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I am not an Atheist, I am Agnostic. There is a difference, actually a huge difference.

DonaldHRoberts 7 May 16
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47 comments

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9

How about you focus on what agnostics and atheists have in common, and not the differences, and instead focus on the enemy, religion.

8

So you're not an Atheist? You believe in the supernatural? Cool. At least you spelled Atheist correctly.

Let's see. What supernatural stuff meets your needs? Astrology? Dowsing? Rabbits' feet? Dwarves bowling in the mountains to make thunder? Apollo dragging a light across the sky every day to bring light? Christianity? Buddhism? Islam? Hinduism? Judaism? Any other god? Uri Geller? Or would it be something more mundane like the Yankees being the greatest team ever? Or maybe you believe in heroin or some other drug?

I'm sorry but the lack of information in your post leaves you ranked as a troll to me. Come back when you have something to say.

Agnosticism doesn't require a belief in the supernatural. For example, I believe things exist that we don't yet know about. If I thought God was a possibility as one of those things we don't know about yet then I'd be agnostic. One can also be atheist and Buddhist.

@Duchess_Nyx

I didn't say he isn't an Agnostic. He said he is not an Atheist.

For me, Atheist means not-Theist. In other words, not an Atheist means not a not-Theist. Doesn't the double negative leave you back at Theist?

By the way... I'm not a Buddhist so I apologize if my next sentence is wrong out of ignorance. But I thought rebirth-via-samsara, karma, nirvana and moksha were all central doctrines of Buddhism. Again maybe I'm just ignorant, but they all seem pretty supernatural to me.

@RichCC if you're not anti-ice-cream does it automatically mean you're pro-ice-cream? I don't think it does. 🤷
Like a lot of religions there are different practices and schools of thought as an offshoot of the original. Some Buddhists follow the teachings of Buddha as a man and fit them to their own life. More of a "What would Buddha do?" religion than absolute belief in everything he believed in in his own time. The Unitarian Church I went to as a kid often gave sermons about Jesus, but about the principals, not necessarily that he was a deity. It was summarized to me as a belief in his goodness and teachings. Like believing in the lessons of Mister Rogers and following the principals of Harry Potter.

@Duchess_Nyx

Actually, I think being anti-anti-something is equivalent to being pro- that thing (slight change of modifier words). My work training partially in software probably colors my interpretation of the word 'not'. In a lot of computer languages, 'not' is the same as 'negate' -- true becomes false and visa versa. Sorry for the personal bias.

As far as believing the teachings of Jesus or Buddha or Mister Rogers or Harry Potter or Hitler or Stalin or any other real or imaginary figure, I'm afraid it's up to each of us to choose the parts of their teachings we want to follow. Our perceptions of the teachings are just that -- perceptions. None of those 'people' saw(see?) themselves as evil. No one ever does. We make the calls. We don't have complete records from any of them let alone the circumstances associated with each utterance.

No one can (or should) make those decisions for us. What's that Rush song lyric? -- If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

We're given only what others before us have passed on (or created and attributed on their own). It's up to us to figure out what to accept and/or follow. I personally doubt Jesus ever existed but I agree with some things attributed to him. I've never studied Buddha in detail but I'm pretty sure there aren't any films or recordings or even handwritten manuscripts of his work.

I may be too cynical but the classic thinkers I've gravitated to most are the ancient Greek Stoics -- Epictetus, Seneca and that bunch.
In so many words they said: Make your own choices. Accept your own consequences and take your own rewards if they come. Everything outside your control is meaningless.

Sorry. I went a off the rails there. Rant over for now.

@RichCC no, being anti-anti something does not mean you're pro something. Put abortion into that equation.
We're not talking about if we believe either existed or not. The point is not all Buddhists are theists and I was taking that a step further in attempting to explain as there is even a way to practice/believe/follow atheistic Christianity. That's more common than many people realize.

@Duchess_Nyx

I am anti-anti-abortion and much more pro-choice. I'll even admit to being pro-abortion. I believe there are many situations where it is the proper action. I will say that I've been extremely fortunate to never have had to help anyone close to me make that decision one way or the other.

But I'm also tired of this semantic game discussion so I'll say goodbye now.
Thanks for your time.

@RichCC 🙄

8

BORING!!! This discussion has happened too many times here. It is pointless and always goes nowhere.

7

I used to be agnostic, but came to the realization that I really don't believe in any gods and that it was pointless to leave the door open in case one should decide to wander in, so now I'm an atheist.

6

I have no quarrel with agnosticism. I was agnostic for a while. Then I did my research and discovered that there is NO evidence that gods exist. All the apologetics written by believers are based only of faith, not on facts, evidence, or reasonable logic. So, I place gods in the category of fairies, fire-breathing dragons, and other beings that are obviously fictitious. I am now an atheist.

6

I do not care.

Thanks.

JimG Level 8 May 16, 2019
5

I do not state that gods do not exist. However, I do THINK that gods do not exist with the same confidence that I THINK that vampires, werewolves, poltergeists, ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night do not exist. This approaches the limits of 100%.

So do you feel that you are agnostic...?

@Antifred No, I said I THINK they do not exist. What I stated was plain enough without you misrepresenting it. If you can't deal with my actual statement without erecting straw men, then just go away.

@Bamabread64 Nope, not in the least. No more than I am agnostic about Satan, ghosts or evil spirits. This positioning statement just eliminates making the claim, "gods do not exist". Science invokes the same line of reasoning with scientific theories. I cannot prove that next person who jumps off a tall building will not sprout wings and fly to safety, instead of plummeting to his death. The same goes for gods. I could not be more certain that they do not exist.

5

From: [en.m.wikipedia.org]

"In an article titled "Is There a God?" commissioned, but never published, by Illustrated magazine in 1952, Russell wrote:

Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This is, of course, a mistake. If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time.[2]

In 1958, Russell elaborated on the analogy:

I ought to call myself an agnostic; but, for all practical purposes, I am an atheist. I do not think the existence of the Christian God any more probable than the existence of the Gods of Olympus or Valhalla. To take another illustration: nobody can prove that there is not between the Earth and Mars a china teapot revolving in an elliptical orbit, but nobody thinks this sufficiently likely to be taken into account in practice. I think the Christian God just as unlikely."

5

I am atheist, I don't care about definitions or differences, thank you!

5

So, be one.

Though rather than leaving us hanging, it might be interesting if you stated the "huge" difference ...

4

Atheist here and don't care who knows it!

4

There's a category of atheist that is essentially agnostic.

:-----:

"Negative atheism, also called weak atheism and soft atheism, is any type of atheism where a person does not believe in the existence of any deities but does not explicitly assert that there are none. Positive atheism, also called strong atheism and hard atheism, is the form of atheism that additionally asserts that no deities exist."

[en.m.wikipedia.org]

A beautiful agnostic anthem.

I’ll do ya one better, I do assert that there is no god and I’m still an agnostic atheist. Doesn’t mean that I claim to know for sure that there isn’t some higher intelligence than humans, but I do know nothing described by men as “god” so far has any possibility of existing. Could be aliens or simulation theory for all I know but it ain’t “god.”

@Wurlitzer

I claim the status of both.

  1. I am without a belief in any god(s)

  2. I see no proof either way.

@Wurlitzer, @WilliamCharles Why don't you just say "I do not believe and not do I wish to waste my time discussing it", then get on with life?

@FrayedBear I generally don’t even say that much unless I’m moved to and believe I’m speaking with mostly rational people. I guess same reason you bothered asking? Sometimes we do have the time to waste 🙂

@Wurlitzer 😁👍

@FrayedBear

It mostly has to do with church/state separation. Discussing how weak someone's theological arguments are often helps show them why it's ridiculous for them to try to foist their religionism on others.

4

You are 100% correct - agnostics claim that they don't know either way, while atheists are convinced that there aren't any gods based on all available evidence. Also, some atheists wonder why agnostics can't see how ridiculously stupid the entire concept of gods are in the first place, and view them as wishy-washy fence riders that just can't let go of the brainwashing that religion has indoctrinated into the world. Or so I've heard...

4

Agnostic is questioning Atheist no longer question they can't believe

Dzzzzt. Wrong.

Atheist means without belief. Not they no longer question nor can't believe.

Agnostic means without knowing. Neither term have bearing on questioning; The attitude of the person may or may not be one of questioning.

4

Depends on who you ask

3

I used to be agnostic, now I'm athiest. However, I'm not a big fan of any labels on people so when asked, I just say I don't believe.

3

There are atheist agnostics and there are theist agnostics. I am an atheist agnostic.

3

Not as much as you think

bobwjr Level 10 May 16, 2019
3

I’m an atheist, a humanist, a secular woman, a fuckin bad ass goddess, I can keep going

3

I'll alert the media.

3

Not again. People post about this subject all the time.

At age 13, I became an atheist when I realized the Bible is just a book of stories written by men.

"I don't believe in an invisible being that resides somewhere beyond the clouds," I tell Jehovah's Witnesses. That shuts them up. Good.

@DonaldHRoberts

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3

gods are myth. call me what you wish

2

One can be an agnostic and an atheist. A theist is a believer and an a-theist is a non believer. Atheism is a response to the claim there is a god. Thats all. One can simultaneously state they don't know if a god exists or even state it is unknowable and still ne an atheist.

If asked if you believe in a god and you say anything other than yes you are an atheist. To think otherwise is a category error. We aren't talking labels. Anyone can label themselves whatever they want nut don't tell me what i believe or don't either.

2

OK, but people have different uses for those words. So if you don’t explain what you mean by them then you’re just farting in ghe wind.

2
I am also not an atheist.  I was never religious.  Both my parents and grandparents were not religious.  I never set foot in a church until my first concert in one at the age of about 17.  Growing up I thought the bible was a book of fables like Aesop's fables, lessons to teach kids.  I didn't read the whole thing until I was in my 40s.  I know what the definition of atheism is, so please don't lecture me on that.  The things I have faith in are family, nature, music and science.  So I refer to myself as a Naturalist and leave it at that.  If people question me, I say the woods is my church.  Life is my god.   
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