Atheism

"Atheist" redirects here. For other uses, see Atheist (disambiguation).

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Atheism and religion

Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.

Historically, evidence of atheistic viewpoints can be traced back to classical antiquity and early Indian philosophy. In the Western world, atheism declined as Christianity gained prominence. The 16th century and the Age of Enlightenment marked the resurgence of atheistic thought in Europe. Atheism achieved a significant position in the 20th century with legislation protecting freedom of thought and the emergence of communist states promoting state atheism. Broad estimates of those who have an absence of belief in a god range from 500 million to 1.1 billion people worldwide.[1][2]

Atheist organizations have defended the autonomy of science, secular ethics and secularism. Arguments for atheism range from philosophical to social and historical approaches. Rationales for not believing in deities include the lack of evidence,[3][4] the problem of evil, the argument from inconsistent revelations, the rejection of concepts that cannot be falsified, and the argument from nonbelief.[3][5]

Nonbelievers contend that atheism is a more parsimonious position than theism and that everyone is born without beliefs in deities;[6] therefore, they argue that the burden of proof lies not on the atheist to disprove the existence of gods but on the theist to provide a rationale for theism.[7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference CambridgeZuckerman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Joas, Hans; Wiegandt, Klaus, eds. (2010). Secularization and the World Religions. Liverpool University Press. p. 122 (footnote 1). ISBN 978-1-84631-187-1. OL 25285702M. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference logical was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Shook, John R. "Skepticism about the Supernatural" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2012.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Drange-1996 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference encyc-unbelief-def-issues was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Stenger 2007, pp. 17–18, citing Parsons, Keith M. (1989). God and the Burden of Proof: Plantinga, Swinburne, and the Analytical Defense of Theism. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-0-87975-551-5.