Atheism in the broadest sense refers to belief in the non-existence of God, or more precisely, the absence of a God. Atheists firmly deny the existence of any god or any form of deity and attack all theistic claims. But the certainty of the “non-existent” God is based on an equally non provable claim and is as much a faith as religion. In other words, anyone who does not believe in a God is not really an atheist, but an agnostic. Atheism or non-theism is the belief that there is no God, the latter also known as antitheism. Atheists range from those who are hostile to religion (this is a question of personal philosophy) to religious believers who are ecumenical to narrow-minded. The term “atheism” (Greek for “godless”) was created as an insult to a person whose faith is at odds with established religion, with the first English use going back to the 16th century.
In common parlance, it merely indicates a lack of belief in the existence of a God, or the belief that there is no such thing as a God. The term was first used in late 18th-century Europe to describe a self – professed belief in the existence of a god, but it began to take on more specific meanings, and is increasingly used by atheists as a “self-description.” The key is something scientists have debated for decades: What does the word “religion” mean? One helpful way to understand the word “religion” is to view it as a belief system that seeks to answer the ultimate question: “Is there a God? To say that atheism is a denial of God or gods, or that it is a belief in a “belief system” that affirms the reality of “God” or tries to prove its existence, is insufficient in many respects.
Theologians who are considered defenders of their Christian faith (Judaism, Islam, etc.) consider themselves “defenders of theism,” but not everyone considers their faith a denial of God. Thus some people regard God – theism as an idol – and refuse to understand God as the infinite being as a finite being. Tillich’s rejection of theism may offend believers, but it is not eccentric to believe in God. In some ways, this particular Tillerson view is as vague and problematic as it was influential, but in some ways as influential as his other views. the use of the term “antitheism” to refer to a multitude of views on the nature and essence of the existence of God, as well as on the existence of a God and his existence.
While many, if not most, atheists prefer to claim that atheism is a naturalistic worldview and not a belief in the existence of a deity, some atheist writers have identified and defended atheism as a “naturalistic” worldview. With the latter definition, it is possible to be antitheist if you are an atheist and not. What is sometimes called “weak atheism” is atheism in which the deity does not exist, or at least not in its most basic form.
In this standpoint, called apatheism, atheists have no opinion about the existence of a deity, because the arguments and proofs put forward by both theists and strong atheists are equally unconvincing. In particular, it is argued that theism (strong atheism) is equally untenable, because the assertion or denial of the existence of the Deity requires belief in such a claim. On the other hand, strong atheism (also known as hard atheism or positive atheism) is the positive assertion that there is no deity. Lack of belief in a God does not mean believing that there is no God, and therefore atheism means believing in no deity at all, or in any deity other than the Deity itself.
A person could reasonably say that he does not know that there is a God, and that nothing of what he currently believes is consistent with his belief in a deity other than the Deity itself or any other deity.
Agnostic atheists are atheists because they have no belief in the existence of a deity. Atheists believe that God does not exist, but agnostics do not believe that God exists or does not exist. An agnostic atheist is not an “agnostic” because he claims that the presence of a deity other than the deity itself or of another deity is an unknown principle or fact at present unknown. Humanists have values and beliefs based on the belief that people are basically good and that problems can be solved with reason, not religion.