alt title(s): Atheism

A quick trip over to Hollywood Atheist, If Jesus Then Aliens, and similar tropes will quickly confirm that atheism is a widely misunderstood theological position. Just to start with, "atheist", "agnostic" and "non-religious" are not interchangeable, any more than "no", "I don't know", and "I don't care" are in any other circumstances.

Atheism in the broadest sense is simply the lack of belief that any deities exist: essentially, an atheist is a person unwilling to say "I believe in [a] god". This does not necessarily mean active disbelief (also called hard atheism or strong atheism), the willingness to say "I believe no gods exist" — someone who refuses to commit either way is usually called a "negative atheist" or "weak atheist".

Now, that said, while (most

) people who identify as atheists fit this description, so do many persons who profess other identities, such as "freethinker", "bright", or "agnostic". Additionally, many people who identify as belonging to a religion are also atheists — for example, Buddhism and Jainism are often atheistic by the above definition. In addition, newborn children, having never heard of God before, are (barring any genetic religious beliefs) de facto atheists — this is referred to as "implicit atheism".¹. There are other labels which atheists take — "apatheism" or "pragmatic atheism", for example, which consists of sheer indifference to the existence or non-existence of gods — but most of these are less commonly known.

One, however, is the source of a common confusion: although typically presented as a third, stand alone position, "agnosticism" means not having knowledge about whether God exists or not. (The word literally translates from gnosis, knowledge, and a, a prefix meaning "not".) It, too, has a "strong" variant — the belief that it cannot be known whether any god exists. Although it should be noted that agnosticism is certainly not incompatible with any form of theism or atheism — fideism is the usual form of agnostic theism — in most cases, persons identifying as agnostic are negative atheists.

Moving on: "non-religious" people do not adhere to any religious beliefs, and many are atheists — however, there are some non-religious theists, such as Epicurus, who believed that the gods do not concern themselves at all with human affairs. A common form this takes is deism: the belief that god (or the gods) created the universe, but do not interfere. This was popular in the 18th century and held by many of the Founding Fathers in the United States, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. However, though many modern persons are deists, it no longer holds a prominent position in the public eye.

A contrasting view often mentioned in the context of atheism is pantheism - the belief that the entirety of universe is God, and the entirety of God is the universe. These views are often conflated - particularly when atheists describe the awe that they feel at the majesty of the natural world in religious terms - but in principle (and frequently in practice) there's a distinction.

A final note: remember that atheism is not an organized religion the way Christianity or Islam is. Nor is it a belief system. Although secular humanism (see below) is a belief system adopted by many atheists, the two are not the same thing. As such, it's very difficult to talk about atheists as a group, since the only universal criterion for being an atheist is not believing in some sort of god. It's like trying to make meaningful statements about, say, people who don't play baseball. What follows are mostly generalities and some recurring themes in the atheist/theist discourse.

Atheism Myths

Contrary to popular opinion, atheists do not:

Worship Satan: Atheists do not believe in Satan any more than they believe in God. Therefore, they cannot worship either. (Note, though, that many proclaimed "Satanists" are actually atheists, and take the label for other reasons.)
Hate God any more than they hate Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. They also do not shake their fists at the heavens, for the same reason. (Many will even go so far as to say Jesus Was Way Cool, at least for his time.)
- The belief that God is real and a dirty rotten bastard is called dystheism (or misotheism, or maltheism), not atheism. Dystheism is the belief that God is not wholly good and may be evil. The conviction that God exists and is evil is Maltheism. If you hate God as a result of that, it's also Misotheism. On TV Tropes we refer to the Dysthiesm, Maltheism and any resulting Misotheism as Nay Theism.
- That said, the classic origin of the Hollywood Atheist—a terrible event that causes the to-be atheist to lose faith in their deity—does happen, but is less common than the media supposes.
Secretly know, deep inside, that God exists, but deny it so they can do the wrong thing without repercussions: The argument goes that without God, it's not possible to know the difference between right and wrong. The atheist would argue in turn that there are ways to determine right and wrong (see below) and that they are capable of figuring them out on their own without automatically defaulting to Evil Bastards. This may coincide with the concept of the "virtuous pagan", someone not of the religion or who was around before the religion in question existed and still did good works.
- Besides, this suggestion doesn't even make sense; if the "atheist" really believed there was a God who would punish actions He didn't like, they would be as averse to performing those actions as any other person who believed this (which, granted, isn't very in some cases). It would be worse than pointless to use their fake atheism as a fig leaf, since that would presumably just compound the problems they would face when God caught up with them.
Hate Christians/Jews/religious people: Atheists are totally capable of having friends who believe in God, as long as neither person in the relationship is a jerk about their beliefs. Please assume the other party is willing to not be a jerk.
- Most don't look down on religious people, either, or point and laugh and say "Those fools!" (Those who DO are what we like to call "assholes".) It's like having friends and family who are deeply into, say, stamp collecting: they have a hobby that they clearly get a lot out of, so good for them.
- Most atheists are not interested in converting others from their theistic beliefs, either, although they may explain what they believe and why (it helps to ask politely, and to not to use the conversation as an excuse to attempt to convert them). That said, it is common for atheists to support strict separation of church and state, on the grounds that governments should not promote or endorse religion even in very general terms and even if a given religion is followed by most citizens.
  - Let's reemphasize that first point for a moment: most atheists are not interested in converting others from their theistic beliefs. Some are, and, as you would expect, they are overrepresented in the public eye. Even so, as their preferred method of conversion is generally "explaining what they believe and why" or asking believers to do so (while he or she explains any logical/factual fallacies as they come up)...
- Some atheists, perhaps unexpectedly, even practice religions. Atheism is quite compatible with Buddhism, secular Judaism, and Unitarian Universalism; some branches of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) have atheist/agnostic members as well. That said, religious atheists are not likely to self-identify as "atheists," but instead as members of their religions. There are even atheists who attend theist churches (such as Christian Services) because they grew up in it and find it comforting, or because it is a part of their community — or because they like singing really loud where no-one complains if they do badly.
  - Also, most atheists will observe the holidays common to their cultures regardless of religious content; e.g. Christmas. This is more a matter of tradition and having an excuse to party than religion for them.
Worship Charles Darwin: Atheists do not worship, venerate, or idolize — in the religious senses of those terms — anyone, regardless of their stature. They may respect or even admire Darwin for his achievements as a scientist (similarly, Newton, Galileo, Curie, Feynman, and a host of others, but Chuck D seems to be the most frequent nominee for the position of atheists' Jesus), but they do so without thinking he or anyone else was infallible or had all the answers — or was even necessarily a nice person. (In other words: claiming "Darwin was racist" doesn't disprove evolutionary biology, so don't do it.)
- In the same vein, atheists do not "adhere to" or "believe in" science in the religious sense of those words. For scientific atheists, the scientific method is seen as an objective method to ascertain how pretty much everything works (or as much of it as we can figure out). It is not a dogmatic belief system. Therefore, saying things that put on the same level "belief in God" and "belief in science" is a sure-fire way to make most scientifically-minded atheists (which is to say, usually, the majority) really angry. Same with assuming that quotes from the Scriptures are worth as much as quotes from scientific journals (or more) during debates.
  - Indeed, the scientific method is based upon the principle that we do not really 'know' what is going on and we are constantly trying to learn more. The nomenclature for hypotheses, theories, and even laws is the statement that these are things which 'seem to work pretty well', not 'complete and immutable understandings'. Science assumes every theory will eventually be proven incomplete by a newer, more comprehensive theory.
- For that matter, not all atheists think scientifically — much less agree with The Theory of Evolution. But you can bet they don't agree with creationism in any form.
  - ...with the caveat that "intelligent design" creationism, interpreted in the broadest possible sense, could include directed panspermia or even naturalistic designers (cf. David Brin's Uplift series). Whether this idea is testable scientifically is a more difficult question.
  - Of course, finding an ID proponent that doesn't claim god to be the intelligent designer is like finding a unicorn. So the number of atheists who support intelligent design is going to be pretty slim.
- Finally: Darwin was a man of his time — in fact, although he was racist by modern standards, he was liberal compared to his contemporaries. And, again, that has no bearing on the accuracy of the theory.
Spontaneously find God in foxholes: Contrary to the popular adage, there are and have been atheists in foxholes. Sometimes it may well be the old "trauma leading them to abandon religion" as per the usual origin of the Hollywood Atheist. More often than not, however, some soldiers started as atheists and live through their horrible experiences with their atheism intact. Many such atheists find "No atheists in foxholes" shockingly insensitive to atheist soldiers who served their country well. Fortunately, thanks to the Freedom From Religion foundation, there is now a monument erected to honor their existence and sacrifice.
- A related misconception is that, in times of great danger or trauma, any atheist (soldier or otherwise) will prove to be so uncertain about his or her convictions that he or she will immediately abandon atheism and turn to the nearest deity. While some atheists not so certain about their standpoint may do that, a lot fewer do so than what popular media would have you believe. Just as the atheist soldiers in the above example, most atheists are perfectly capable of living through horrible experiences with atheism intact. Suggestions otherwise aren't just insensitive, they're downright insulting.
- There are those who take what one sees in foxholes as the best proof there could be of the nonexistence of God, or at least of a God that is at the same time all-powerful, all-knowing and benevolent; if such a being existed, so the argument goes, he would know about, want to eliminate, and be able to eliminate the evils that exist in the world, therefore if God existed (and fit the above description), the world would be a much nicer place than it is.
- Some people use the full quote of "There are no atheists in foxholes isn't an argument against atheism, it's an argument against foxholes" to justify that the usage of the first part of the phrase isn't really meant to be offensive atheists. Such people far state that it's meant to portray atheists and anyone else in foxholes positively along the lines of "race, color, or creed doesn't matter" during war. Many atheists don't buy this explanation and cite that replacing "atheists" in the full quote with some other minority (like say Jews or homosexuals) illustrates perfectly how offensive the quote is at its core as doing so would produce an instant uproar from such groups. Essentially, even the full quote comes off as a You Are A Credit To Unbelievers than anything else.
Adhere to Communism: Atheism by itself does not entail any political views; there are atheist who are liberals, conservatives, socialists, anarchists, libertarians, and every other affiliation conceivable. Certain trends or tendencies occasionally manifest — for example, the strong religious bent of the American right causes many atheists there to gravitate towards the American left — but they are by no means decisive or shared by all.
- To give an obvious counterexample: Objectivism, which is an ideology based on an atheistic understanding of the world, endorses a radically pro-free market and laissez-faire agenda.
- Incidentally, the reason Communism is associated with atheism is because (1) most communist philosophies denounce religion and embrace state-wide atheism, and (2) the Red Scare was America's first encounter with widespread rejection of religion (one that would last for several decades). Even so, the association of Communism with irreligion is hardly perfect, as both North Korea and modern China demonstrate.
Have an angry and bitter disposition: Another common stereotype is that atheists are perpetually angry and/or defensive, and therefore this proves that atheism makes people unhappy. Ironically, atheists might be less cranky if "why are you unbelievers so mad all the time?" were a less common question. ²
^{Less ironically, the continual repetition of any of these myths can have a similarly infuriating effect.}
For one thing, the existence of angry atheists does not invalidate the existence of generally cheerful and upbeat ones (just as there are "God is love" believers as well as "fire and brimstone" believers). For another, many people have things they get upset about, and for atheists it may be the perception and treatment of atheists in society. It doesn't mean that the non-religious are angry all the time.
- The mileage may vary, but typically, the most bitter atheists are bitter not because of having no faith, just that people of faith can't see them as anything but bitter and hateful and therefore don't listen to them. It's an endless cycle.
- Some atheists also become bitter when realizing how much religion damaged their world, or when hearing news about executed gay persons in Iran in the name of Allah or forbidden abortion in the name of God. Barring psychological issues, which are NOT related to atheism in any way, this is a temporary condition and atheists are generally happy with their lives.
- As for the scientific opinion, it might be fairly described as 'ambiguous': some studies found a positive correlation between religious fervor and happiness, some studies found no significant correlation, and at least one study has found a negative correlation. Needless to say, none has found a binary division between uniformly contented theists and uniformly depressed atheists.
- The "angry atheist" stereotype seems to be a lot more prevalent in the United States than in most other countries. This may have something to do with having both a large degree of religious freedom and a significant proportion of the population that takes religion very seriously. In the more secular societies of Europe (including the formerly atheist countries of Eastern Europe) religion is a more personal matter and an atheist is less likely to be treated with condescension, while in countries with more theocratic tendencies (e.g. Iran or Afghanistan) even a genuinely angry atheist is very unlikely to speak up, fearing prosecution. In the US you get individuals who can openly proclaim their atheism, after having grown up being patronized and derided by their religious peers; those individuals tend to become quite a Vocal Minority.
Unfairly dismiss all supernatural claims without consideration: People who base their beliefs on evidence generally don't mind being proven wrong, and will be the first to admit their ignorance, but extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. If you make a convincing argument for the universe having a "first cause", an atheist would ask you how you know that that cause was intelligent, that it still exists now, and so on. Declaring that something is beyond the reach of science is not only obscenely arrogant (just because you can't think of a way to test it...), it disarms you of almost every argument that an atheist would consider relevant.

What Atheists Believe

Beginning with the obvious: atheists don't believe that gods exist. As previously mentioned, this is not as rigid a position as you might expect — many atheists would give near even odds that gods exist, and even among the most dogmatic gods are not disbelieved much more strongly than jackalopes are.
- Note that this renders the term "fundamentalist atheist" doubly wrong — first, atheists don't believe any of the five fundamentals, and second, they don't hold to what they do believe with the same fervor.
- And remember that people can also be atheists simply by never having considered whether or not gods exist — implicit atheism. Such a position by necessity is not rigid at all: technically, every human being is born an implicit atheist.
What leads many people to become atheists is skepticism, which is derived from the same basic principles as the scientific method. The argument is: as there is no good evidence for the existence of a god or gods, there is no reason to believe that they exist, and anyone who thinks otherwise is invited to prove it. Skepticism does not necessarily mean the atheist is a cynic; atheists' opinions range like everyone else's.
Some atheist are also fond of materialism, Epicureanism or Hedonism, thinking that if there's no afterlife, the only "life" that matter is this one, and you have to enjoy it.
- But that doesn't mean that they fail to acknowledge the negative consequences that serious excess may have on that only "life" that matters. Atheists may embrace clean and healthy living for the sake of a clean and healthy life, not for winning approval from a deity.
- In the same way that certain religious people may embrace a materialistic society, so too may certain atheists choose to reject materialism. There is no real link between materialism or hedonism and atheism.

What do atheists think of organized religions?

Many atheists believe that religious organizations generally do more harm than good to society, and some may even quote scientific studies on the subject; and for atheists who are not certain God doesn't exist, they generally think that if one exists he's not doing much good compared to the harm caused by religious organizations overall. (Not to say that other political group with pervasive powers, such as commercial corporations or governments, have not caused similar harm.)
- Many consider the widespread cultivation of unskeptical credulity from childhood to be inherently damaging. As this is a core feature of nearly all supernatural belief systems, they blame religion for enabling real life Agent Mulder advocates of issues outside their own religion. (Notably to the extent of denying evidence-based reasoning altogether -as anti-science polls repeatedly indicate- in favor of perceived sincerity and emotional fervor)
- That said, some atheists take the opposite route and believe that religion is positive and enriching, but they are less likely to advertise their atheism — indeed, some atheists go so far as to pretend to be theists and become priests and suchlike because they still think that their chosen religion is a positive force, even if they don't believe that it's true.
- Or they just think that while religion doesn't make sense/seem true to them, well, who knows about other people. Not having rules (such as believing in "one way" or "one God") can make that kind of thing easier.
- And there are others who don't really care about religion at all and don't think much about it. But even in their indifference such atheists still do not take kindly to people trying to convert them and/or make them feel bad or inadequate about their atheism. In general, it's when belief in an organized religion starts getting extremist, out of hand, or to the point where members try to force conversions on others that most atheists have a problem with it.
- Many atheists also recognize that churches and religions are just as varied as anything else, and that many religious people are motivated to do good things because of their beliefs. A church that provides food and shelter to the homeless, or that advocates for social justice, is apt to get a much more favorable opinion than, say, the Westboro Baptist Church.
- So this whole discussion is here to prove that atheists, like real people (which, surprise, atheists are!) have a lot of different beliefs on things.
Most atheists believe that old holy books (of any religion) are plagued with centuries of Adaptation Decay, Anvilicious politics, Too Many Cooks Spoil The Soup, Executive Meddling, Ret Con, and Epileptic Trees being used and retained to justify new beliefs which were grafted into a religion by virtue of historical accidents or intimidation/bribes by large empires, and other notable flaws, all while believing God himself has never done much wrong by virtue of non-intervention or non-existence. Also, decades of oral tradition and the evolution/death of the language it was originally written in leaves room for Fridge Logic interpretations which was certainly not 100% reflecting the original nor the best a God should come up with — all which results in more Adaptation Decay in the versions religious leaders use, as opposed to selectively ignoring the written version.
- Not to mention the literal Word Of Dante effect.
Atheists nearly universally loathe the practice of attempting to "save a soul" by knowingly lying to him or using material, political, or psychological manipulation.

What about other supernatural or paranormal beliefs?

If Jesus Then Aliens does not necessarily apply. Atheism and skepticism complement each other but are not synonymous. While most atheists are skeptics, not all are, and atheists are often quite willing to believe in things that they consider more likely than the existence of God (and on the other side of the coin, many theists are skeptical about psychic powers, aliens, Bigfoot, and so on). However, many vocal atheists tend to be skeptics who actively refute the existence of what could be considered "supernatural" phenomenon, as well as pseudoscientific claims.
Lack of belief in an afterlife is not a requirement of atheism, but since 1) atheism is strongly correlated with skepticism and free-thought in general and 2) people who, for whatever reason, don't believe in the supernatural at all are atheists by definition, the two tend to coincide. This does not mean that atheists believe in The Nothing After Death; rather, those who don't believe in an afterlife or reincarnation view life as an event, like a fire, that has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Whatever is left of a person after they die does not really resemble a living person, any more than a pile of ashes resembles a fire.
Atheism being strongly correlated with skepticism might be true for the US or other countries with a large religious majority, but it certainly doesn't apply to countries with an atheistic majority or large minority. In European areas like Scandinavia, (former) East Germany, the Czech Republic, etc., lots of people just grew up as atheists and believe in all kinds of superstition, astrology, pseudo-scientific stuff and New Age mysticism.
Actual bona-fide miracles occurring (eg, raising the dead, "impossible" healing of sickness or injury, etc.) would not be automatic proof that the Christian god is "real" in the Biblical sense. Assuming for the moment that such miracles occur, it's also possible that they are unusual, yet natural happenings in our universe propelled by a mechanism we do not yet understand, or that the beings that style themselves as gods are another kind of lifeform that chooses to interact with us by posing as gods for some reason.

Morality and Meaning

Atheism does not prescribe a system of morality or code of behavior. There is no built-in sense of reward for good acts and punishment for evil ones. While many would expect this to lead the average atheist to become a nihilistic Nietzsche Wannabe, atheists generally supply moral codes of their own, formed with the support of family, friends, and their culture. They have to, since if you don't have any moral code, you don't get the benefits of Good Feels Good. (And also that sanity is its own advantage.)
- A good simile is that, just like honest citizens will follow the law even when there's no police around, honest atheists will do good even though they don't believe in God. As Einstein said: "Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."
- Many atheists see this as a curious form of proof that they are actually more moral than religious folk. After all, who is the better person: The nonbeliever who does good for goodness' sake, or the religious man who admits that only his fear of hell prevents him from sinking into excess? It is certainly obvious that the former is at least more principled.
  - However, some religious thinkers do state that if God were evil ('fortunately He is not') our duty would be to oppose him even if it meant eternal punishment.
Atheists will often point out that we each build our own morality, as most Christians don't follow all the rules and laws of the Bible (like many things in the Old Testament, for any reason), but only those which make sense for them in the modern world.
The moral philosophy most closely associated with atheism is secular humanism, which is derived from the same basic principles. It is a popular philosophy with atheists, but by no means the only one. The main tenets of secular humanism are:
- Need to test beliefs — A deeply held conviction that all beliefs, be they political, religious, or otherwise, should be challenged and tested on a regular basis, rather than simply being accepted on faith. By challenging and discarding flawed beliefs, people can replaced them with newer, less flawed ones, and so grow as a person.
- Reason, evidence, scientific method — The belief that the answers to questions and solutions to problems should be sought through reason, critical thinking, and scientific methods of inquiry, rather than faith or mysticism.
- Fulfillment, growth, creativity — A concern for fulfillment, growth, and creativity for both the individual and humanity in general.
- Search for truth — A constant search for a universal, objective truth, through the use of reason, evidence, and the scientific method, with the awareness that new discoveries can alter our perception and knowledge of truth.
- This life — A concern for our life on Earth above a hypothetical afterlife, making the most of the time we have and making our lives meaningful through our understanding of each other.
- Ethics — A search for a clear code of ethics, judged on their ability to improve life for humanity through individual responsibility.
- Building a better world — A conviction that reason, understanding, and good will can lead to improvements in the world.
- Morality determined by human need — The scientific concept of morality as an evolved strategy of human beings who needed to band together in groups in order to survive.
Once the supernatural is rejected, the meaning of phrases like "the meaning of life" seems to fall away. Most atheists do not believe in a meaning to their existences or a purpose given to them by a higher power (after all, who would give it?). Like the "no afterlife" thing this can seem depressing, so most atheists have learned to invent their own purposes instead. This is a liberating feeling, with plenty of destiny-screwing satisfaction.
- The philosophical concept that there is no ultimate meaning that can ultimately apply to all human beings is called, somewhat confusingly, Philosophical Absurdism. R. Scott Bakker (author of the Second Apocalypse) coined the slightly cooler term Semantic Apocalypse.
- The person who coined this term Absurdism, Albert Camus, did a significant body of work writing about this idea. The term 'absurdism' comes from the idea that the conflict between the impermanence of life and human actions is a paradox and, well, absurd. To quote The Other Wiki on this: We value our lives and existence so greatly, but at the same time we know we will eventually die, and ultimately our endeavors are meaningless. While we can live with a dualism (I can accept periods of unhappiness, because I know I will also experience happiness to come), we cannot live with the paradox (I think my life is of great importance, but I also think it is meaningless). Camus' writings were based around the theme that the paradox, the absurd, showed that the universe was meaningless — but that human endeavors could still create meaning. Basically, that we live in a Cosmic Horror Story, where the Nietzsche Wannabe is right...but that we still, despite that, create meaning.
  - That is incredibly heartwarming.
Oddly enough, most atheistic belief systems have a tendency to sit farther toward the idealistic end of the Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism than the religious ones do. This comes in a large part from their acceptance of their own mortality and belief in this world as the only world that matters - if this is all we have, we should do right with it. Further, since atheists believe that we humans have only ourselves to rely on when it comes to moral guidance, the apparent fact that most societies grow more compassionate and egalitarian over time suggests that human nature is pretty virtuous.
- It might also help that atheistic belief systems usually (not always) assume that anything proposed is going to go through a some pretty rigorous testing for logical and rational integrity before actually being implemented. Thus, they can afford to start out as idealistic as they like; the ideal will conform to reality as it develops.
- Finally, truly cynical people are less likely to call themselves atheists, given that it is an unpopular label. It's easier and more rewarding to accept whatever faith is locally considered prestigious, without taking the faith seriously.
  - Unless, of course, the people they need to impress consider atheism the prestigious label. Which might explain why people associate atheism with Communism, come to think.

A Few Words on Faith

Faith gets bandied around a lot by both sides in the religion versus atheism debate, and the term is misused quite frequently. For example, in the two groups most often at odds in English-speaking countries — atheists and Christians — the word is read completely differently.

Atheists see "faith" as a justification Christians use to (irrationally, they argue) believe that God is real despite lacking evidence.
Christians see "faith" as the trust they have in the power and benevolence of God, of whose existence they are confident for other reasons.

The conflation of these two concepts contributes materially to the hollowness of the Hollywood Atheist character. Most atheists do have faith in the latter sense — for example, that their good deeds will be rewarded, or that a good deed is its own reward — but the things they have faith in are proven to be real, to their mind, where God is not.

A Few Words on Literalism

Liberal theologians of various religions often complain that atheists do not address their religion, preferring to mock a caricature thereof based on a shallow reading of their holy texts. Conversely, atheists complain that liberal theologians ignore the obvious meaning of their holy texts, and will even be heard to offer (left-handed) compliments to fundamentalists for their willingness to stand by a literal reading of the text. This is particularly aggravating because liberal theists and atheists often agree on moral and political issues, such as the separation of church and state.

The key difference, however, is that atheists in general have no reason not to take the book literally. Their interest is usually in two things: first, checking if the account is factually correct; and second, judging the religion described in a given holy text. Neither motive provides a reason to interpret an account as myth, parable, or poem save where the text makes this explicit (e.g. the Psalms in the Christian Bible) - instead, atheists will maintain that liberal theology calls upon sources outside their primary religious texts to form its attitudes and imposes those attitudes on their books. At which point these atheists ask why the book is even necessary.

Atheism in the Media

Recently, atheism has gained some mainstream traction, though even before this happened, there were many people in the entertainment industry who were atheists. Noted examples include Gene Roddenberry, J Michael Straczynski, Joss Whedon, and Russell T Davies. Atheistic themes tend to show up primarily in science fiction and its subgenres, often alongside religious themes.
Prominent television characters who are atheists include Dr. Gregory House of House and William Adama of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica. Though never explicitly stated, Captain Picard of Star Trek The Next Generation often articulated ideas consistent with Roddenberry's brand of secular humanism (the right of civilizations to develop unimpeded, the immorality and danger of using religion as a tool of manipulation, etc...).
Unlike the clergy of organized religions, well-known atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens do not actually represent other atheists in any official capacity. This is something that non-atheists sometimes have trouble with, because they are used to the idea that a Baptist minister for example represents a Baptist ministry, but atheists don't have ministries, and indeed atheism is a negative position, a lack of belief, so aside from that lack of belief there's not really not much else that all atheists have in common, as there are no central tenets or dogmas specific to atheism.
- To put it another way: such people are not spokespeople for atheism. They're spokespeople for their own particular take, which a lot of people might agree with (or not, depending on the person). Any correlation between the views of popular atheists and the views of any other random atheist is purely coincidental (beyond the "we don't think gods exist" bit).
  - Indeed, even the Four Horsemen themselves (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett and Sam Harris) have a few very strong opinions which conflict with EACH OTHER.
  - To paraphrase Richard Dawkins: trying to get atheists to agree with each other is the intellectual equivalent of herding cats, and about just as futile.
  - To which the audience applauded and agreed.
In London, an Atheist Bus Campaign decided to raise £100,000 to counter the evangelizing of religious groups, and Lo and Behold, atheists put aside their differences and stumped up the cash (Richard Dawkins offered to match £5,500 worth of donations)! And when the campaign decided on the slogan 'There's probably no God so just stop worrying and enjoy life', then they fell out again. Some atheists don't like the 'probably' and plenty of atheists aren't hedonists either.
- Slight correction: They set out to raise only £11,000. Dawkins said that he would match the first £5,500 so the Campaign only needed to raise £5,500 from the public. The target was reached within a few hours of the website going live and the money kept coming. After 4 or so days the final amount raised was about £150,000. The Other Wiki has more information here.
- Ironically, the unpopular 'probably' was a concession to avoid trouble with truth-in-advertising laws, since "There's no God" could have been challenged as an unsubstantiated factual statement. Meta-ironically, "There's probably no God" has been challenged as an unsubstantiated factual statement.
  - Carlsberg got away with 'Probably the best lager in the world' for years. Can't see that challenge getting anywhere, really.
  - The Advertisements Watchdog skirted the problem by saying that Christian advertisements where technically a "Political Campaign" for people to support the Catholic Church, that is to say, a technicality... the story continues.
  - Also put the Advertising Standards Authority (the UK body that handles complains about adverts and advertising) in the interesting position of having to rule on whether God exists or not.
- Noteworthy here is that adverts by religious organizations are generally considered appeals for membership: "Join Our Church (because) we believe in X", with X automatically ruled an expression of faith or point of doctrine. Atheism operates from a purely secular perspective and constitutes a public call to action, therefore falling under a more stringent set of commercial and political advertising rules.
  - Which, incidentally, is a perfect example of why atheists tend to be a little angry...
  - Or laughing very hard.
  - So some atheists just have to found a group based on the principle that there is no god, sounds easy enough.
  - There are, but they keep having a hard time getting people to join their particular brand of atheism.