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Line 1: − + + + + + + + − [[Stalin]] and [[Richard Dawkins]] are prominent atheists. Dawkins wrote a book, called "The God Delusion". Stalin is now dead, having killed millions of people in the name of Marxis-Leninism (which is predicated on atheism). + − == Atheist Morality ==+ − Since atheists have no God, as a philosophical framework atheism relies on understanding of the of how one's actions can have a widespread effect on others, and that hurting others will indirectly harm yourself. It is often said that morals come from a god figure, but the 'old testament' of the judaeo-christian faith, preaches many acts which by todays standards would be considered brutal and completely void of morals. Many more books of 'the bible' have since been written with updated morals standards relevant for their place in time, but this in itself is the proof that religion does not dictate the morals of man, but that man dictates the morals of religion. − Many theists will claim that atheist live their lives according to the rule that "anything goes" and that in recent years, this has led to a large rise in crime[http://www.creationtheory.org/Morality/CrimeAndDivorce.shtml], drug use, pre-marital sex, teenage pregnancy,[http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/commentary/wb/wb/xp-98766] pedophilia[http://www-gatago.com/alt/atheism/42639959.html] and bestiality, but as one can clearly see, it is not the lack of godly morals that has led to the increase of such acts, it is the lack of moral development in mankind.+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Reverted edits by Mars (Talk); changed back to last version by Karajou
Atheism is the disbelief in the existence of any supernatural deity. This disbelief can take a number of forms, such as the assertion that deities do not exist, or the absence of any belief in any deity.
[[Image:Nogod.jpg|thumb|300px]]
{{cquote|The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."<ref>Psalm 14:1 (KJV)</ref>}}
{{cquote|For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse...<ref>Romans 1:20 (KJV)</ref>}}
'''Atheism''', as defined by the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' and the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', is the denial of the existence of any [[God]]. <ref>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/atheism-agnosticism/</ref> <ref>http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1998</ref> The term "atheism" also includes uncertainty about whether God exists or not, that is, people who never believe in God or actively deny His existence (see also [[agnosticism]]). There are two kinds of atheism, strong atheism, or someone who believes strongly that there is not God, and weak atheism, or someone who believes that there probably is not a God.
== Biblical View of Atheism ==
The Bible declares:
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." - Psalm 14:1 (KJV)
In addition, the Bible states:
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse... - Romans 1:20 (KJV)
== Minority View and Well Known Atheists ==
In recorded history atheism has been a minority view, although there have been pockets of atheistic thought such as amongst the literati in pre-modern China who followed Confucian teachings.
Well-known atheists include [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Ayn Rand]], [[Richard Dawkins]] ,[[Douglas Adams]], [[Ernest Hemingway]], and [[David Hume]].
==Atheism and Communism ==
[[Karl Marx]] coined the saying "Religion is the opium of the people". Karl Marx also wrote: "Communism begins from the outset (Owen) with atheism; but atheism is at first far from being communism; indeed, that atheism is still mostly an abstraction."
[[Vladimir Lenin]] similarly wrote: "A Marxist must be a materialist, i. e., an enemy of religion, but a dialectical materialist, i. e., one who treats the struggle against religion not in an abstract way, not on the basis of remote, purely theoretical, never varying preaching, but in a concrete way, on the basis of the class struggle which is going on in practice and is educating the masses more and better than anything else could."
== Atheist morality ==
Although it is difficult to generalize about atheism because it has no creed in a way that [[Christianity]], [[Judaism]], and [[Islam]] do, atheists typically hold that no religious text can be the only source of morality; they do not look for their morality in revelation, but rather in reason or some other internal force. However, many atheists believe that religious texts contain useful ideas and principles, such as the [[Golden Rule]]. Such people would, however, assert that useful principles entered religion because they are useful, and not the other way around. As atheists do not believe in any form of deity, books purported to be based upon the revealed words of such deities are not considered to have any more inherent moral authority than books written by people, as they consider them to be one and the same.
== Atheist Population ==
It is difficult to accurately determine the proportion of the population that is atheist because survey definitions, and even real life definitions, are often unclear. Some people are unsure of the existence of God, but they are sometimes counted as atheists. People who think that the existance of god cannot be proven or disproven are called agnostics (see [[Agnosticism]]). Furthermore, surveys containing an option for "no religion" are not necessarily identifying atheists. Individuals may believe in some form of god but not subscribe to any particular religion.
Specific research on atheists conducted in 2006 [http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=1131 suggests] that the true proportion of atheists is 4% in the United States, 17% in Great Britain and 32% in France.
== Concern about Atheists in America ==
Research in the American Sociological Review finds that atheists are the group that Americans least relate to for shared vision or want to have marry into their family.
<ref>Edgell, Gerteis & Hartmann 2006</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! This Group Does Not At All Agree with My Vision of American Society:
! I Would Disapprove if My Child Wanted to Marry a Member of This Group:
|-
| Atheist
| 39.6%
| 47.6%
|-
| Muslim
| 26.3%
| 33.5%
|-
| Homosexual
| 22.6%
| NA
|-
|Conservative Christian
| 13.5%
| 6.9%
|-
| Recent Immigrant
| 12.5%
| Not Asked
|-
| Hispanic
| 7.6%
| 18.5%
|-
| Jew
| 7.4%
| 11.8%
|-
| Asian American
| 7.0%
| 18.5%
|-
|African American
| 4.6%
| 27.2%
|-
| White American
| 2.2%
| 2.3%
|}
==External Links==
*[http://creationwiki.org/Decline_of_atheism Decline of Atheism -CreationWiki]
*[http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf European Commission report on Social values, Science and Technology, includes info on Religious beliefs]
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]