Home

Atheism vs Agnosticism

Tue, 2008-01-29 01:03 — Anonymous Coward
Question:: 
As Agnostic (actually im not really an Agnostic as i do beleive a creator exists, i will leave my justificationof this to another debate) And an opponent of western religion, I have to say it angers me to see so many people taking the stane of an Agnostic and calling themselves athiests. To say " I can not prove that there is a god therefore, I am as the definition describes without god" is simply false. To be unsure, or to exept the fact that one can never know the truth of existence and creation, makes one an agnostic. SO what i am asking is If your true belief is not that there IS no god, then why not call yourself an Agnostic. What is it about Agnosticism that is not part of your theology.
Atheist Answer: 

Atheism is a-theism. Theism is a belief in a god or gods. Atheism is therefore no belief in a god or gods, not a belief in no gods. This means that many people who call themselves agnostics are actually atheists as well. The definitions are not mutually exclusive.

I get your point, and in fact I'm happy to call myself an agnostic atheist. I am an agnostic because I don't know whether there are any gods, and I suspect that I can never know. But I insist to you that I'm also an atheist, because I conclude from this lack of input that there really aren't any. It's a conclusion rather than a belief, and I'd change it if some evidence for gods turned up, but it's my considered opinion that if there were a god, there would be more evidence.

It's like being confident that you won't be struck by lightning tomorrow. You can't say it'll never happen, but it's so unlikely that you live as if it won't happen. In all probability, it never will. If three of your neighbours were struck by lightning in the same week, however, you might reconsider that position.

- SmartLX