Is agnostic most misused word regarding religion; agnostic literally means ignorant?

Question

Why do people claim to be ignorant when asked about their beliefs?

Are they ignorant of their own beliefs?

Or, are they just using a word they heard other people use that sounds cool?

To Icarus:

It appears to me he was mangling the defintion of a word to fit his own situation, i.e., cowardly atheist.

Agnostic means ignorant and has nothing to do with philosophical arguments.

Agnostic does mean atheist if taken at face value.

Yes, agnostic literally means ignorant. People who claim to be agnostic are claiming they don't know what they believe.


ignorant

1. Lacking education or knowledge.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ignorant

agnostic:

"He (Huxley) made up the word from the prefix a-, meaning "without, not," as in amoral, and the noun Gnostic. Gnostic is related to the Greek word gnsis, "knowledge,"

Source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/agnostic

Answer 1

I think the latter. Most people fling around the word "agnostic," like some people fling the word "Christian."

Answer 2

Agnostic is the opposite of gnostic, which comes from the greek word "gnosis," or knowledge. Agnostic literally means "one who does not know." This can be read as 'ignorant,' but really it's more like 'uncertain.'

In a religious context, this means agnostics are not certain whether there is a God or not. As there is no objective way to prove or disprove the existence of God, this is a very rational perspective to take. It's not that agnostics are ignorant of their own beliefs, it's that they're not willing to believe in something that cannot be proved. This doesn't mean they deny it (that's an atheist ), it simply means they don't know.

Answer 3

Agnostic comes from Greek A, meaning without, and Gnostic, meaning knowledge. So in a sense, yes, it does mean ignorant. The entire human race is ignorant of the God question, but many are so indoctrinated by churches and ancient texts that they think they "KNOW" all about God when, in actuality, they don't know any more than I do. So when one says he is agnostic, what they are saying is that they do not claim to have knowledge of the unknowable. Kind of ironic, isn't it?

Answer 4

OK. I'm entirely rewriting my answer. So, yes. Agnostic means ignorant, because an agnostic is ignorant about the existence of a god. In fact we all are, only agnostics admit it, as opposed to believers and atheists who claim to know what they can really not know. Ignorance isn't bad. What's bad is claiming you know what you don't actually know.

BTW, I still hold that atheists are not ignorant of their own beliefs. They're ignorant of the existence of god (like everybody else). But they are very sure about what they believe in. They're sure they believe that it's impossible to know if there is a god.

Answer 5

People who are agnostic are not ignorant. Look who is calling the kettle black! Agnostics are those people who are not sure if they believe in the existence of a God or Supreme Being. People are usually attacked by other people for their beliefs which is why they may claim to be ignorant, but they are not. They are just tired of having to explain their faith to someone else.

Answer 6

Boy are you wrong. The definition of agnosticism does not include the word "ignorant" anywhere it it you idiot.

Agnosticism is the philosophical view that the value of certain claims as truth—particularly theological claims regarding the existence of God, gods, or deities—are unknown, inherently unknowable, or incoherent and thus irrelevant to life. Agnostics may claim that it is not possible to have absolute or certain spiritual knowledge or, alternatively, that while certainty may be possible, they personally have no such knowledge. (Wikipedia)

Basically, agnostics haven't decided what they believe. It doesn't make them ignorant. It makes you the ignorant one by spouting what you know nothing about.

Answer 7

Agnostic means non-committed to the belief of the knowable or the unknowable. This person is said not committed or undogmatic to believe either in the existence or non-existence of God. He carries an open minded possibility or impossibility of the existence.
Agnosia is the word normally used to people who are ignorant or have lost the ability to recognize familiar objects or stimuli as a result of brain damage.

Answer 8

I believe they are asserting that we, as humans, are ignorant of the information necessary to make a definitive statement regarding God's existence or lack thereof.

Not having the answers to all the questions IS ignorance. Agnostics merely assert that, yes, we, in fact, do not have all the answers. The term appears to be quite valid.

Answer 9

Hey JT :-) - Glad to see you here.

I am an unbeliever, i.e. I don't/won't believe in any kind of religious & spiritual concept.

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"Is agnostic most misused word regarding religion; agnostic literally means ignorant?"

In my view, agnostics are non-religious believers. They claim they are skeptical but most of time, I see them trying to figure out how to describe their own faith.

Lots of agnostics end up creating their own religious system.

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"Why do people claim to be ignorant when asked about their beliefs?"

Dunno... I see them claiming they are agnostics instead. I think they believe in religious skepticism.

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"Are they ignorant of their own beliefs?"

I think they need landmarks they cannot reach yet.

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"Or, are they just using a word they heard other people use that sounds cool? "

I prefer real unbelievers, that's all I know. I gave up using "atheist"-label because of those people who claim to be atheists while they are some kind of agnostics instead.

Answer 10

Well, to be honest, I do agree somewhat. Someone who doesn't stand for something will fall for anything.

They may believe that there is complete truth in thinking they see reality for which it is and aren't sure but, they actually are leading some spiritual paths maybe unknown to them.

Also, since they claim to possibly believe there is no god, they should roll with it.

To be a dweller on the threshold would be a very unsatisfying venture.

Ignorance can be bliss I suppose but someone is benefitting from them being undecided and their life is way more blissful.

Answer 11

I wouldn't say agnostics are ignorant (maybe some of them, but definitely not all). Agnostics are normally realists or people that believe in the physical world and things that have evidence. They are normally pretty clever people that have studied a variety of religions and know history and science pretty well, but choose not to believe or reject the possibility of the supernatural.