was the messiah or performed miracles. Religious skepticism is not the same as atheism or agnosticism, though these often do involve skeptical attitudes toward religion and philosophical theology (for example, towards divine omnipotence). Religious people are generally skeptical about claims of other religions, at least when the two denominations conflict concerning some stated belief. Additionally, they may also be skeptical of the claims made by atheists. The historian Will Durant writes that Plato was "as skeptical of atheism as of any other dogma". The Baháʼí Faith encourages skepticism that is mainly centered around self-investigation of truth. Science A scientific or empirical skeptic is one who questions beliefs on the basis of scientific understanding and empirical evidence. Scientific skepticism may discard beliefs pertaining to purported phenomena not subject to reliable observation and thus not systematic or testable empirically. Most scientists, being scientific skeptics, test the reliability of certain kinds of claims by subjecting them to a systematic investigation using some type of the scientific method. As a result, a number of claims are considered as "pseudoscience", if they are found to improperly apply or ignore the fundamental aspects of the scientific method. Auditing Professional skepticism is an important concept in auditing. It requires an auditor to have a "questioning mind", to make a critical assessment of evidence, and to consider the sufficiency of the evidence. See also Critical thinking Debunker (one who claims to expose claims as being false) Scientific skepticism Pseudoskepticism (dogma in the form of skepticism) Trivialism (opposite of skepticism) List of topics characterized as pseudoscience The Skeptic (UK magazine), founded by Wendy M. Grossman, examines secularism and the paranormal Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, a non-profit organization to encourage the investigation of paranormal and fringe-science Skeptical Inquirer, magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to resisting the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs Skeptic (U.S. magazine), magazine of The Skeptics Society Skepticality, a biweekly podcast of the US Skeptics Society's Skeptic magazine The Skeptic's Dictionary, a collection of essays by Robert Todd Carroll Skeptical movement, a movement based on scientific skepticism, a term introduced by Carl Sagan Skeptics in the Pub, a social meet-up group The Amaz!ng Meeting, an annual conference on science, skepticism, and critical thinking Euroscepticism, skepticism and/or opposition towards the European Union and its increasing power Notes Sources A Greek-English Lexicon, Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott,