American Atheists
Atheist groups, also known as secularist organizations, are designed to promote moral standards and are wholly concerned with the well-being of the human race, without any references or funding from religious organizations or concepts referring to God or other religious figures. The main views common among all atheist groups is that the separation of church and state should be enforced and the government should not be involved or should be neutral when it came to matters of religion.
Atheism, the idea believed by atheists, is essentially the belief that there are no deities or gods. It can also be defined, in much more broad terms, as the rejection of any belief of deities. While the exact definition of atheism is widely debated, there are several levels of atheism, giving different meanings to the word. By the broadest of standards, atheism refers to the absence of any belief in gods or deities. This modern definition of Atheism originated in the 18th century. The word “atheism” arose from the Greek word atheos, meaning “without gods”. This was a negative word applied to those individuals who did not believe or worship gods of any kind that the larger society as a whole believed in. The eventual rise of freethought, skepticism, and criticism of religions led to a more widespread belief in atheism.
Atheism is not easily defined, and many secularists identify themselves as one of a number of other terms. This includes agnostic, atheist, bright, freethinker, humanist, nontheist, naturalist, rationalist, or a skeptic. All of these identities have one thing in common– they all hold irreligious views, or in other words, have an indifference or hostility towards all things religion. The following are atheist groups found in the United States:
American Atheists:
A non-profit atheist group that is dedicated to defending the rights and liberties of atheists in the United States. They also make it clear in their efforts of defending the notion of the separation of church and state. American Atheists spread their efforts by sending public speakers to colleges and clubs across the U.S. and publishing their monthly magazine entitled American Atheist Magazine.
Fellowship of Humanity:
A atheist group founded in 1935, it was established as a “humanist church” in the early American Religious Humanism movement. It is the oldest affiliate aligned with American Humanist Association. Humanism refers to the belief that humans are primary in importance in their dignity, concerns and capabilities.
Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers:
An atheist group that defines itself as a community support network aimed towards connecting all people of atheism and freethinkers in the United States military. The organization also teaches ideals of atheism and also responds to efforts to promote religion over non-religion.
Secular Coalition for America:
An atheist group for advocacy of atheism, humanism, and freethinkers within the confines of American politics. The Secular Coalition for America has goals of creating respect for those with nontheistic ideologies within the United States and has the mission of protecting the separation of church and state.