what is an athiest

Atheism is the absence of belief in the existence of deities. It is not an affirmative belief that there is no god nor does it answer any other question about what a person believes. Atheism is often defined incorrectly as a belief system, but it is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods. Atheists can be described as people who do not believe in the existence of a god or any gods. Atheism is a psychological state of lacking the belief that God exists. Atheists can also be people who believe that the concept of God is incoherent and that certain central religious claims are not genuine truth-claims. Atheism is not a religion, but it is protected by many of the same Constitutional rights that protect religion. Some people who describe themselves as atheists also say they believe in some kind of higher power or spiritual force, but the vast majority of U.S. atheists do not believe in God or a higher power or in a spiritual force of any kind.