Changes

*Day, Donn R. (2007). [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"].  Retrieved July 15, 2014.

*Day, Donn R. (2007). [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"].  Retrieved July 15, 2014.

*[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/atheism Oxford Dictionaries]. Oxford Dictionaries, due to their British influence (Atheism is more popular in Britain than in the United States and many other countries where English is spoken, see: [[Atheist Population|Atheist population]] and [[Secular Europe]] and [[Atheism statistics]]), now offers the definition of atheism to be "Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods." which is a departure from its historical meaning before a broader definition of atheism began to be more widely advocated in the latter portion of the 20th century (see: [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"])</ref>

*[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/atheism Oxford Dictionaries]. Oxford Dictionaries, due to their British influence (Atheism is more popular in Britain than in the United States and many other countries where English is spoken, see: [[Atheist Population|Atheist population]] and [[Secular Europe]] and [[Atheism statistics]]), now offers the definition of atheism to be "Disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of God or gods." which is a departure from its historical meaning before a broader definition of atheism began to be more widely advocated in the latter portion of the 20th century (see: [http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm "Atheism - etymology"])</ref>

[[Charles Bradlaugh]], in 1876, proposed that [[atheism]] does not assert "there is no God," and by doing so he diluted the traditional [[definition of atheism]].<ref name="SEP">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/</ref><ref name="cw">[https://creation.com/atheism-is-more-rational Is Atheism More Rational] by [[Creation Ministries International]]</ref><ref name="DivCon"/> Since 1979, many atheists have followed Bradlaugh's thinking further and stated that atheism is merely a lack of belief in any god.<ref name="DivCon">http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm</ref><ref>[http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/bradlaugh.htm Positive Atheism's Big List of Charles Bradlaugh Quotations]</ref> The motive for such a shift in meaning appears to be to an attempt to shift the burden of proof regarding the existence of God to the [[theism]] side.<ref name="DivCon" />

[[Charles Bradlaugh]], in 1876, proposed that [[atheism]] does not assert "there is no God," and by doing so he diluted the traditional [[definition of atheism]].<ref name="SEP">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/</ref><ref name="cw">[https://creation.com/atheism-is-more-rational Is Atheism More Rational] by [[Creation Ministries International]]</ref><ref name="DivCon"/> Since 1979, many atheists have followed Bradlaugh's thinking further and stated that atheism is merely a lack of belief in any god.<ref name="DivCon">http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/athart3.htm</ref><ref>[http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/bradlaugh.htm Positive Atheism's Big List of Charles Bradlaugh Quotations]</ref> The motive for such a shift in meaning appears to be to an attempt to shift the burden of proof regarding the existence of God to the [[theism]] side.<ref name="DivCon" />