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Theism and atheism are positions of belief or lack of it, while gnosticism and agnosticism are positions of knowledge or the lack of it.

Would you describe yourself as an agnostic atheist or do you have a different point of view?

Polemicist 7 Jan 6
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12 comments

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1

There could be a personal God, or an impersonal God (like the universe), or a whole array of gods with conflicting intents, or aliens/an advanced race who seeded us, or nothing at all, or some other possibility I haven't yet conceived of. The intent of the aforementioned hypothetical beings could be loving, or evil, or indifferent, and this could be the result of a long forgotten experiment, or an experiment that failed, or an experiment that is the entertainment for some observer. I DON'T KNOW. And I'm not sure I care or that it matters. What I DO KNOW is that I actively disbelieve the narratives of the Bible, Koran, Torah, Bhavagad Gita, etc, etc. This means that I reject any claims to the inherent validity of the doctrines and dogma of scripture which so many try to pretend is the revealed word of some God. I therefore am left to determine my values according to the best lights of my own reason, which includes a consideration the informed perspective of others who possess expertise and whom I trust.

2

You will notice that none of the expeiriential phrases mentioned in the song are easy to prove like many religious statements. Other examples also exist where faith trumps evidence.

I do find it useful to write a brief account of my beliefs down every so often and even show them to religious people so that I can never be accurately described as the put down "NONE BELIEVER". Of course they change with time and that tells me that I am making progress even though it involves hard decisions .

3

Labels are for jars. I'm whatever.

@CallmeDave There is no harm in giving a label unless it is given in malice or if it is meant to be permanent. Labels can washed away AND be useful to identify in the present. They should never be refused or ignored if a lot of people give you the same one. You may be blind to something important.

4

Well I don't accept the definitions given, because as an atheist I affirm that my position is there is no evidence or provable knowledge in any God or gods, and is therefore not a 'belief' somehow devoid of a position of knowledge. Theism is a position based on faith -- non rational belief requiring no proven knowledge-- and is the utter opposite of atheism. Agnosticism to me is not a position of knowledge, but rather a statement of 'I don't know and I don't know if I can possibly know' -- essentially a non- position.

4

Since the non-existence of a deity cannot be 100% proven, I have to fall on the agnostic side. That said, it comes down to probabilities. About 20 years back, a guy placed a £5 bet with the bookmakers William Hill that Elvis would return from the dead, ride Shergar down the mall in London and beat Lord Lucan in the men's Wimbledon singles final. He got odds of 10,000,000/1 but had to lower his stake to 5p as Hills could not cover 5 x £10,000,000. My estimation of the existence of God is higher odds than that.

5

I only claim to not believe.

4

I am a gnostic atheist. I know that nobody has produced any falsifiable evidence to support the existence claim of any god in the last 5,000 year.

Or maybe never.

6

Belief is on the lower end of the spectrum of trust. (I believe you asked a genuine question, unless information and/or evidence proves otherwise.) Religions are a human construct, for some it provides comfort and for others it causes damage.
I am a human being navigating in this life the best way I can. I have no evidence that there is life after death or a plan made by a deity so, there is no measure of trust given to it. Does that make me an Agnostic...an Atheist? Labels are a way to identify.

Betty Level 8 Jan 7, 2024
9

This basic question comes up about once a week in one form or another, only the wording seems to vary. There are no deities, and I no longer care to use a given label for myself.

5

I'm an agnostic atheist but I do like Frankie Laine songs of any kind.

I especially like the song and the story behind getting him to sing the Blazing Saddles theme.

1

Belief isn't no much a position that a person has but rather the position for the information held as true or false. Belief is information in a position held as true, disbelief as false.

Agnostic as you say, is no knowledge of a God thingie. Atheist would be holding the information, as false they have heard about God thingies.

The atheist is a God and they do exist. There then is a lack of knowledge or ignorance that the atheist has as to them being a God. Or, it can be intellectual dishonesty on the part of the atheist by refusing to accept the fact they exist as a God.

Word Level 8 Jan 7, 2024
5

Yes agnostic atheist, since as a natural sceptic I tend to not be happy with any belief at all, it just makes me uncomfortable. Though I can, and do, respect both hard atheists, who believe they are certain there is no god, and deists who are sure there is a god but that it is a mystery and not the god of religion. Since I see the rejecting of false knowledge (religion) as important, while a deist god and a hard atheists none god, affect nothing.

I like the phrase "a deist god and a hard atheists none god, affect nothing".

Whilst I admit to being an atheist I would resist if I was called a hard atheist and wish for more consideration of the use of the word atheist in general . I feel it does little for us except put the opposition's "Backs up" and demarks us as believing in reality rather than fantasy.

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