Nontheism is defined as covering a wide range of attitudes, all characterized by the absence of belief in any gods, the rejection of belief in gods, or the denial of the existence of any gods. The definition of nontheism is effectively the same as the definition of atheism — the prefixes "a-" and "non-" mean exactly the same thing. Nontheism was created and continues to be used in order to avoid the negative baggage the comes with atheism due to the bigotry of so many Christians towards atheism.