User:Chriseargle/Opinion/Atheism

Atheism is the rejection of the claim there is a god. It does not require one to make the opposite claim that there is no god.

Application of rational skepticism to all aspects of life leads one to atheism, but not all atheists are rational skeptics. Atheism does not require one to reject all supernatural claims, it requires one to reject the specific supernatural claim that there is at least one god. There are atheists that believe in medical quackery, conspiracy theories, and various other ideas that do not survive empirical analysis.

The opposite of atheism is theism, which requires a belief in at least one god. The prefix a- denoting the difference between atheism and theism means 'without'.

Some theists claim atheism would not exist without theism by definition. This is untrue; if theism did not exist, there would simply be no need for the word. A belief must be posited before it can be accepted, and the belief is not held until accepted. Without theism, everyone would be atheist.