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Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist."
Negative atheism, also called weak atheism and soft atheism, is any type of atheism where a person does not believe in the existence of any deities but does not necessarily explicitly assert that there are none. Positive atheism, also called strong atheism and hard atheism, is the form of atheism that additionally asserts that no deities exist.
Jewish atheism refers to the atheism of people who are ethnically and culturally Jewish. Contrary to popular belief, the term "Jewish atheism" is not a contradiction because Jewish identity encompasses not only religious components, but also ethnic and cultural ones. Jewish law's emphasis on descent through the mother means that even religiously conservative Orthodox Jewish authorities would accept an atheist born to a Jewish mother as fully Jewish.
Criticism of atheism is criticism of the concepts, validity, or impact of atheism, including associated political and social implications. Criticisms include positions based on the history of science, philosophical and logical criticisms, findings in both the natural and social sciences, theistic apologetic arguments, arguments pertaining to ethics and morality, the effects of atheism on the individual, or the assumptions that underpin atheism.
Accurate demographics of atheism are difficult to obtain since conceptions of atheism vary considerably across different cultures and languages, ranging from an active concept to being unimportant or not developed. In global studies, the number of people without a religion is usually higher than the number of people without a belief in a deity and the number of people who agree with statements on lacking a belief in a deity is usually higher than the number of people who self-identify as "atheists".
Christian atheism is a form of Christianity that rejects the theistic claims of Christianity, but draws its beliefs and practices from Jesus' life and teachings as recorded in the New Testament Gospels and other sources.
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists.
According to the 2011 Census of India, around 2.9 million people in India did not state their religion in the 2001 census and were counted in the "religion not stated". They were 0.24% of India's population. Their number have significantly increased 4 times from 0.7 million in 2001 census at an average annual rate of 15%. According to the 2012 WIN-Gallup Global Index of Religion and Atheism report, 81% of Indians were religious, 13% were non-religious, 3% were convinced atheists, and 3% were unsure or did not respond.
Agnostic atheism is a philosophical position that encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. Agnostic atheists are atheistic because they do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity, and are agnostic because they claim that the existence of a demiurgic entity or entities is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact.
The term New Atheism was coined by the journalist Gary Wolf in 2006 to describe the positions promoted by some atheists of the twenty-first century. New Atheism advocates the view that superstition, religion and irrationalism should not simply be tolerated. Instead, they should be countered, criticized, and challenged by rational argument, especially when they exert undue influence, such as in government, education, and politics. Major figures include Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett—collectively known as the "Four Horsemen", and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, known as the "plus one horse-woman".
Irreligion is common in Sweden, and Sweden is one of the most secular nations in the world. The majority of Swedish citizens are members of the Church of Sweden, but very few are practicing members. Sweden has legally been a secular state since 2000 when the Church of Sweden was separated from the state.
Irreligion in Egypt is controversial due to the largely conservative nature of the country and the religious establishments in the country. It is difficult to quantify the number of atheists or agnostics in Egypt, as the stigma attached to being one makes it hard for irreligious Egyptians to publicly profess their views and beliefs.
Irreligion in Africa, encompassing also atheism in Africa as well as agnosticism, secular humanism and general secularism, has been estimated at over tens of millions in various polls. While the predominant religions in Africa are Islam and Christianity, many groups and individuals still practice their traditional beliefs. Despite this the irreligious population is notable, especially in South Africa where 15.1% of the population describe themselves as irreligious and in Botswana, where 20% of the population describes themselves as non-religious.
Irreligion in the Middle East refers to the lack of religion in the Middle East. Though atheists in the Middle East are rarely public about their lack of belief, as they are persecuted in many countries, including Saudi Arabia where they are classified as terrorists, there are some atheist organizations in the Middle East. Islam dominates public and private life in most Middle East countries. Nonetheless, there reside small numbers of irreligious individuals within those countries who often face serious formal and, in some cases, informal legal and social consequences.
Irreligion in Latin America refers to various types of irreligion, including atheism, agnosticism, deism, secular humanism, secularism and non-religious. According to a global survey conducted in 2011, 16% of the population has no religion.
Irreligion in Turkey refers to the extent of the lack, rejection of, or indifference religion in the country. Based on surveys, Islam is the predominant religion and irreligious people form a minority in Turkey, although precise estimates of the share of Deists, atheists, agnostics, and other unaffiliated people in the population vary, though in the survey averages they make up more percentages than Christians and Jews in the country.
Irreligion in Croatia pertains to atheism, agnosticism, and lack of religious affiliation in Croatia. The growing population of irreligious Croats has been attributed to modernization. Even though the 2011 census showed that 4.57% of Croats considered themselves irreligious, Gallup polls conducted in 2007 and 2008 found that 30.5% of respondents did not consider religion important in their lives. The Japanese research center, Dentsu, conducted a survey in 2006 concluding that 13.2% of Croats declare themselves irreligious, compared to the 7% found by a 2010 Eurobarometer survey across Europe.
The Atheists In Kenya Society is an atheist organization, registered under the Societies Act in Kenya. It is the first non-religious society to be registered in the country. The society believes that the most reasonable conclusions are the ones that have the best evidence. It is a member organisation of Humanists International.
Irreligion in Lithuania pertains to atheism, agnosticism, and lack of religious affiliation in Lithuania. Irreligious Lithuanians make up a small minority of the population, encompassing only 6.11% of the population in the 2021 census. Irreligion in Lithuania is associated with the period of Soviet rule in the late 20th century.
References
- ↑ "2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census Volume IV: Distribution of Population by Socio-Economic Characteristics" (PDF). Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
- ↑ "CIA World Factbook results for Kenya". CIA. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ↑ "Atheism Not Against Kenya's Constitution". The Star . Retrieved 2013-08-24.
- ↑ "Atheism is greatly misunderstood in Kenya". Daily Nation . Retrieved 2013-08-24.
- ↑ "Petition 308 of 2016: ATHEISTS IN KENYA vs. THE REGISTRAR OF SOCIETIES". Kenya Law. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
- 1 2 Nzwili, Frederick (2022-02-07). "After moving out of their comfort zone, atheists in Kenya gain visibility". Religion News Service. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ↑ Obama, Barack (16 October 2006). "My spiritual journey". Time. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
My father was almost entirely absent from my childhood, having been divorced from my mother when I was 2 years old; in any event, although my father had been raised a Muslim, by the time he met my mother he was a confirmed atheist, thinking religion to be so much superstition.
- ↑ Leakey, Richard E. (1984). One Life: An Autobiography. Salem House. ISBN 9780881620559 – via Google Books.
I myself do not believe in a god who has or had a human form and to whom I owe my existence. I believe it is man who created God in his image and not the other way round; also I see no reason to believe in a life after death. Having said all this, I cannot deny that I am nagged still by that big question 'What is Life?'. What is the 'thing' that is there in an organism one minute and gone the next? There is, I know, more to life than I understand and to me this is epitomized in that mysterious frontier between life and death - the 'spirit' as it were - that cannot be quantified but which is in living things both animal and plant and not in the dead.
- ↑ Wasonga, Josaya. "God does not exist in Harrison Mumia's world" . Retrieved 18 February 2017.
- ↑ "The rise of atheism in modern Kenya".
