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Reverted edits by MooseKnuckles (talk) to last revision by Conservative
[[File:Atheism.jpg|thumb|alt=atheism|right|226px|[[Portrait]] of [[Paul-Henri Thiry]], Baron d'Holbach (1723 - 1789) was an early advocate of atheism in [[Europe]].]]
'''Atheism''', as defined by the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', and other [[philosophy]] reference works, is the denial of the existence of [[God]].<ref>Multiple references:
*Smart, J. J. C. (August 8, 2011). [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism "Atheism and agnosticism"]. ''The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (Spring 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Retrieved July 17, 2014.
*Sarfati, Jonathan, Ph.D. (23 June 2007). [http://creation.com/atheism-is-more-rational "Atheism is more rational?"]. Retrieved July 17, 2014. See [[Creation Ministries International]], [[Jonathan Sarfati]].
*Day, Donn R. (2007). [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"]. Retrieved July 15, 2014.</ref>
As far as individuals adopting an atheistic worldview, atheism has a number of [[Causes of atheism|causal factors]] which will be addressed shortly. In addition, an examination of atheism will be offered and some of the historical events relating to atheism will also be covered. For example, since [[World War II]] a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the [[evolution|theory of evolution]] which employs [[methodological naturalism]] have been atheists or [[agnosticism|agnostics]].<ref name="Batten and Sarfati">Multiple references:
* Batten, Dr. Don (December 1997). [http://creation.com/a-whos-who-of-evolutionists "A ''Who’s Who'' of evolutionists"]. Creation Ministries International. Originally published in ''Creation'' 20(1):32. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
* Sarfati, Jonathan, Ph.D., F.M. (1999). [http://creation.com/refuting-evolution-chapter-1-evolution-creation-science-religion-facts-bias "Chapter 1: Facts and bias", ''Refuting Evolution'']. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
</ref>
==Types of atheism==
''See also:'' [[Schools of atheist thought]] and [[Atheist factions]]
There are different types of atheism, based on different answers to the following questions:
* What [[God]] or gods does the atheist deny?
* Why does the atheist deny?
* How does the atheist's denial manifest itself?
=== Atheism and Which God or gods? ===
[[Image:Socrates.jpg|thumb|right|160px|The [[Greece|Greek]] philosopher [[Socrates]]]]
Since atheism is denial of the existence of God or gods, it is important first to identify in which God and/or gods the atheist denies. In ancient times, for example, Christians were accused of being atheists because of their denial of the pagan gods, even though they believed in the ''Christian'' God.<ref>Athenagoras (2nd century A.D.). [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/athenagoras-plea.html ''A Plea for the Christians'']. Retrieved from earlychristianwritings.com Early Christian Writings, July 16, 2014.</ref> [[Socrates]] was also accused of atheism, although references to God run throughout his recorded statements.<ref>Plato, ''Apol''., 26 c.</ref> Also, [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Baruch Spinoza]] professed belief in "God," but they defined "God" as the cosmos as a whole, and without personality.
===Atheism and why do atheists state they disbelieve?===
Atheists claim there are two main reasons for their denial of the existence of God and/or disbelief in God: the conviction that there is positive evidence or argument that God does not exist ([[Strong atheism]] which is also sometimes called positive atheism), and their claim that theists bear the burden of proof to show that God exists, that they have failed to do so, and that belief is therefore unwarranted ([[Weak atheism]]). For more information, please see: [[Causes of atheism]].
=== Some common manifestations of atheism ===
Below are three common ways that atheism manifests itself:
* [[Militant atheism]] which continues to suppress and oppress religious believers today (