Everything about Atheism totally explained
Atheism, as an explicit position, either affirms the
nonexistence of
gods
or rejects
theism.
When defined more broadly, atheism is the absence of belief in deities, a type of
nontheism. Although atheism is often equated with
irreligion, some
religious philosophies, such as
Jainism,
secular theology and some varieties of
Buddhism such as
Theravada don't include belief in a
personal god as a tenet of the religion.
Many
self-described atheists are
skeptical of all
supernatural beings and cite a lack of
empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many self-described atheists tend toward
secular philosophies such as
humanism and
naturalism, there's 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 has been increasingly used as a self-description by atheists.
Etymology
In early
Ancient Greek, the adjective (from the
privative - + "god") meant "godless". The word began to indicate more-intentional, active godlessness in the 5th century
BCE, acquiring definitions of "severing relations with the gods" or "denying the gods, ungodly" instead of the earlier meaning of or "impious". Modern translations of classical texts sometimes render as "atheistic". As an abstract noun, there was also , "atheism".
Cicero transliterated the Greek word into the
Latin . The term found frequent use in the debate between
early Christians and
Hellenists, with each side attributing it, in the pejorative sense, to the other. The term
atheist (from Fr. ), in the sense of "one who denies or disbelieves the existence of God", predates
atheism in English, being first attested in about 1571.
Atheist as a label of practical godlessness was used at least as early as 1577. Related words emerged later:
deist in 1621,
theist in 1662;
theism in 1678; and
deism in 1682.
Deism and
theism changed meanings slightly around 1700, due to the influence of
atheism;
deism was originally used as a synonym for today's
theism, but came to denote a separate philosophical doctrine.
Karen Armstrong writes that "During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the word 'atheist' was still reserved exclusively for
polemic ... The term 'atheist' was an insult. Nobody would have dreamed of calling
himself an atheist."
Atheism was first used to describe a self-avowed belief in late 18th-century Europe, specifically denoting disbelief in the
monotheistic Abrahamic god. In the 20th century,
globalization contributed to the expansion of the term to refer to disbelief in all deities, though it remains common in Western society to describe atheism as simply "disbelief in God". Most recently, there has been a push in certain philosophical circles to redefine
atheism as the "absence of belief in deities", rather than as a belief in its own right; this definition has become popular in atheist communities, though its mainstream usage has been limited.
Definitions and distinctions
Writers disagree how best to define and classify
atheism, contesting what supernatural entities it applies to, whether it's an assertion in its own right or merely the absence of one, and whether it requires a conscious, explicit rejection. A variety of categories have been proposed to try to distinguish the different forms of atheism, most of which treat atheism as "absence of belief in deities" in order to explore the varieties of this nontheism.
Range
Some of the ambiguity and controversy involved in defining
atheism arises from difficulty in reaching a consensus for the definitions of words like
deity and
god. The plurality of wildly different
conceptions of god and deities leads to differing ideas regarding atheism's applicability. In contexts where
theism is defined as the belief in a
singular personal god, for example, people who believe in a variety of other deities may be classified as atheists, including
deists and even
polytheists. In the 20th century, this view has fallen into disfavor as
theism has come to be understood as encompassing belief in any divinity.
With respect to the range of phenomena being rejected, atheism may counter anything from the existence of a god, to the existence of any spiritual,
supernatural, or
transcendental concepts, such as those of Hinduism and Buddhism.
Implicit vs. explicit
Definitions of atheism also vary in the degree of consideration a person must put to the idea of gods to be considered an atheist. Minimally, atheism may be seen as the absence of belief in one or more gods. It has been contended that this broad definition includes newborns and other people who have not been exposed to theistic ideas. As far back as 1772,
Baron d'Holbach said that "All children are born Atheists; they've no idea of God." Similarly,
George H. Smith (1979) suggested that: "The man who is unacquainted with theism is an atheist because he doesn't believe in a god. This category would also include the child with the conceptual capacity to grasp the issues involved, but who is still unaware of those issues. The fact that this child doesn't believe in god qualifies him as an atheist." Smith coined the term
implicit atheism to refer to "the absence of theistic belief without a conscious rejection of it" and
explicit atheism to refer to the more common definition of conscious disbelief.
In Western civilization, the view that children are born atheist is relatively recent. Before the 18th century, the existence of God was so universally accepted in the western world that even the possibility of true atheism was questioned. This is called
theistic innatism—the notion that all people believe in God from birth; within this view was the connotation that atheists are simply in denial. There is a position claiming that atheists are quick to believe in God in times of crisis, that atheists make
deathbed conversions, or that "there are no
atheists in foxholes." Some proponents of this view claim that the
anthropological benefit of religion is that religious faith enables humans to endure hardships better (c.f.
opium of the people Karl Marx, Contribution to the Critique
of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher
February, 1844). Some atheists emphasize the fact that there have been examples to the contrary, among them examples of literal "atheists in foxholes."
Strong vs. weak
Philosophers such as
Antony Flew and
Michael Martin The terms
weak and
strong are relatively recent; however, the equivalent terms
negative and
positive atheism have been used in the philosophical literature Under this demarcation of atheism, most
agnostics qualify as weak atheists.
While agnosticism can be seen as a form of weak atheism, most agnostics see their view as distinct from atheism, which they may consider no more justified than theism, or requires an equal conviction. The supposed unattainability of knowledge for or against the existence of gods is sometimes seen as indication that atheism requires a
leap of faith. Common atheist responses to this argument include that unproven
religious propositions deserve as much disbelief as all
other unproven propositions, and that the unprovability of a god's existence doesn't imply equal probability of either possibility. Scottish philosopher
J. J. C. Smart even argues that "sometimes a person who is really an atheist may describe herself, even passionately, as an agnostic because of unreasonable generalised
philosophical scepticism which would preclude us from saying that we know anything whatever, except perhaps the truths of mathematics and formal logic." Consequently, some popular atheist authors such as
Richard Dawkins prefer distinguishing theist, agnostic and atheist positions by the
probability assigned to the statement "God exists".
Rationale
The broadest demarcation of atheistic rationale is between practical and theoretical atheism. The different forms of theoretical atheism each derive from a particular rationale or philosophical argument. In contrast, practical atheism requires no specific argument, and can include indifference to and ignorance of the idea of gods.
Practical atheism
In
practical, or
pragmatic, atheism, also known as
apatheism, individuals live as if there are no gods and explain natural phenomena without resorting to the divine. The existence of gods isn't denied, but may be designated unnecessary or useless; gods neither provide purpose to life, nor influence everyday life, according to this view. A form of practical atheism with implications for the
scientific community is
methodological naturalism—the "tacit adoption or assumption of philosophical naturalism within
scientific method with or without fully accepting or believing it."
Practical atheism can take various forms:
- Absence of religious motivation—belief in gods doesn't motivate moral action, religious action, or any other form of action;
- Active exclusion of the problem of gods and religion from intellectual pursuit and practical action;
- Indifference—the absence of any interest in the problems of gods and religion; or
- Ignorance—lacking any idea of gods.
Historically, practical atheism was considered by some people to be associated with moral failure, willful ignorance and impiety. Those considered practical atheists were said to behave as though God, ethics and social responsibility didn't exist; they abandoned duty and embraced
hedonism. According to the French Catholic philosopher Étienne Borne, "Practical atheism isn't the denial of the existence of God, but complete godlessness of action; it's a moral evil, implying not the denial of the absolute validity of the moral law but simply rebellion against that law."
Theoretical atheism
Theoretical, or contemplative, atheism explicitly posits arguments against the existence of gods, responding to common
theistic arguments such as the
argument from design or
Pascal's Wager. The theoretical reasons for rejecting gods assume various psychological, sociological, metaphysical, and epistemological forms.
Epistemological arguments
Epistemological atheism argues that people can't know God or determine the existence of God. The foundation of epistemological atheism is
agnosticism, which takes a variety of forms. In the philosophy of
immanence, divinity is inseparable from the world itself, including a person's mind, and each person's
consciousness is locked in the
subject. According to this form of agnosticism, this limitation in perspective prevents any objective inference from belief in a god to assertions of its existence. The
rationalistic agnosticism of
Kant and the
Enlightenment only accepts knowledge deduced with human rationality; this form of atheism holds that gods are not discernible as a matter of principle, and therefore can't be known to exist.
Skepticism, based on the ideas of
Hume, asserts that certainty about anything is impossible, so one can never know the existence of God. The allocation of agnosticism to atheism is disputed; it can also be regarded as an independent, basic world-view.
Metaphysical arguments
Metaphysical atheism is based on metaphysical
monism—the view that reality is homogeneous and indivisible. Absolute metaphysical atheists subscribe to some form of
physicalism, hence they explicitly deny the existence of non-physical beings. Relative metaphysical atheists maintain an implicit denial of a particular concept of God based on the incongruity between their individual philosophies and attributes commonly applied to God, such as
transcendence, a
personal aspect, or unity. Examples of relative metaphysical atheism include
pantheism,
panentheism, and
deism.
[[Image:EpikourosBM 1843.jpg|thumb|left|
Epicurus is credited with first expounding the
problem of evil.
David Hume in his
Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) cited Epicurus in stating the argument as a series of questions:
"Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?"]]
Psychological, sociological and economical arguments
Philosophers such as
Ludwig Feuerbach and
Sigmund Freud argued that God and other religious beliefs are human inventions, created to fulfill various psychological and emotional wants or needs. This is also a view of many
Buddhists.
Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels, influenced by the work of Feuerbach, argued that belief in God and religion are social functions, used by those in power to oppress the working class. According to
Mikhail Bakunin, "the idea of God implies the abdication of human reason and justice; it's the most decisive negation of human liberty, and necessarily ends in the enslavement of mankind, in theory and practice." He reversed
Voltaire's famous aphorism that if God didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent Him, writing instead that "if God really existed, it would be necessary to abolish him."
Logical and evidential arguments
Logical atheism holds that the various
conceptions of gods, such as the
personal god of Christianity, are ascribed logically inconsistent qualities. Such atheists present
deductive arguments against the existence of God, which assert the incompatibility between certain traits, such as perfection, creator-status,
immutability,
omniscience,
omnipresence,
omnipotence,
omnibenevolence,
transcendence, personhood (a personal being), nonphysicality,
justice and
mercy.
Theodicean atheists believe that the world as they experience it can't be reconciled with the qualities commonly ascribed to God and gods by theologians. They argue that an
omniscient,
omnipotent, and
omnibenevolent God isn't compatible with a world where there's
evil and
suffering, and where divine love is
hidden from many people. A similar argument is attributed to
Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of
Buddhism.
Anthropocentric arguments
Axiological, or constructive, atheism rejects the existence of gods in favor of a "higher absolute", such as
humanity. This form of atheism favors humanity as the absolute source of ethics and values, and permits individuals to resolve moral problems without resorting to God. Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, and Sartre all used this argument to convey messages of liberation,
full-development, and unfettered happiness. or renders life
meaningless and miserable.
Blaise Pascal argued this view in 1669.
History
Although the term
atheism originated in 16th-century
France, ideas that would be recognized today as atheistic are documented from
classical antiquity and the
Vedic period.
Early Indic religion
Atheistic schools are found in
Hinduism, which is otherwise a very theistic religion. The thoroughly materialistic and anti-religious philosophical
Cārvāka School that originated in
India around 6th century BCE is probably the most explicitly atheistic school of philosophy in India. This branch of Indian philosophy is classified as a
heterodox system and isn't considered part of the six orthodox schools of Hinduism, but it's noteworthy as evidence of a materialistic movement within Hinduism. Chatterjee and Datta explain that our understanding of Cārvāka philosophy is fragmentary, based largely on criticism of the ideas by other schools, and that it isn't a living tradition:
"Though materialism in some form or other has always been present in India, and occasional references are found in the Vedas, the Buddhistic literature, the Epics, as well as in the later philosophical works we don't find any systematic work on materialism, nor any organized school of followers as the other philosophical schools possess. But almost every work of the other schools states, for reputation, the materialistic views. Our knowledge of Indian materialism is chiefly based on these."
Other Indian philosophies generally regarded as atheistic include
Classical Samkhya and
Purva Mimamsa. The rejection of a personal creator God is also seen in
Jainism and
Buddhism in India.
Classical antiquity
Western atheism has its roots in
pre-Socratic Greek philosophy, but didn't emerge as a distinct world-view until the late
Enlightenment. The 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher
Diagoras is known as the "first atheist", and strongly criticized religion and mysticism.
Critias viewed religion as a human invention used to frighten people into following moral order.
Atomists such as
Democritus attempted to explain the world in a purely
materialistic way, without reference to the spiritual or mystical. Other pre-Socratic philosophers who probably had atheistic views included
Prodicus and
Protagoras. In the 3rd-century BCE the Greek philosophers
Theodorus and
Strato of Lampsacus also didn't believe gods exist.
Socrates (c. 471–399 BCE), was accused of being an atheist for
impiety (see
Euthyphro dilemma) on the basis that he inspired questioning of the
state gods. Although he disputed the accusation that he was a "complete atheist", he was ultimately
sentenced to death.
Euhemerus (c. 330–260 BCE) published his view that the gods were only the deified rulers, conquerors and founders of the past, and that their cults and religions were in essence the continuation of vanished kingdoms and earlier political structures. Although not strictly an atheist, Euhemerus was later criticized for having "spread atheism over the whole inhabited earth by obliterating the gods".
Atomic materialist
Epicurus (c. 341–270 BCE) disputed many religious doctrines, including the existence of an
afterlife or a
personal deity; he considered the
soul purely material and mortal. While
Epicureanism didn't rule out the existence of gods, he believed that if they did exist, they were unconcerned with humanity.
The Roman poet
Lucretius (c. 99–55 BCE) agreed that, if there were gods, they were unconcerned with humanity and unable to affect the natural world. For this reason, he believed humanity should have no fear of the supernatural. He expounds his Epicurean views of the cosmos, atoms, the soul, mortality, and religion in
De rerum natura ("On the nature of things"), which popularized Epicurus' philosophy in
Rome.
The Roman philosopher
Sextus Empiricus held that one should suspend judgment about virtually all beliefs—a form of skepticism known as
Pyrrhonism—that nothing was inherently evil, and that
ataraxia ("peace of mind") is attainable by withholding one's judgment. His relatively large volume of surviving works had a lasting influence on later philosophers.
The meaning of "atheist" changed over the course of classical antiquity. The early Christians were labeled atheists by non-Christians because of their disbelief in pagan gods. During the
Roman Empire, Christians were executed for their rejection of the
Roman gods in general and Emperor-worship in particular. When Christianity became the state religion of Rome under
Theodosius I in 381,
heresy became a punishable offense.
Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance
The espousal of atheistic views was rare in Europe during the
Early Middle Ages and
Middle Ages (see
Medieval Inquisition); metaphysics, religion and theology were the dominant interests. There were, however, movements within this period that forwarded heterodox conceptions of the Christian God, including differing views of the nature, transcendence, and knowability of God. Individuals and groups such as
Johannes Scotus Eriugena,
David of Dinant,
Amalric of Bena, and the
Brethren of the Free Spirit maintained Christian viewpoints with
pantheistic tendencies.
Nicholas of Cusa held to a form of
fideism he called
docta ignorantia ("learned ignorance"), asserting that God is beyond human categorization, and our knowledge of God is limited to conjecture.
William of Ockham inspired anti-metaphysical tendencies with his
nominalistic limitation of human knowledge to singular objects, and asserted that the divine
essence couldn't be intuitively or rationally apprehended by human intellect. Followers of Ockham, such as
John of Mirecourt and
Nicholas of Autrecourt furthered this view. The resulting division between faith and reason influenced later theologians such as
John Wycliffe,
Jan Hus, and
Martin Luther.
The
Renaissance did much to expand the scope of freethought and skeptical inquiry. Individuals such as
Leonardo da Vinci sought experimentation as a means of explanation, and opposed
arguments from religious authority. Other critics of religion and the Church during this time included
Niccolò Machiavelli,
Bonaventure des Périers, and
François Rabelais. He was followed by other openly atheistic thinkers, such as Baron d'Holbach, who appeared in the late 18th century, when expressing disbelief in God became a less dangerous position.
David Hume was the most systematic exponent of Enlightenment thought, developing a skeptical epistemology grounded in empiricism, undermining the metaphysical basis of natural theology.
The
French Revolution took atheism outside the salons and into the public sphere. Attempts to enforce the
Civil Constitution of the Clergy led to anti-clerical violence and the expulsion of many clergy from France. The chaotic political events in revolutionary Paris eventually enabled the more radical
Jacobins to seize power in 1793, ushering in the
Reign of Terror. At its climax, the more militant atheists attempted to forcibly de-Christianize France, replacing religion with a
Cult of Reason. These persecutions ended with the
Thermidorian Reaction, but some of the secularizing measures of this period remained a permanent legacy of French politics.
The
Napoleonic era institutionalized the secularization of French society, and exported the revolution to northern Italy, in the hopes of creating pliable republics. In the 19th century, many atheists and other anti-religious thinkers devoted their efforts to political and social revolution, facilitating the
upheavals of 1848, the
Risorgimento in Italy, and the growth of an international
socialist movement.
In the latter half of the 19th century, atheism rose to prominence under the influence of
rationalistic and
freethinking philosophers. Many prominent German philosophers of this era denied the existence of deities and were critical of religion, including
Ludwig Feuerbach,
Arthur Schopenhauer,
Karl Marx, and
Friedrich Nietzsche.
The 20th century
Atheism in the 20th century, particularly in the form of practical atheism, advanced in many societies. Atheistic thought found recognition in a wide variety of other, broader philosophies, such as
existentialism,
objectivism,
secular humanism,
nihilism,
logical positivism,
Marxism,
feminism, and the general scientific and
rationalist movement.
Logical positivism and
scientism paved the way for
neopositivism,
analytical philosophy,
structuralism, and
naturalism. Neopositivism and analytical philosophy discarded classical rationalism and metaphysics in favor of strict empiricism and epistemological
nominalism. Proponents such as
Bertrand Russell emphatically rejected belief in God. In his early work,
Ludwig Wittgenstein attempted to separate metaphysical and supernatural language from rational discourse.
A. J. Ayer asserted the unverifiability and meaninglessness of religious statements, citing his adherence to the empirical sciences. Relatedly the applied
structuralism of
Lévi-Strauss sourced religious language to the human subconscious in denying its transcendental meaning.
J. N. Findlay and
J. J. C. Smart argued that the existence of God isn't logically necessary. Naturalists and materialistic monists such as
John Dewey considered the natural world to be the basis of everything, denying the existence of God or immortality.
Other leaders like
E. V. Ramasami Naicker (Periyar), a prominent atheist leader of
India, fought against
Hinduism and
Brahmins for discriminating and dividing people in the name of
caste and religion. This was highlighted in 1956 when he made the Hindu god
Rama wear a garland made of slippers and made
antitheistic statements.
In 1966,
Time
magazine asked "Is God Dead?" in response to the
Death of God theological movement, citing the estimation that nearly half of all people in the world lived under an anti-religious power, and millions more in Africa, Asia, and South America seemed to lack knowledge of the Christian God. The following year, the
Albanian government under
Enver Hoxha announced the closure of all religious institutions in the country, declaring Albania the world's first officially atheist state. These regimes enhanced the negative associations of atheism, especially where anti-communist sentiment was strong in the United States, despite the fact that prominent atheists were anti-communist.
Since the fall of the
Berlin Wall, the number of actively anti-religious regimes has reduced considerably. In 2006, Timothy Shah of the
Pew Forum noted "a worldwide trend across all major religious groups, in which God-based and faith-based movements in general are experiencing increasing confidence and influence vis-à-vis secular movements and ideologies." But
Gregory S. Paul and Phil Zuckerman consider this a myth and suggest that the actual situation is much more complex and nuanced.
Demographics
It is difficult to quantify the number of atheists in the world. Respondents to religious-belief polls may define "atheism" differently or draw different distinctions between
atheism, non-religious beliefs, and non-theistic religious and spiritual beliefs.
In addition, people in some regions of the world refrain from reporting themselves as atheists to avoid social stigma,
discrimination, and
persecution. A 2005 survey published in
Encyclopædia Britannica finds that the non-religious make up about 11.9% of the world's population, and atheists about 2.3%. This figure doesn't include those who follow atheistic religions, such as some Buddhists. A November–December 2006 poll published in the
Financial Times gives rates for the United States and five European countries. It found that Americans are more likely than Europeans to report belief in any form of god or supreme being (73%). Of the European adults surveyed, Italians are the most likely to express this belief (62%) and the French the least likely (27%). In France, 32% declared themselves atheists, and an additional 32% declared themselves
agnostic. An official
European Union survey provides corresponding figures: 18% of the EU population don't believe in a god; 27% accept the existence of some supernatural "spiritual life force", while 52% affirm belief in a specific god. The proportion of believers rises to 65% among those who had left school by age 15; survey respondents who considered themselves to be from a strict family background were more likely to believe in god than those who felt their upbringing lacked firm rules.
A letter published in
Nature in 1998 reported a survey suggesting that belief in a personal god or
afterlife was at an all-time low among the members of the U.S.
National Academy of Science, only 7.0% of whom believed in a personal god as compared with more than 85% of the general U.S. population. In the same year
Frank Sulloway of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
Michael Shermer of
California State University conducted a study which found in their polling sample of "credentialed" U.S. adults (12% had Ph.Ds and 62% were college graduates) 64% believed in God, and there was a
correlation indicating that religious conviction diminished with education level.
An inverse
correlation between
religiosity and intelligence has been found by 39 studies carried out between 1927 and 2002, according to an article in
Mensa Magazine. These findings broadly agree with a 1958 statistical
meta-analysis by Professor
Michael Argyle of the
University of Oxford. He analyzed seven research studies that had investigated correlation between attitude to religion and
measured intelligence among school and college students from the U.S. Although a clear negative correlation was found, the analysis didn't identify causality but noted that factors such as authoritarian family background and social class may also have played a part.
In the Australian 2006 Census of Population and Housing, in the question which asked
What is the person's religion? Of the total population, 18.7% ticked the box marked
no religion or wrote in a response which was classified as non religious (for example humanism, atheist). This question was optional and 11.2% didn't answer the question. In 2006, the New Zealand census asked,
What is your religion?. Of those answering, 34.7% indicated no religion. 12.2% didn't respond or objected to answering the question.
Atheism, religion and morality
Although people who self-identify as atheists are usually assumed to be
irreligious, some sects within major religions reject the existence of a personal, creator deity. In recent years, certain religious denominations have accumulated a number of openly atheistic followers, such as
atheistic or
humanistic Judaism and
Christian atheists.
As the strictest sense of positive atheism doesn't entail any specific beliefs outside of disbelief in God, atheists can hold any number of spiritual beliefs. For the same reason, atheists can hold a wide variety of ethical beliefs, ranging from the
moral universalism of
humanism, which holds that a moral code should be applied consistently to all humans, to
moral nihilism, which holds that morality is meaningless.
Some philosophers, however, have equated atheism with immorality, arguing that morality must be derived from God and can't exist without a wise creator. Moral precepts such as "murder is wrong" are seen as
divine laws, requiring a divine lawmaker and judge. However, many atheists argue that treating morality legalistically involves a
false analogy, and that morality doesn't depend on a lawmaker in the same way that laws do, based on the
Euthyphro dilemma, which either renders God unnecessary or morality arbitrary.
Philosophers
Susan Neiman and
Julian Baggini (among others) assert that behaving ethically only because of divine mandate isn't true ethical behavior but merely blind obedience. Baggini argues that atheism is a superior basis for ethics, claiming that a moral basis external to religious imperatives is necessary to evaluate the morality of the imperatives themselves—to be able to discern, for example, that "thou shalt steal" is immoral even if one's religion instructs it—and that atheists, therefore, have the advantage of being more inclined to make such evaluations.
Atheists such as
Sam Harris have argued that Western religions' reliance on divine authority lends itself to
authoritarianism and
dogmatism. Indeed,
religious fundamentalism and
extrinsic religion (when religion is held because it serves other, more ultimate interests) have been correlated with authoritarianism, dogmatism, and prejudice. This argument, combined with historical events that are argued to demonstrate the dangers of religion, such as the
Crusades,
inquisitions, and
witch trials, are often used by
antireligious atheists to justify their views.
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