Changes

In the United States, social scientists define [[atheism]] in various ways which makes determining the number of atheists in the United States more difficult to determine.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/blackwhiteandgray/2012/01/how-many-americans-are-atheists-fewer-than-you-might-think/ ''How Many Americans are Atheists? Fewer than You Might Think''] by Bradley Wright, January 26, 2012</ref> See also: [[Definition of atheism]] and [[Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism]] and [[Definitions of Atheist and Agnostic|Definitions of atheist and agnostic]]

In the United States, social scientists define [[atheism]] in various ways which makes determining the number of atheists in the United States more difficult to determine.<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/blackwhiteandgray/2012/01/how-many-americans-are-atheists-fewer-than-you-might-think/ ''How Many Americans are Atheists? Fewer than You Might Think''] by Bradley Wright, January 26, 2012</ref> See also: [[Definition of atheism]] and [[Attempts to dilute the definition of atheism]] and [[Definitions of Atheist and Agnostic|Definitions of atheist and agnostic]]

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:

Atheism, as defined by the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', and other [[philosophy]] reference works, is the denial of the fact that [[God]] exists.<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.

*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). [https://creation.com/atheism-is-more-rational "Atheism is more rational?"]. Retrieved July 17, 2014.  See [[Creation Ministries International]], [[Jonathan Sarfati]].

*Sarfati, Jonathan, Ph.D. (23 June 2007). [https://creation.com/atheism-is-more-rational "Atheism is more rational?"]. Retrieved July 17, 2014.  See [[Creation Ministries International]], [[Jonathan Sarfati]].

''See also:'' [[Weak atheism and intelligence]]

''See also:'' [[Weak atheism and intelligence]]

[[Weak Atheism]] (sometimes referred to as "negative [[atheism]]") describes a belief system and philosophical stance whereby a person lacks a belief in God/gods.   Using this very broad definition of definition of atheism, there are atheists who argue that babies are atheists (Of course, atheists cannot verify what is in the minds of babies).<ref>[https://carm.org/are-babies-born-atheists Are babies born atheists?] by Matt Slick</ref> Also, using this very broad definition of definition of atheism, it could be argued that individuals with  severe mental disabilities and/or individuals born with extremely low IQs are more apt to be weak atheists (Of course, this also would be difficult to verify in many cases). This helps explain why the General Social Survey (GSS) data has twice as many low IQ atheists as high IQ atheists.<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/01/mailvox-distribution-of-atheist.html Mailvox: The distribution of atheist intelligence]</ref>

[[Weak Atheism]] (sometimes referred to as "negative [[atheism]]") describes a belief system and philosophical stance whereby a person lacks a belief in God/gods. Using this very broad definition of definition of atheism, there are atheists who argue that babies are atheists (Of course, atheists cannot verify what is in the minds of babies).<ref>[https://carm.org/are-babies-born-atheists Are babies born atheists?] by Matt Slick</ref> Also, using this very broad definition of definition of atheism, it could be argued that individuals with  severe mental disabilities and/or individuals born with extremely low IQs are more apt to be weak atheists (Of course, this also would be difficult to verify in many cases). This helps explain why the General Social Survey (GSS) data has twice as many low IQ atheists as high IQ atheists.<ref>[http://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/01/mailvox-distribution-of-atheist.html Mailvox: The distribution of atheist intelligence]</ref>

===  United States, atheism, socioeconomic data and intelligence ===

===  United States, atheism, socioeconomic data and intelligence ===