This is not a joke, I just don't know what an agnostic is. Thanks!
2006-09-06 03:42:12 · 15 answers · asked by TropicalSun 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
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.
For just-plain 'agnostics', I guess the most accurate way to present their viewpoint is to say that "... the jury is still out" with respect to whether any gods do or do not exist... i.e., there is insufficient evidence to support a decision either way. There is some overlap though, with the 'weak atheist' position, since for both, the assertion "I do not believe that god exists" is TRUE.
"An agnostic is basically an atheist without any balls." ~ Stephen Colbert
2006-09-06 03:49:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
Atheists (like me) are pretty basic: They do not believe in God or any other divine existence.
Agnostics are in the grey area and there are different reasons behind being one. But mainly, they WOULD believe in God if there were some kind of concrete proof, rather than spiritual speculation. Other Agnostics simply don't know and don't really feel like pursuing an answer, so they neither believe nor disbelieve.
I personally feel that many so-called Agnostics just say there are because it's a safer answer for them than going ahead and admitting they're Atheist.
2006-09-06 03:55:00 · answer #2 · answered by Mari 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Atheists do not believe in God. I am agnostic, I believe it is currently impossible to really know whether there is or is not a God. I think this pretty much is what agnostics believe, its not that they just aren't sure which religion is true, they question the basis of them all--God. This is the dictionary definition as well. I keep my mind open to possiblities but I am a skeptical.
2006-09-06 03:51:15 · answer #3 · answered by Zen Pirate 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Atheist just means someone who does not have a belief in God. They may or may not actively believe that there certainly is not a God.
An agnostic believe that there are certain questions which we are unable to answer, so thinking about them is a waste of time. Whether or not od exists is the most common of these, but it is possible to be agnostic about UFO's or the Loch Ness Monster.
2006-09-06 03:52:08 · answer #4 · answered by Steven S 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An atheist does not believe in any deity.
An agnostic says that it is not possible to know abut the existence of god(s).
2006-09-06 03:52:14 · answer #5 · answered by Kathryn™ 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Both words come from the GreeK language. In Greek, putting an "a" in fron of a word is similair to putting an "un" in front of an English word. It makes the word mean "not".
Theist is greek for "belief in God", so an Atheist is one with no belief in God. Does not believe that God, and often anything beyond the physical, exist.
Gnostic is Greek for "knowledge", so an Agnostic is one who has no knowledge of God. Does not know (or usually care) whether there is a God. Or if there is, thinks he is unimportant or unvolved in daily life.
2006-09-06 03:53:56 · answer #6 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Atheists believe there is no God. Agnostics don't know, don't care, and generally think if there is something that can be defined as god, he has no bearing on the day to day life of anyone.
2006-09-06 03:48:25 · answer #7 · answered by Homer H 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Atheists do not believe that any deities exist. Agnostics do not rule out the possibility of a deity, but believe no religions can also be certain that they worship the right deity.
2006-09-06 03:54:07 · answer #8 · answered by resilience 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Atheists Don't believe in god.And Agnostics are people who just don't know if people are worshiping someone who really existed or did they make up stories that was found years later.
2006-09-06 03:51:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Atheist do not believe there is a God. Agnostic don't know if God exist or not.
2006-09-06 03:48:01 · answer #10 · answered by Coco 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋