2006-08-14 12:14:44 · 15 answers · asked by Aimee 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
An atheist is "one who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods"
An agnostic is "one who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God" or "one who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism."
Be careful, you're going to get a lot of opinionated answers to this question.
2006-08-14 12:21:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Agnosticism refers to knowledge; theism and atheism refer to belief. When a person responds to a question about their beliefs by saying that they are agnostic, they are literally saying "I don't know." That's great, but it doesn't answer the question. What one believes and what one knows are two completely different things. I don't believe that a god exists, but I don't know whether a god exists or not. The common misconception about agnosticism is that it is a neutral position. Those who claim agnostic as their only religious affiliation (as opposed to agnostic theist or agnostic atheist) are actually atheists. An atheist lacks the belief in god, an agnostic doesn't believe either way. One who claims agnosticism as their religion is basically a weak atheist, a person who lacks belief in god (strong atheism is the belief that no god exists).
2006-08-14 19:36:05 · answer #2 · answered by holidayspice 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"An agnostic is basically an atheist without any balls." ~ Stephen Colbert
Consider the following sentence:
I do believe that god does exist.
That sentence can be negated in two ways:
1. I DO NOT believe that god does exist.
2. I believe that god DOES NOT exist.
The first sentence expresses the WEAK atheist position, also known as the agnostic-atheist position. The second sentence represents the STRONG atheist position.
The weak atheist position is characterized by an ABSENSE of belief, brought about by the lack of evidence that would be necessary to bring about or sustain 'belief'. In this sense, the absence of belief in god is equivalent to an absence of belief in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Thor. The weak atheist (agnostic) position bears no burden of proof, since it is not asserting anything to be 'true'.
The STRONG atheist position is arrived at by a CERTAINTY that god DOES NOT exist, and implies that compelling evidence exists to support such a certainty. That being the case, it would seem that the strong atheist position DOES bear a burden of proof, since it is asserting that 'no god' is a 'true' proposition.
Intuitively, it would seem to be reasonable to acknowledge that there could be some variations or nuances between those two positions, but I don't know how to characterize them.
I am more of a 'snotty' atheist... but I think that has more to do with my utter contempt for people who create their world view from the myths, superstitions, fairy tales and fantastical delusions of an ignorant bunch of peripatetic Bronze Age goat herders, with no credible evidence, than it has to do with my lack of 'belief'.
I think that 'belief' itself is the culprit, since it effectively cuts off the mind from the intellectually honest consideration of alternative possibilities.
2006-08-14 19:25:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheism means "without God", therefore stating that they have knowledge that there is no deity. This is completely illogical, unless an atheist stated to contain ALL KNOWLEDGE. If there is ANY gap in a person's knowledge, diety can easily exist and be unkown to the person.
Agnostic simply means "without knowledge of god". A true agnostic claims that they have no knowledge of deity, one way or the other. That allows them to disagree with any religion, because religion inherently developes around a belilef in knowledge of Deity.
2006-08-14 19:22:44 · answer #4 · answered by Andy VK from Houston 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheists don't believe in gods and agnostics aren't sure what to believe.
2006-08-14 20:14:26 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheists believe in nothing; agnostics believe in the possibility of something but do not associate themselves with any particular kind of religion.
2006-08-14 19:23:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheists do not believe in God or the concept of God.
Agnostics believe in the concept of God. It is more spiritual than religious. They usually do not accept the religious definition of God (as a physical being) and actions of that so-called God.
I am an agnostic. I believe that God or whatever you want to call it, is a spirit that exists in each of us. It has no powers or strengths or anything like that.
2006-08-14 19:21:57 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Atheists believe that there is NO supernatural forces or Gods in existence, at all. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts. They are firmly convinced that there is no God(s) or supernatural forces out there.
Agnostics believe that there MIGHT be a God(s) or supernatural forces out there. They haven't seen proof that such things exist, but they haven't seen proof that they don't. So they leave themselves open to the possibility without committing to any belief system.
2006-08-14 19:20:09 · answer #8 · answered by Abriel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Agnostics might believe and atheists don't believe...
2006-08-14 19:19:53 · answer #9 · answered by Denise W 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheists don't believe in God. Agnostics neither believe nor do they disbelieve, but they are doubtful of God.
2006-08-14 19:23:07 · answer #10 · answered by L. S 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋