Atheism listed as a religion? Isn't that an oxymoron?

Personally I have a hard time buying any of the arguments that God does not exist. Just like the physical body needs food, water and shelter to survive, our spirit needs God to subsist. Humanity doesn't come down to materialist notions, there are other things that go into the equation, things that separate us from the animals, that make us uniquely human.

God is absolute truth, justice and goodness. Given this, how should that reflect upon us here on Earth? People tend to misunderstand who God is. The ancient texts like the Bible give us a clue: "God is a spirit and we must worship Him in Spirit and Truth"--John 4:24. "Be ye therefore perfect as God, as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect"--Matthew 5:48.

Atheists blame God, or those who profess to speak for Him, for evil in the world. And looking back through history, there's no doubt that many atrocities have been committed in God's name. Those are the failures of man, not of God. We need to separate the acts of man and their quest for power from those actions that come from God. We only have ourselves to blame for our failures. God gave us FREE WILL to act accordingly.

How do we then know that God exists? How do we know that food exists? We get hungry and desire food. Just as we have a desire for physical nourishment, we all have certain spiritual needs that want to be satiated. Primarily, our souls yearn for perfection, yet we always fall short. The problem comes down to sin and a denial of these constructive impulses. When we deny our spiritual needs (as defined by Truth, Beauty, Order, Justice and Love), we lose a bit of our humanity. More profoundly, such sin causes us to live our lives in rebellion to natural law, to God's law. You either act to accordance with these principles or you act in rebellion to them. Rebellion has clear consequences, which we see everyday in the world around us. Sin permeates everything. It destroys otherwise good works, infects institutions, and acts as a barrier to human advancement.

In short, we either behave morally or don't. This might be a simple truth that everyone should be learned when they were very young, but yet most don't bother to even consider it later in life. Rather than building up, many of us live to tear down.

For me, a belief in God satisfies a deep hunger: for love, order, peace and purpose in this world. It makes me a happier, healthier person who lives for ideals bigger than myself. This is what God desires for all of us and if we apply ourselves to these goals, it can happen. These principles can't exist separate from God.

One's aim should not be physical attainment so much as spiritual perfection. It is living life correctly, respecting everyone equally and not acting with a mean spirit. Unfortunately this isn't the way of the world as it currently stands.