Atheism

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Atheism

People in our society today who have the atheist point of view on religion, which is the belief that there is no god, are going against the so-called norms of society, and therefor are seen as deviant. Deviance is just an idea. Society determines what is deviant by the ideas they hold of what should be the norm. Atheism is seen as a negative deviance, or below the norm. They have a status that is placed on them in society. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they believe in evil, although that is how it is sometimes viewed from people in society who have a specific religion or faith. Atheism, which is not a new idea, has been evolving in our society, and is the reason for problems leading to debate and court cases, and for discrimination and labeling.

Atheism literally means "without god-ism". The word does not say that a person "knows" there are no gods, it merely expresses a lack of belief. Most atheists would agree that the universe and everything in it probably exists naturally without the planning or effort of any force or entity beyond nature. Atheists do not necessarily oppose religion, nor do all always assert that gods don't exist. Atheism is simply an absence of belief for whatever reason.

There are many kinds of atheists, including some who are opposed to religion or some that say that gods don't exist. There are even some non-believers who go to church and pretend to be religious. Atheists have lived in all countries and in all ages of history. Some people who call themselves rationalists, freethinkers, humanists, or agnostics might be accurately described as atheists.

There have always been some people who believe in things that don't exist, while others don't believe. These non-believers have usu...

... middle of paper ...

...enly chooses to defy the society norms. It is the larger society that created the norm of having a religion so because atheists are the minority, their ideas are largely opposed and seen as defiance. Atheism is not individualistic, but collective because their ideas are carried out in a group.

Bibliography:

Bibliography

Araujo, Derek Carl. “Defending the Rights of Unbelievers”.

Free Inquiry, Fall 1998 v18 N4 p12(2).

Glock, Charles Y. 1965. Religion and Society in Tension.

Chicago: Rand McNally & Company.

Glock, Charles Y. 1973. Religion in Sociological

Perspective: Essays in the Empirical Study of

Religion. Belmont, Cal.: Wadsworth Pub. Co., Inc.

Luckman, Thomas. 1967. The Invisible Religion. New York,

NY: The Macmillan Company.

Stark, Rodney. 1996. Religion, Deviance, and Social

Control. New York, NY: Routledge, Inc.

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