Atheism

Main category: Atheism

Atheism is an absence of belief in the existence of deities.

Maps and diagrams of atheism

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  Negative atheists and positive atheists.
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  Implicit and explicit atheism.
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  Nonreligious population by country, 2010, according to Pew Research.
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  Percentage of people in various European countries who said: "I don't believe there is any sort of spirit, God or life force." (2010)
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  Percentage of self-declared atheists in Europe, according to Eurobarometer 2019.

History of atheism

Main gallery: History of atheism.

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  Bust of a Greek philosopher, possibly Democritus. Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum.
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  Epicurus.
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  In his work De rerum natura, Lucretius stated that everything consists of atoms moving in infinity.
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  Lucretius pointing to the movement of the atoms, illustration from 1682.
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  De rerum natura by Lucretius, between 1475 and 1494.
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  Thomas Hobbes.
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  Theophrastus redivivus, between 1600 and 1700.
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  Denis Diderot.
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  Louis Carmontelle, Portrait of Baron d'Holbach, 1766.
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  Paul Thiry d’Holbach: The System of Nature (1770).
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  Jeremy Bentham.
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  Monument to Ludwig Feuerbach in Nuremberg.
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  Karl Marx.
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  Tombstone detail of a freethinker, 19th century.
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  German stamp from 2000, 100th anniversary of the death of Friedrich Nietzsche.
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  Watson Heston, Two Ways to Go, 1896.
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  Jugendweihe is a secular coming of age ceremony. Photograph from early 20th century Germany.
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  "It's incomprehensible that people don't believe in God when even the emperor believes!" 1911 drawing by Ernst Heilemann in German satirical magazine Simplicissimus.
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  Monument to the Freethinkers association in the Dasbeck cemetery, Germany.
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  Bertrand Russell in 1936.
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  "I am free now!". A propaganda poster encouraging young women of Soviet Turkestan to join the Komsomol, 1921.
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  The Foucault pendulum inside the cathedral in USSR.
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  Periyar Memorial, Chennai.

Atheism in 21st century

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  According to naturalism, the natural world is the only real world.
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  Richard Dawkins in 2005.
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  Richard Dawkins: The God Delusion (2006).
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  Daniel Dennett in 2006.
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  Christopher Hitchens 2007.
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  "The Four Horsemen of the Non-Apocalypse": Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris.
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  Author José Saramago in 2008.
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  University of Alberta Atheists and Agnostics 2008.
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  Philosopher Telmo Pievani in Rome at the 2012 Darwin Day organised by UAAR.
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  Journalist and activist Jamila Bey speaks in Reason Rally 2012.
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  Biologist Richard Dawkins, cosmologist Lawrence Krauss and science writer Julia Galef in 2015.
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  The Dutch magazine De Vrijdenker (The Freethinker) 2015.
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  Minnesota Atheists 2016.
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  Hungarian Atheist Society at Budapest Pride 2016.
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  Bart Campolo's lecture to the Atheist Community of San Jose in May 2017.
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  Atheist of the Year award presented by Kazimierz Lyszczynski Foundation.
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  Ibtissame Lachgar and One Law For All award at the Secular Conference 2018.
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  Home of Giordano Bruno Foundation in Germany.

Atheism in America

Canada and Latin America

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  Humanists, Atheists, & Agnostics of Manitoba (HAAM) booth in 2012.
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  Bogotá, Colombia 2012.
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  Atheist congress in Chile, 2015.

United States

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  Godless Americans March on Washington 2002.
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  Godless Americans March on Washington 2002.
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  Campus Atheists, Skeptics, and Humanists, University of Minnesota 2007.
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  Atheist sun tattoo.
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  Hoodie with a text.
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  Seattle Atheists at Seattle Pride 2009.
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  Atheist and skeptic Sikivu Hutchinson talks at Center for Inquiry in 2010.
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  Anthony Magnabosco speaks for American Atheists in 2011.
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  Minnesota Atheists at the Twin Cities Pride in 2011.
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  Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Reason Rally 2012.
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  Reason Rally 2012.
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  Sikivu Hutchinson speaks at the 2012 Moving Secularism Forward.
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  American Atheists billboard in New York 2013.
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  Atheist activist Seth Andrews in 2013.
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  San Francisco Pride 2013 and sign "Volunteer atheist fire fighter".
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  Atheist monument.
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  No Ban No Wall rally in Denver on 2017.
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  Mandisa Thomas, President of Black Nonbelievers, speaking at the American Atheists Convention 2017.
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  Black Nonbelievers table at the American Atheists Convention 2017.
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  Mandisa Thomas lecture in Dragon Con 2018.
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  Herb Silverman, president-emeritus of the Secular Coalition for America, in Dragon Con 2018.
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  Friendly neighborhood atheist mug, 2018.
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  Richard Dawkins presents Neil deGresse Tyson The Richard Dawkins Award at CSICon 2022.
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  FFRF campaign in 2022.

Atheism in Asia and Africa

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  Rationalist, sceptic, and godman debunker Narendra Nayak during a miracle-exposure program in 2007.
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  Sanal Edamaruku 2012.
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  Taslima Nasrin in 2019.
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  Iraqi women's rights activist Worood Zuhair in 2019.
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  Atheist meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in 2020.

Atheism in Europe

Italy

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  Sit-in for Alfredo Ormando, in front of Vatican, 2008.
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  Sit-in for Alfredo Ormando, in front of Vatican, 2008.
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  Demonstration in 2008.
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  UAAR (Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics) activists at the 2010 Rome Gay Pride.
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  Carla Corsetti, Atheist Democracy, 2010.

United Kingdom

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  "Brighton Most Godless City In Britain" according to The Argus in 2009.
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  Atheist Bus Campaign in the United Kingdom 2009.
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  Humanist Students 2009.
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  Protest the Pope Rally, London 2010.
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  Philosopher A. C. Grayling signing books at 2010 Global Atheist Convention.
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  March for Secular Europe in London 2012.
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  Atheism UK in International Day for Free Expression rally, London 2012.

Other

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  French philosopher Michel Onfray in 2012.
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  Atheist Ireland at Dublin Pride 2016.
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  Journalist and author Shurika Hansen talks at Atheist Day 2019 in Oslo.
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  Foundation Kazimierz Łyszczyński at the Equality Parade in Warsaw in 2022.
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  Foundation Kazimierz Łyszczyński at the Equality Parade in Warsaw in 2023.

Atheism in Oceania

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  Global Atheist Convention 2012, Melbourne.
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  Global Atheist Convention 2012, Melbourne.

Ex-muslim activists

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  Nahla Mahmoud, Secular Conference 2015.
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  Sarah Haider, Ex-Muslims of North America, 2017.
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  Zehra Pala, the president of Atheism Association of Turkey in 2017.
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  Muhammed Syed, Ex-Muslims of North America, 2017.
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  Women's rights activist Zara Kay 2018.
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  Rana Ahmad.
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  Armin Navabi, founder of Atheist Republic, speaking at the Atheist Days in Warsaw, on 2019.
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  Arzu Toker from Germany in 2020.
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  Maryam Namazie in 2021.

Symbols of atheism

Main gallery: Symbols of atheism.

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  Symbol of atheism, created by Diane Reed in 2007.
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  Icon from The Noun Project.
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  Atomic A.
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  United States Department of Veterans Affairs emblem for headstones and markers.
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  Atom logo.
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  The Scarlet A.
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  A symbol of atheism that resembles the symbol of anarchism.
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  Pansy is a symbol of freethought.
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  Atheist badge.
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  The Darwin fish.
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  Science Ichthys.

Books about atheism

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  D. M. Brooks: The Necessity of Atheism (1933).
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  George H. Smith: Atheism: The Case Against God (1974).
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  J. L. Mackie: The Miracle of Theism (1983).
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  Michel Onfray: Atheist Manifesto (2005, in English 2007).
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  Richard Dawkins: The God Delusion (2006).
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  A. C. Grayling: Against All Gods (2007).
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  A. C. Grayling: The Good Book (2013).

Criticism of atheism

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  E. J. Pace, The Descent of the Modernists, 1924.

See also

• Criticism of religion
• Freethought
• History of atheism
• Humanism
• Irreligion
• Secularism
• Secular ceremonies
• Scientific skepticism
• Symbols of atheism