 'god' to use to justify wars against other religions on religious grounds. Voltaire, the famous critical thinker of the 18th century, argued in favour of intelligent design and theism and could not understand atheism, but, even this formidable enemy conceded that religious fanaticism is worse than atheism, and, stated that atheists are not prone to belief-driven murder and violence.₁₀

4. Questions

4.1. Lower-case or Upper-case Atheism?₁₁

The correct spelling of "atheism" and "atheists" is lower-case, as it is the same type of word as "polytheist" and "monotheist".

Another minor issue but which some find particularly vexing is the issue of whether or not you capitalize the word "atheism" or "atheist". Some of those who differentiate between implicit and explicit atheism have taken to using "implicit atheism" normally but capitalizing "explicit Atheism" (see Smith (1979)). Firstly, in English you capitalize the names of religions. But atheism is not a religion. It is the same type of word as "theism" or "henotheism" or "polytheism" - it is a noun that describes religious beliefs, or in this case, lack of belief. Such descriptive words do not gain a capital letter. For example, the sentence Buddhism is a popular and atheist religion has a capital on the name of the religion as expected, but no capitals on the words that describe it. Even when it comes to atheistic religions such as the Raelianism, there is no need to capitalize "atheist". This is because the word for adherents is "Raelians". Raelians are atheists, it is true, but that doesn't mean you need to capitalize the noun atheist any more than you would capitalize the word "political" in the sentence "most Raelians are apolitical" - the word doesn't become capitalized simply because it is describing something related to religion.
The sociologist William Sims Bainbridge makes some strange remarks on this, starting with recognition of the "lower-case implicit atheist, upper-case explicit Atheist" idea discussed above. He says:

“Perhaps a mere atheist lacks belief, whereas an Atheist actively professes the conviction that gods do not exist. [... Or] should not be capitalized unless the people belong to specific Atheist organisations, which, frankly, are few and far between. This essay chooses to capitalize the term in recognition that Atheists are a minority group that experiences some measure of discrimination in many societies.”

"Atheism" by William Sims Bainbridge (2011)₁₂

He does indeed capitalize the word atheist throughout his essay(s). But the idea that he does so because atheists are considered minorities in some countries doesn't make sense (presumably, he is from the USA and not from Europe). For example, if an atheist from the UK moves to Poland, is it really true that he changes from being an "atheist" to an "Atheist" simply because he has become a minority? Are black people "black" in Ethiopia, but "Black" in Greece? Such a differentiation in spelling is impractical to the point of being nonsensical and it would create a quagmire of technical difficulties in spelling. Thankfully, aside from William Sims Bainbridge I've not heard anyone use such an argument.
His other idea - that membership of a group - is also particularly strange and illogical. Christians don't become lower-case "christians" if they aren't an official member of a Church. And why should an outspoken, explicit, aggressive Humanist only be a lower-case humanist and yet a quiet member of the British Humanist Association gains a capital "H" just because he pays a yearly subscription? These simple contradictions and absurdities reveal themselves during even the lightest consideration and it is hard to see how an otherwise intelligent sociologist could put such ideas into print! Atheism is not a religion, and therefore, it does not get capitalized.

4.2. Is Atheism a Religion to Some People?

“Calling atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color.”

Don Hirschberg

Some people argue that non-religious atheists are actually religious. They are not talking about atheist members of other religions, but, those who profess no religion, and no belief in God. Some say that in order to be an atheist you have to "deny God" and by doing so, you admit that God exists. Others say that "not believing in god" is automatically a "religious" belief. These positions are obviously daft - most people also deny that unicorns and tooth fairies exist, but disbelief does not equate to a religious disbelief. Demographically, there are many millions of non-religious atheists. Nonetheless the argument that atheists are religious in nature was best articulated by William James:[The more fervent atheists] have often enough shown a temper which, psychologically considered, is indistinguishable from religious zeal.”

"The Varieties of Religious Experience"
William James (1902) [Book Review]₁₃

But however fervent someone is about things that don't exist, it doesn't make it religious. Take football. The psychology and emotionality of followers can be very intense, and we can easily imagine William James say the same thing about football fans as he does about some atheists. The truth is that 'zeal' is a trait that can be applied to any human activity where there is enough enthusiasm. You might as well say that 'religious people, psychologically speaking, have often shown a temper which is indistinguishable from football fanaticism'. In other words, just because there is a strong drive, it doesn't make it a religious drive. This is the case with the most 'fervent' atheists: their zeal does not make them religious.
There are exceptions, of course, because there are some religions that are non-theist.