In the broadest sense, it is the absence of belief in the existence of deities. The term
atheism originated from the Greek (
atheos), which was derogativly applied to anyone thought to believe in false gods, no gods, or doctrines that stood in conflict with established religions. They are sceptical in religion and question many things.
The broader, and more common, understanding of atheism among atheists is quite simply "not believing in any gods." No claims or denials are made - an atheist is just a person who does not happen to be a theist. Sometimes this broader understanding is called "weak" or "implicit" atheism. Most good, complete dictionaries readily support this.
There also exists a narrower sort of atheism, sometimes called "strong" or "explicit" atheism. With this type, the atheist explicitly denies the existence of any gods - making a strong claim which will deserve support at some point. Some atheists do this and others may do this with regards to certain specific gods but not with others. Thus, a person may lack belief in one god, but deny the existence of another god.
Answer:Atheists have no formalized set of positions except that they have no belief in the existence of god(s). Even this is applied by external parties. To ask what their beliefs are is similar to asking "What are the rules of not playing baseball"
Subdividing atheists into strong, weak or other is generally done by theists who seem to have a need to explain the whys of someone who does not follow their world view. Among atheists discussions of religion are infrequent much like discussions among rational adults about what the monster under the bed is really like or what snacks Santa likes best. T
While there is no atheist "Bible" of beliefs there are several common threads in most atheists' worldviews:
- there is no deity, heaven, hell, devil, salvation etc.
- science works and gives us the best available understanding of the Universe
- people are moral without the threat of displeasing a deity
- life is a wonderful thing, parrtly because it is so fleeting
- altruism is a good thing, everybody wins
- there are no miracles, just probability
- when you're dead, you're dead
- they don't want you to try and "save" them