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All About Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities
Atheism is contrasted with theism,
The term atheism originated from the Greek (atheos), meaning "without god(s)", used as a pejorative term applied to those thought to reject the gods worshipped by the larger society
With the spread of freethought, skeptical inquiry, and subsequent increase in criticism of religion, application of the term narrowed in scope
The first individuals to identify themselves using the word "atheist" lived in the 18th century.
Arguments for atheism range from the philosophical to social and historical approaches
Rationales for not believing in any supernatural deity include the lack of empirical evidence, the problem of evil, the argument from inconsistent revelations, rejection of concepts which cannot be falsified, and the argument from nonbelief
there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere
Many atheists hold that atheism is a more parsimonious worldview than theism, and therefore the burden of proof lies not on the atheist to disprove the existence of God, but on the theist to provide a rationale for theism.
Atheism is accepted within some religious and spiritual belief systems, including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Raelism, Neopagan movementssuch as Wicca,and nontheistic religions
Jainism and some forms of Buddhism do not advocate belief in gods,whereas Hinduism holds atheism to be valid, but some schools view the path of an atheist to be difficult to follow in matters of spirituality.
Since conceptions of atheism vary, determining how many atheists exist in the world today is difficult.According to one 2007 estimate, atheists make up about 2.3% of the world's population, while a further 11.9% are nonreligious
According to another study, rates of self-reported atheism are among the highest in Western nations, again to varying degrees: United States (4%), Italy (7%), Spain (11%), Great Britain (17%), Germany (20%), and France (32%).