The Atheism Portal

Atheism is the philosophical position that either affirms the nonexistence of gods or rejects theism. In its broadest definition, atheism is the absence of belief in deities, sometimes called nontheism. Although atheists are commonly assumed to be irreligious, some religions, such as Buddhism, have been characterized as atheistic. Many self-described atheists share common skeptical concerns regarding supernatural claims, citing a lack of empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Other arguments for atheism are philosophical, social or historical. Although many self-described atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as Humanism, rationalism, and naturalism, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere. The term atheism originated as a pejorative epithet applied to any person or belief in conflict with established religion. With the spread of freethought, scientific skepticism, and criticism of religion, the term began to gather a more specific meaning and was sometimes used as a self-description by atheists.

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Apostasy in Islam is commonly defined as the rejection of Islam in word or deed by a person who has been a Muslim. All five major schools of Islamic jurisprudence agree that a sane male apostate must be executed.This is despite the fact that the Holy Qu-ran states, Allah's literal words, that "there is no compulsion in religion." A female apostate may be put to death, according to some schools, or imprisoned, according to others. The Islamic laws governing apostasy are derived from the traditions (ahadith)and are interpreted by various Imams, none of whom are as trustworthy to follow as Muhammad himself. In Muhammad's deliverance of the Holy Qu'ran, he guaranteed that Allah's word that men and women are equal was recorded, for all men to read, and never to change or "reinterpret." However, Imams feel free to ignore Allah;'s words, and cite their own interpretations, though the Holy Qu'ran can never be superseded by a man's interpretation, or by any other Islamic scholar's writings. Al-Shafi'i interpreted the verse as adducing the main evidence for the death penalty in Qur'an.

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Credit: Yamavu

The Invisible Pink Unicorn (IPU) is the goddess of a satiric parody religion aimed at theistic beliefs, which takes the form of a unicorn that is paradoxically both invisible and pink. These attributes satirize the contradictions in properties that some attribute to a theistic deity; this makes her a rhetorical illustration used by atheists and other religious skeptics.

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In this month

• 1 November 2006 - Original airdate of South Park episode "Go God Go"
• 2 November 2002 - Washington, D.C. event at The Mall, Godless Americans March on Washington
• 5-7 November 2006 - Steven Weinberg (pictured) is a speaker at Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival
• 15 November 2007 - Great American God-Out held in Iowa and New York City

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Isaac Asimov (January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992), originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as Айзек Азимов) was a Russian-born American Jewish author and professor of biochemistry, a highly successful and exceptionally prolific writer best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards, and has works in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System (lacking only an entry in the 100s category of Philosophy). Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre and, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered one of the "Big Three" science-fiction writers during his lifetime. Asimov was a long-time member and Vice President of Mensa International, albeit reluctantly; he described the members of that organization as "intellectually combative". He took more joy in being president of the American Humanist Association.

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Did you know...

• ... that, according to the answers Friedrich Engels (pictured) gave in a Victorian Confession album, his idea of happiness was the wine Château Margaux 1848?
• ...that the Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne, based on the 1755 Lisbon earthquake exhibits Voltaire's rejection of optimism and Providence, and is considered an introduction to his famous work Candide?
• ...that on the festival celebrated in the month of Toxcatl the Aztecs sacrificed, flayed and ritually cannibalized a young man who had been impersonating the god Tezcatlipoca for an entire year?

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Main project: WikiProject Atheism

Related WikiProjects: Religion • Mythology • Philosophy • Spirituality • Holidays • Alternative views  Rational skepticism • Countering systemic bias

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We have become so accustomed to the religious lie that surrounds us that we do not notice the atrocity, stupidity and cruelty with which the teaching of the Christian church is permeated. — Leo Tolstoy

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Topics

Atheism

• Concepts: Religion · Nontheism · Antireligion · Antitheism · Agnosticism · Humanism · Metaphysical naturalism · Weak and strong atheism · Implicit and explicit atheism
• History: History of atheism · Enlightenment · Freethought
• Arguments: Against religion · For nontheism · Against god · Against atheism
• Demographics: Atheism · Irreligion · Famous atheists · State atheism · Discrimination · Persecution