Portal:Atheism/Selected article/2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irreligion, irreligiousness, or nonreligion is an umbrella term which, depending on context, may be understood as referring to atheism, agnosticism, deism, skepticism, freethought, secular humanism, general secularism, or heresy.
Irreligion has at least three related yet distinct meanings:
- absence of religion (either due to not having information about religion or to not believing in it)
- hostility to religion
- behaving in such a way that fails to live up to one's religious tenets
Although people classified as irreligious might not follow any religion, not all are necessarily without belief in the supernatural or in deities; such a person may be a non-religious or non-practicing theist. In particular, those who associate organized religion with negative qualities, but still hold spiritual beliefs, might describe themselves as irreligious.
