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The Essence of Atheism

The essence of atheism is a belief that the supernatural either does not exist or is of no importance to the natural world, including humans.

Behind all religious beliefs lies the assumption that there are forces outside of nature that control, guide and/or explain the natural world. But, is there or can there be anything outside of nature - does anything supernatural exist or can anything supernatural exist? Atheists are generally unanimous in believing that the natural world is effected only by natural forces, whereas religionists generally will appeal to supernatural forces to explain the mysteries they see in the universe.

It seems that the issue can be solved philosophically and scientifically based on the fact that no supernatural force has ever ever been observed in the natural world. Many have claimed that they have seen the effects of the supernatural, but when the causation of any of these effects or mysteries has been found, it has always been found to be entirely explained as natural phenomena. So, if the the supernatural exists, but never comes into the natural world, then it is not of any importance because it does not affect us. The only other explanation for the lack of apparent supernatural intervention in the natural world is that the supernatural simply does not exist.

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