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What is your Definition of:

  1. Atheist
  2. Agnostic
  3. Spiritual
paul1967 8 Oct 9
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29 comments

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6
  1. Atheist - Do not believe in any gods whatsoever.

  2. Agnostic - Don't know one way or the other.

  3. Spiritual - Need some woo to hang onto, but don't want religion.

It's funny how words work. For me it's:
Atheist: One who lacks a belief in God(s),
Agnostic: One who lacks knowledge of God(s)
Spiritual: Belief in something ethereal within life.

@paul1967 Yeah, I don't do "ethereal".

@icolan Etherial is heavenly or spiritual

@paul1967 There is no basis in reality for ethereal.

@icolan The reason for that is Etherial means nothing in any universal way. It can express the mental connection one feels for the universe. It could mean, one's sense of consciousness. It could mean a supernatural realm that exists outside the natural realm. I won't bore you with the endless lists of possible meanings, but my point is theirs no agreement that allows for a definition to develop, so people use synonyms as a definition. So yes you're correct to say it's circular, but if I'm not vague, I'll get 50 people saying I'm wrong instead of just one saying it's circular.

0

An atheist declares any suggestion of the divine or supernatural preposterous, whilst an agnostic recognizes their own falsifiable hypothesis regarding any (untestable) postulate and the spiritual wilfully accept the existence of systems which cannot, presently be subjected to scientific method. Neither atheists nor spiritualists observe scientific method, its very first rule is a falsifiable hypothesis.

This is your definition and it's valid from your worldview, but I will say that I disagree. Atheists typically don't view reality that way "in my opinion and experience." Theists make claims, Atheists reject those claims. When I'm told a God exists, I ask with what evidence do you assert this and the answers always lack a justification worthy of my belief in that claim. I think most Atheist hold this position and not this absurd disregard for the possibility. A teapot could be in orbit around Mars and Santa Claus could be real, but until you provide a valid reason for me to accept that, I will continue to lack belief that a teapot is in orbit around mars and that Santa Claus exists. The same can be said of a God, especially one man has interacted with and that this God inspired books describing his expectations of us and a description of himself.

Atheists do not say, "There is divinity whenever it satisfies scientific method," that is the literal definition of agnosticism. Atheists declare unilaterally, "There is no divinity," which is the literal definition of atheism and also breaks the falsifiable rule of scientific method exactly as much as theists do by declaring, "There is absolutely divinity."

If you think you're the atheist who's reasonable enough to accept divinity wherever it satisfies scientific method then you are not an atheist, you are agnostic. These are literal definitions rooted in etymology.

1
  1. believing in zero
  2. without knowledge of any
  3. believing in something unproven

@icolan
Meant to say zero gods

2

Atheist - are sure there is no God

Agnostic - it's not possible to know if there is a God or not

Spiritual - don't necessarily believe in the traditional sense of a God (although some do), but believe in a supernatural energy or essence in humans. An intangible like a soul.

You’re misrepresenting and strawmanning a lot of people of you stick to those definitions.

@Lancinator How so? Besides, the OP asked for our definitions of 3 specific words.

@Piece2YourPuzzle yeah sorry, I took your definition out of context. My bad. Or I responded to wrong person. Lol

4

1 lack of theism
2 lack of absolute knowledge
(Important to remember 1 and 2 are not mutually exclusive. Both apply to most rational people)

3 lack of critical thinking, or a nebulous offramp for religion until you realize you're an agnostic atheist.

Amen

@Millzy or several women 😉

0

Atheist - Nothing supernatural at all.
Agnostic - Will believe in supernatural beings or "power" if evidence is provided.
Spiritual - A belief in a connection between other people an/or other living things. The connection can be super natural or instinctual. So, if instinctually based belief, even an atheist can be spiritual.

I do not see instincts as "supernatural" but rather are hard wired into (most of) us for better survival, and often use unconscious cues, which may or can appear to be supernatural at times, but can be logically explained once they are understood.

@icolan yup

2
  1. Don't believe in god(s) as there is no proof

  2. Don't care

  3. Don't care

Good answer lol

2

An atheist is someone who does not accept the god or God claims. They could completely say they do not believe in God or gods.

An agnostic does not know if there is a God or gods.

Spiritual I have absolutely no idea what that is supposed to mean.

1
  1. someone who believes there are no gods, or fails to believe there are any gods.
  2. someone who fails to believe there are any gods, or isn't sure whether there are any gods but leans toward there not being any
  3. religion light

g

1
  1. Lacks belief in the claim that deities exist.

  2. Does not know that it is impossible for deities to exist

  3. Stuff and nonesense that people use to fudge emotions they cannot explain.

1

Atheist: I do not believe there is a god. This can also mean I do not believe in god.

Agnostic: without Knowledge, depending on very loose definitions on can not say that a god that by definition can not be perceived can not exist by definition.

Spiritual: anything and everything. The important thing here is if you say spiritual it will be misunderstood by the person hearing. This is believing that the metaphysical exist. By definition if it does not exist in the physical world it does not exist. the metaphysical is defined as that which exist outside of the physical and thus, by definition does not exist.

1

Atheist: I believe there is no supernatural.
Agnostic: Knowing that I can not prove the none existence of something outside of reality, even if I'm sure its bull.
Spiritual: Smoke-screen used by some to hide their belief in things outside of reality.

8
  1. no belief
  2. no knowledge
  3. no idea
3

Asked and answered a hundred times on here.
The great thing about words is that they have concrete definitions.
Therefore, it doesn't matter what someone's "personal definition" is because there is, and always will be, a real definition.
Google is your friend if you are looking for definitions.

3
  1. Atheist Someone who has insufficient evidence to justify the reality of a god or gods
  2. Agnostic An Atheist with out the courage of their convictions
  3. Spiritual In the context of this discussion a hypocrite
2
  1. One who has no beliefs concerning deities.
  2. One who sees knowledge of god as unobtainable.
  3. Whatever unctuous bullshit one wishes to spout.
1

Intelligence!!!

2

Atheist - Positive that gods and religions are bullshit made up by humans
Agnostic - Not sure if gods and religion are bullshit made up by humans
Spiritual - Leaning that gods and religion are bullshit, but want "something" to be there.

1
  1. Atheist - someone who DOES NOT believe in any Supreme Being/Deity/Deities what-so-ever, denies the existence of the same, is a true Free-Thinker.
  2. Agnostic - someone who is uncertain as to the existence of any Supreme Being/Deity/Deities thus sits on the fence or is hedging their bets,
  3. Spiritualist - a vast amount of differences to quantify here, in my opinion, so let's just take on example; A spiritualist - believes that the 'essence' of the being is somehow released from the corporeal body after death and that it continues on existing as an entity in another form not readily detectable to the living but can interact with the living at will.
1
  1. Someone who does not believe in gods.
  2. Someone who acknowledges that there is no evidence gain knowledge about gods.
  3. Someone who is honest enough make up their own beliefs instead of becoming a cherry-picker while still calling themselves a Christian/Muslim/Jewish etc.
2
  1. Someone who rejects the claims of the existence of a god or gods because they haven’t met their burden of proof and is eagerly willing to change their mind.

  2. Someone who holds the position of “we don’t know whether a god exists or not.”

  3. I have no clue. I know atheists/ agnostics that saythey are spiritual. But I don’t get it....like meditation and yoga? I don’t think they actually believe in spirits or souls.

2

Atheist: does not believe in god(s).

Agnostic: undecided about existence of god(s).

Spiritual: senses a connection to all things living and nonliving.

1

Atheist - not believing in any god(s)
Agnostic - Uncertain of the existence of a god/higher power
Spiritual - probably leans agnostic but believes in an ethereal soul/aura/energy in living things. Some will include plants and animals aside from humans...some will include humans only

2

Labels

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I agree with 'scrunchy'...labels.

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