Are there a billion or more atheists in the world?

This isn't necessarily a theological discussion, but I just wondered how many atheists there were in the world? Agnostics dont count. Only those who, by my definition:

Actively lack belief in any diety or amy other wacky way of thinking.

Hmmm... well im one, my brother is one, my friend is one. why dont you act like one of those pesky mormons/jehovas witness and go door-to-door at 6 am and instead ask people if they are atheist. lol

No.

There are over a billion christian, roughly one billion muslims, roughly 700-800 million Hindus, and nearly just as many(if not more) Buddhists.

There could possibly be one billion non-religious people, but I think even that is a stretch.

quote:Originally posted by [b]Fascismo

Actively lack belief in any diety or amy other wacky way of thinking.[/quote]

It would be impossible to get any statistics using your definition of atheist, since no one else uses your definition.

The only requirement for an atheist is disbelief that any gods exist. There are no statistics on how many atheists have a wacky way of thinking ("wacky" is also subjective).

If someone doesn't believe gods exist, he's an atheist. It doesn't matter if he believes in ESP, George Bush is a lizard person, or even ghosts.

quote:Originally posted by [b]napoleon_complex

roughly 700-800 million Hindus, and nearly just as many(if not more) Buddhists.[/quote]

I don't know if there are any statistical breakdowns of how nany Buddhists lack belief in God, but I would bet that it is the majority.

According to the link below, there are over a billion of us.

http:../../www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml9187.htm

quote:Originally posted by napoleon_complex:

No.

There are over a billion christian, roughly one billion muslims, roughly 700-800 million Hindus, and nearly just as many(if not more) Buddhists.

There could possibly be one billion non-religious people, but I think even that is a stretch.

I think the deeply religious are somewhat rare in comparison to those who claim to belong to a religion but practice loosely, believe scarcely.

There are roughly 1.1 billion Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheists in the world.