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TodayBroadly speaking, atheism is simply the lack of belief in any deity, or the positive belief that there is are no Goddeities. In This is an important distinction that has more to do with epistemology (the past however, belief in a particular God or gods along branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge) than with denial the definition of other gods has been held to be atheisma non-religious person. For instance, Christians were accused of atheism for not believing in the Roman godsThe arguments which outline this distinction are further discussed below.
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===Definition===
In the past however, belief in a particular God or gods along with denial of other gods has been held to be atheism. For instance, Christians were accused of atheism for not believing in the Roman gods. Atheism is clearly incompatible with Christianity, since all branches of the faith accept the existence of God as a central tenet of belief.
===Atheism vs. agnosticism===
[[Charles Darwin]], while not an atheist, by his theories allowed an explanation of the diversity of life that did not require that life had been created in a single event by a deity. His theory, however, did not rule out the existence of God or the basic tenets of Christian beliefs, so that many Christians accept the main thrust of evolutionary theory, and in addition accept that the universe is billions of years old, rather than thousands as a literal reading of [[Genesis]] suggests.
The [[Big Bang Theory]] is a similar story to the theory of evolution. The proposer of the Big Bang Theory was even more religious than Darwin, being a [[Catholicism|Catholic]] [[Priest]]. Despite neither of these thinkers being Atheists, their theories are commonly used to refute Christianity by modern atheists in Western countries (since many have accepted the [[New Earth Theory]] as reality).
Karl Marx was an atheist himself and took up a skeptical position about religion in his writings. Marxism itself has little to say about religion, being a secular, materialistic philosophy, but Communist states have taken up a hostile position to all religions, though have not succeeded in eradicating religious belief. Poland and Russia retained a high proportion of churchgoers throughout decades of Communist rule.
Atheism is accepted in most Western Countries. Atheists have been prominent in the defence defense of church-state separation in the United States. Atheism remains a minority position in most countries. ===Arguments in Favor=== The arguments in support of atheism can either gear towards the existence of god(s) or towards religions themselves. ====Believers rationalize evidence==== Christopher Hitchens, a prominent atheist, has argued that "god is an infinitely expanding tautology." Two examples of this are the shift from geocentricism to heliocentricism and the shift from special creation to theistic evolution. During the trials of Galileo, many biblical verses were used to argue that the sun revolved around the earth such as 1 Chronicles 16:30 and Joshua 10:12-13. Geocentricism, the belief that all heavenly bodies revolve around the earth, matched several biblical verses as well as the Christian framework itself: God made earth for his special creation, and had sent his only son to earth. However, heliocentricism would come to triumph, but this, Hitchens argues, is of no consequence since belief in a god can be made to fit with any evidence. A similar story occurs with evolutionary theory, he claims. Christianity supported the doctrine of special creation until Darwin. However, today, believing scientists such as Francis Collins will hold to a theistic version of evolution. Theistic evolution is the belief that evolution is God's chosen method to create diversity in life. According to critics however, this is just another case of rationalizing evidence to fit a presupposed conclusion: is creation true? God exists! Is creation false? God still exists!
===Reasons for and against atheism===
==Quotes==
*[http://wwwen.conservapediawikiquote.comorg/Atheism_Quotes wiki/Atheism Atheism Quoteson Wikiquote]
==External Links==
*[http://www.conservapediareligioustolerance.comorg/atheist.htm Atheism Atheism, an overview]
{{returnto}} [[Religions]]
[[Category:Religions]]
