meaning - Which definition of "atheism" is the proper usage?


This seems to be a creeping problem in that two competing definitions are being used for the term "atheism" that aren't necessarily compatible with one another.


One the one hand we have what appears to be the classical definition of "atheism" which describes it as the solid position that there is no God by describing at as the "belief that there is/are no God(s)"


Support: Stanford


On the other hand there are some selected groups (and many atheists that you ask on the internet will tell you) that the term is the "absence or lack of belief in God(s)."


Support: Wikipedia


Which definition is the proper usage? Are these competing definitions untenable and contradictory or can they be inclusively used as the Wikipedia article suggests?


What are some of the implications of "lack of belief" definition? Under that definition would babies be atheists? What about animals? Could inanimate objects technically be described as "atheistic?"




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