BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Atheist Atheism vs Agnosticism

I am both. There is not conflict here.

Atheist
1. the doctrine or belief that there is no God.
2. disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or beings.

Atheism is the lack of a god belief and I lack that belief because I have no evidence.

Agnostic
1. a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.
2. a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study.
Agnosticism (Greek: α- a-, without + γνώσις gnōsis, knowledge; after Gnosticism) is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims � particularly metaphysical claims regarding theology, afterlife or the existence of God, gods, deities, or even ultimate reality � is unknown or, depending on the form of agnosticism, inherently unknowable due to the nature of subjective experience perceived by that individual.

I am an agnostic because I do not think that the existence of god is a knowable thing.

This is not to belittle any people who call themselves agnostic. I have referred to myself as agnostic in the past. It is to point out that these are very different things and agnosticism is not atheism-light as I think many people may feel.

Does anybody disagree with this opinion? If not, then I have a question for the people who call themselves agnostic. Are you a theist or an atheist?

I think I've always thought of an atheist more as one who is SURE that there is in fact NO God.... so in my way of thinking, a person would be one or the other.

I've always had trouble deciding where I would fall, so I guess that would, by definition make me an agnostic, not an atheist. But I have atheist leanings, to be sure.

Nicki

I call myself an agnostic, and as for theistic or not -- um, not sure. Seriously. I don't have a good handle on a definition of god. IF there were some "being" that instigated the whole theistic way of thinking (whether one or many gods), I suspect it would be likely to be a natural thing, but beyond humanity's current capability of understanding, just as many of our abilities, technologies, etc. are beyond, say, an ape's understanding. I suspect all organized religions have at the very least a large percent of details wrong!

I agree with Nicki. The difference is in knowing for sure that there is no God, or being sort of on the fence about it because one can't know for sure. It's about knowing and not knowing. So in this respect, you really can't be both because as an atheist, you know there is no God.

Shay

Shay and Nicki are arguing from opinion of what agnostic is. I gave you definitions. With all due respect you opinion of the word agnostic is wrong. It is not fence sitting. It is as defined.

Language is a fluid thing -- definitions DO change over time. If the dictionary says one thing (and often, there are multiple definitions, since words have so many shades of meaning) but 99% of the population define the word in a different manner, it is effectively altered in definition.

Good point Ms A. Though makes communication impossible doesn't it. Especially when dealing with things like this. Gay used to mean happy and has evolved, but when words have history (latin or greek) then we must maintain the definition for continuity. Otherwise everybody is correct.

I found these which might make your point more than mine:


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Agnostic - Agnostos
The English term "agnostic" is derived from the Greek "agnostos," which means, "to not know." An agnostic is one who admits, "I don't know." The term is applied specifically to those who don't know for certain whether or not God exists. An agnostic is one who believes that the existence of God is unknown and most likely beyond human ability to discover.

Agnostic - Sitting on the Fence
By definition, an agnostic is not committed to believing in or disbelieving in the existence of God. Nevertheless, while agnosticism claims to "sit on the fence," many agnostics are "practical atheists," in that they actively pursue the atheistic lifestyle; that is, they tend to subscribe to moral relativism and live out their lives without any concern for ultimate accountability.