First Known Atheism
The first atheism, or not believing in theism or a divine deity. was prominent in early Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions not due to their disbelief in deities but their disbelief in one God, monotheism, who graced man with mercy, forgiveness and an eternal life. Even in early Christianity, devout Christians were declared atheists simply because they did not follow the pagan deities of the government, but instead believed in their one God and followed teachings of Christ as their Messiah. Socrates was considered atheistic but not for today’s reason. Socrates also refused to follow the government’s dictated deities. It was not until the 16th and 18th centuries in the Western world that atheism became known as not believing in any deity and disavowing monotheistic beliefs and tenets.

Implicit vs Explicit Atheism
Today atheism has two separate meanings, although the primary disclaimer of any God is true of both Implicit and Explicit Atheism.

Implicit Atheism refers to the lack of belief in God simply because the individual never was presented with any of the beliefs or reasons for prayer or articles of faith. This lack of belief is in our toddler children who do not disbelieve, but do not believe, either, because they have never yet been exposed to beliefs and explanations of the existence of God. It has also been found in rare tribes in primitive jungle locations where there was no belief in any deity whatsoever, not any disbelief either, no rituals or ceremonies, and when a deceased member died, they were buried with no grieving attention later. They have never been exposed to beliefs in deities or the Western world’s monotheism so they have Implicit Atheism, like our small toddlers. No belief in God but not a disbelief in God.

Explicit Atheism is the disbelief of any God or other deity when the person has learned and understands the tenets and principles of a faith in God as creator and guardian of mankind’s souls; however, Explicit Atheists disdain and refuse to believe, follow nor even respect the belief. Theirs is an elementary stance that we cannot worship an unseen and judgmental God and especially tout that there are fallacies throughout all monotheistic beliefs in an intelligent design. “If God designed us, then who designed God?” is their most common deriding question and Explicit Atheism’s only benchmark.

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