It's really quite simple. Gnostic and agnostic refer to knowledge. Atheist and theist refer to belief. The two terms neither contradict nor mutually exclude each other.

I consider myself an agnostic theist. I believe there is a "higher power" but don't believe I'm in possession of enough evidence to define that power. I don't think the power is an intelligent being who divvies out favors based on who prays the most eloquently or demonstrates the most piousness, but a force like gravity or inertia that follows measurable laws and offers consistent results.

The real debate about how a person is lies with how they hang toilet paper. XP

Just kidding, people seriously need to chill. I’ve known so many “flex atheists” who are “agnostic” in public because of the connotation of atheist.

Even on the scale you can have gnostic and agnostic religious and unreligious people... I’m faiiiirly sure the site even defines the words to stave off this in-fighting.

Personally, fully agree the Ibrahamic god is fake as shit, some cultures deify natural things. Shintoism worships some trees that they believe house spirits. Do I -not- believe in trees? No, they’re there. Do I deify them? No, no I do not. My ‘doubt’ is in the interpretation. Though, at the same time that concept that you can deify yourself with enough people buying into your ego is pretty damn niche cool.

^_~ Live and let live, do no harm and take no shit!

xoxo

It is very simple:

Q1 "Does a god exist?"
A1 "I don't know, I'm agnostic."
Q2 "Do you believe that a god exists?"
A2 "No, I'm an atheist."

No sane atheist would claim to be able to prove the non-existence of a god, hence any sane atheist is also agnostic.

I can identify. Maybe I am an agnostic atheist. I was once a believer in the Abrahamic god but have come to realize that there is no proof of any gods and various holy books are only the writings of those who believe. The books are written by men and not supreme beings. What is a god? Having a god who is greatly concerned about my sex life is disturbing. Make this god all powerful and yet have him unable to do things is more disturbing yet. It gets much worse when I discover how the holy books were assembled and how long it took to get them in our present forms today. Belief in gods of any sort is much worse than science fiction.

This was well thought-out, and well written, thank you for sharing your thoughts and the result of your searching and cogitating! Agnostic and atheist are similar terms, but, yes, they define different perspectives. I call myself an atheist because I strongly believe that there is no god (or are no gods), and that works for me.

I've also traveled that agnostic/atheist trail, and have come this conclusion: I am a post Big Bang atheist, and a pre Big Bang agnostic. I know - we shouldn't think in terms of 'before the Big Bang since time started then, but that is my stand. We pretty well have it nailed that the universe started at the BB, but those first few microseconds after the start is still a mystery. 'Before' the BB is so out there I can't even speculate

But how do I know which bathroom to use?

Thanks for sharing your pivotal moment. I respect you as a peer and appreciate your friendly spirit. I try to approach every conversation on this site hoping that in the end I kensmile4u and you cansmile4me.

I would bring pot cookies and brownies.

If I brought a Christian friend, would he have to bite his tongue?.

Well I always viewed us as on the same side, and want the same thing. I don't care about the label all that matters to me is that where on the same side.

Thank you for your input.
You did a fantastic job of differentiating between the two and expanding our knowledge of the two.

I identify w/ both terms. Am a human first; labels are useful only insomuch as they aid understanding.

I consider myself an atheist, much to the Chagrin of many other self-professed atheists. I have often been grouped with agnostics by other hardcore atheist but there should be another term I believe, "atheist who just don't give a fuck" maybe? While I am sure someone could argue that because I confess the possibility that there may be an unknown creator, I must also at once confess that I cannot know what is unknowable. I don't mean the unknown, but instead, please, imagine that you woke up tomorrow and someone told you the alphabet has 30 letters and always has, then asks you to write down the missing four letters. That would be impossible for you to know. So when a hardcore atheist says to me, "oh so you think there may be a God but you just can't comprehend it? That makes you an agnostic!"
And I think to myself, "No, it just leaves me alone, in my ignorance of my ignorance."
"Just how stupid am I?" I ask myself sometimes...

I probably won't know until my last breath, so I don't try to answer. But I giggle when I think that one day I will exclaim, "AHA! I get it!!!!"
gurgle
cough
" It is Exactly as...."
cough, cough
die....

Really great dissertation. Little room left for comment. Labels don't help much. I think of the label,on a glass jar. It serves to inform, but also hides the contents from view and makes it difficult to determine how much is left in the jar. Thanks for giving us so much to chew on

The answer to your semantic question hangs totally on your definition of God. (Capital "g" intentional.) Are you referring to a being or a force? Is this being or force interactive (with its creation if you include creator in your definition)? You need to dig down one more layer of verbiage before even considering whether you are agnostic or atheist. My personal answer is: myths are literary and oral stories repeated to perpetuate cultural memes. They are not meant to be taken literally.

i'm of the thinking that gods, the afterlife and other supernatural phenomena cannot be known by the human mind. call me whatever blows your skirt up.

I prefer to call myself a Freethinker. Good post!

In any community there is always a contest to out zealot one another. It's the same among non-believers. My twin brother was what I would call an anti-religious bigot with a chip on his shoulder not only toward religion, but religious people themselves. He considered moderate athiests and agnostics to be some lower form of non-believer and called it another form of hypocrisy. After his suicide on 2014 I began to come to terms with my own prejudices. As Socrates so aptly put it, "I know that I know nothing."

I agree with you on dogma, and the definitions you provided on agnostics and atheists.

How do do you feel about Pastafarianism

Funny, I just did a video about this sort of topic.

For me, agnostic is not strong enough, and really just semantics.

Good article, but it's simple. Agnostic means "I don't know." Atheist means no belief in gods. An agnostic could be searching for a god to believe in, but could just mature and be "without a deity."

I do not think what you wrote was a rant, I think it was a very well thought out opinion!

I do not agree 100% with what you said, but I like that you said it, and it makes me happy that people like you - who can form well-rounded opinions - exist on this planet!

I did read to the end, and do not consider what you wrote a "blurb"... I think it is mostly awesome!

I believe that gods are a human construct, all life is a result of evolution, and humans have a limited understanding of the cosmos. I tell my friends and family that I am agnostic, only because it is more socially acceptable than being atheist, and I know that is cowardly. I also don't like hurting the feelings of my religious loved ones, so I will often say that I am open to the "possibility" of there being a God... even though I most certainly am not.