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==Demographics==
==Demographics==


Zuckerman provided a provided a review of scientific studies examining the demographics of atheism. <ref name="zuckerman">Phil Zuckerman, [http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/Zuckerman_on_Atheism.pdf Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions], Sociology Compass 3/6 (2009): 949–971, 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00247.x</ref> There are between about 500 million and 750 million non-believers around the world. Men are generally more irreligious than women and more like to [[apostasy|leave a religion for atheism]]. Atheism is more common in industrialised democracies. In the westernised countries, atheism is correlated with youth and education, which is ironic considering the Bible equates atheists with fools ({{Bible|Psalm 14:1}}). Homosexuals are more likely to be atheists.
Zuckerman provided a provided a review of scientific studies examining the demographics of atheism. <ref name="zuckerman">Phil Zuckerman, [http://www.pitzer.edu/academics/faculty/zuckerman/Zuckerman_on_Atheism.pdf Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions], Sociology Compass 3/6 (2009): 949–971, 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00247.x</ref> There are between 500 million and 750 million non-believers around the world. Men are generally more irreligious than women and more likely to [[apostasy|leave a religion for atheism]]. Atheism is more common in industrialised democracies. In the westernised countries, atheism is correlated with youth and education, which is ironic considering the Bible equates atheists with fools ({{Bible|Psalm 14:1}}). Homosexuals are more likely to be atheists.


==Beliefs and behaviours==
==Beliefs and behaviours==

Revision as of 22:49, 12 July 2014

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For more information, see the Wikipedia article:

An atheist, in the general sense, is a person who does not believe in the existence of any gods. Atheism is the corresponding philosophical position. Atheism may or may not be a position of faith, depending on the type of atheism, as atheism may or may not refer to a stance on the theistic question, depending on the individual in question and how the term 'atheism' is meant. Arguments over whether or not atheism constitutes a belief are often based on one side assuming that the term always does or always doesn’t constitute a positivist statement, and therefore, a belief.

Types of atheism

Strong atheism

Main Article: Strong atheism

A "strong" atheist is one who asserts that "there is no god." Strong atheism is the form of atheism that most theists reference in debates, since most don't know the distinction between strong and weak atheism. However, strong atheists are rarer than most people think.

For the above reason, strong atheism is sometimes criticized for "requiring faith." This criticism often rests on the assumption that faith is a fault, which, if spoken by an arguer whose stance rests on faith, is self-defeating in a direct sense. Other times this idea is argued by theists to 'bring them down to our level'. Most often it is argued as a 'your stance is no better than mine' argument. Often, this is successful in derailing the conversation, as many atheists are uncomfortable with admitting that any element of their thoughts contain faith. Users of this wiki are advised to consider that, in the literal epistemic sense, all knowledge eventually requires some basic assumptions, and that assumption is functionally identical to faith. The difference relies not in avoiding faith/assumption, but in grounding one's knowledge in firmer and more well-reasoned thought.

Strong atheism is also called 'positivist' atheism. In this usage the term 'positivist' comes from the root 'to posit' meaning 'to take a position'. Thus a positivist atheist is one who has taken the position that there are no gods.

Weak atheism

Main Article: Weak atheism

A "weak" atheist is one who doesn't claim to know that there is no god, but instead simply lacks belief in a god. This form of atheism is the most common, and is sometimes called "agnostic atheism" (see our discussion of atheist vs. agnostic). Every newborn baby is (unknowingly) a weak atheist, and remains so until the concept of god is introduced to him or her.

Weak atheists often argue that theirs is the only rational position, as both theism and strong atheism make positivist claims. Weak atheism is also called non-positivist atheism.

Demographics

Zuckerman provided a provided a review of scientific studies examining the demographics of atheism. [1] There are between 500 million and 750 million non-believers around the world. Men are generally more irreligious than women and more likely to leave a religion for atheism. Atheism is more common in industrialised democracies. In the westernised countries, atheism is correlated with youth and education, which is ironic considering the Bible equates atheists with fools (Psalm 14:1 Bible-icon.png). Homosexuals are more likely to be atheists.

Beliefs and behaviours

Apart from not believing in the existence of any gods, there is no official atheist doctrine. There is no atheist pope or church, and there are no atheist rules to live by. This does not mean that atheists do not also follow societal and legal rules, lack ethical principles, nor that they are never religious.

From Zuckerman's scientific literature review, [1] atheists are markedly "less nationalistic, less prejudiced, less anti-Semitic, less racist, less dogmatic, less ethnocentric, less close-minded, and less authoritarian" and more politically independent than religious believers. Atheists are less likely to support right wing political parties and are generally more liberal/progressive. Atheists are more supportive of gender equality and accepting of homosexuality. Zuckerman suggests that atheists may have a superior sense of social justice than the religious.

Atheist are less likely to commit violent crime than non-atheists. Atheists are also significantly under-represented in the prison population. However, atheists are more likely to consume alcohol while underage and partake in illegal drug use.

Compatibility with religion and other beliefs

Atheism features in several religions and spiritual belief systems, including Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Neopagan movements such as Wicca, Unitarian Universalism and other nontheistic or non-dogmatic religions. Not to be misunderstood, atheism is not a foundational belief in all of these religions, but exists as an option or requirement within at least some part of each of these religions. There are minority atheist movements in religions that are typically considered monotheistic, such as Christian atheism.

There is nothing specific about atheism, by itself, that tells you how you should live. However, there are comprehensive philosophical positions that include atheism as a part of the overall philosophy (secular humanism being the most well-known example).

Atheism is closely related to agnosticism, which indicates a person considers the question of the existence of God as undetermined, or the question cannot be determined at all. Ignosticism is the position that the concept of God has not yet been defined coherently, so the existence of God cannot be discussed meaningfully.

Other views of atheism

Not everyone (not even all atheists) agree with the definitions above (which are based on academic sources). For instance, the authors of Evil Bible seem to define atheism as denial of the existence of any gods, or the (positive) belief that there are no gods. Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, does reserve the terms theism, agnosticism and atheism on a Spectrum of Theistic Probability from 1 (I know that a God does exist) to 7 (I know that a God does not exist). In other words, "atheist", for Dawkins, is synonymous with "strong atheist", as above.

See also

External Links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Phil Zuckerman, Atheism, Secularity, and Well-Being: How the Findings of Social Science Counter Negative Stereotypes and Assumptions, Sociology Compass 3/6 (2009): 949–971, 10.1111/j.1751-9020.2009.00247.x


v · d Atheism
Terminology   Etymology of the word atheist · Weak atheism · Strong atheism · Agnosticism · Atheist vs. agnostic · Tenets and dogma
Contemporary literature   The End of Faith · The God Delusion · God: The Failed Hypothesis · Letter to a Christian Nation · God Is Not Great · Irreligion · 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God
Classic literature   Why I Am Not a Christian
Atheist and secular groups   Atheist groups · Secular charities · How American Non-Atheists view Atheists
Contemporary authors   Richard Dawkins · Daniel Dennett · A. C. Grayling · Sam Harris · Guy P. Harrison · John Allen Paulos · James Randi · Victor Stenger
Internet non-believers   Reginald Vaughn Finley · PZ Myers
Writers and philosophers   David Hume · Robert Ingersoll · Friedrich Nietzsche · Bertrand Russell · Carl Sagan · Voltaire · Jean-Paul Sartre · John Stuart Mill · Karl Marx · Heraclitus