[dangus]

>> Either atheism began in Protestant nations or it began elsewhere. That is a pretty simple argument. No? <<

None of the so-called atheists the article refered to were atheists, though. The site didn’t provide the data you intended it to provide.

[OLD REGGIE]

None of the so-called atheists the article refered to were atheists, though. The site didn’t provide the data you intended it to provide.

From the link I provided:

India : Probably the first sign of skeptic thought comes from the Rig-Veda, a text which is thought to have been written around 1000 BC. The philosophy promoted in it could be said to be atheistic by omission, as shows us this creation hymn :

"Who knows for certain? Who shall here declare it? Whence was it born and whence came this creation? The gods were born after this world's creation. Then, who can know from whence it has arisen? None know whence creation has arisen and whether he has or has not produced it. He who surveys it in the highest heaven, he only knows, or happily, he may know not".

Around 500 BC, Buddhism, inspired by the Rig-Veda, became a theistic philosophy. Jainism, an atheistic religion, also began around that time.

Where were the Protestants? Nuff said.