agnostic//atheist?

Question

are being agnostic and being atheist the same thing?

if you are atheist, can you tell me why you decided to go to this form of religion?

Answer 1

Well first off Atheism isn't a Religion...we don't worship anything. Secondly Atheism is to deny the existance of God. I believe that all forms of "god or gods" are man made. Being a scientist I cannot rule out the possibility that we have things outside of our capabilities of understanding but I don't think 2000 year old books are the right answer.

Answer 2

The word "agnostic" was coined by Thomas Huxley in the late 19th century. He used it as a variant of the older word "atheist" for a particular type of atheism. Neither atheism nor agnosticism are religions, neither requires belief.

An atheist is someone who does not believe there is a god or gods not someone who believes there is no god. There is a difference.
An agnostic is someone who maintains that the existence of anything beyond material phenomena cannot be known. An agnostic is an atheist with a slightly different hat on.

Atheism is not a religion. I rejected religions and gods after reading much and thinking more.

Answer 3

Atheism is not a religion. Agnostics can be Atheist who believe they are more open minded.. Most Agnostics carry an aura of smugness that irritates the hell out of me.

Edit:

I see a lot of claims that state Atheist state no God exists.. That is not entirely correct. Some Atheists entire philosophy entails that there is no God. Most Atheists say they do not believe in God. There is no positive statement in saying you do not believe in a God. There is nothing to prove.

Most Agnostics hold a positive statement because they say there is no way of knowing. They hold the belief that there is no way of knowing as a fact. some misguided people will call themselves Agnostics as they just admit they are ignorant to know whether a God exists or not, but really they are not Agnostic, but just Atheist because they have not stated God's existence is unknowable as a fact.

So to be truthful, Atheists such as myself who say they do not believe in a God have not made a positive statement, while agnostics have.

Edit #2:
Hi Spacebunny, tim g

Take a look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism#Types_and_typologies_of_atheism

This article is to long to place here.
---

Here is another example:
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/mathew/intro.html

What is atheism?"

Atheism is characterized by an absence of belief in the existence of gods. This absence of belief generally comes about either through deliberate choice, or from an inherent inability to believe religious teachings which seem literally incredible. It is not a lack of belief born out of simple ignorance of religious teachings.

Some atheists go beyond a mere absence of belief in gods: they actively believe that particular gods, or all gods, do not exist. Just lacking belief in Gods is often referred to as the "weak atheist" position; whereas believing that gods do not (or cannot) exist is known as "strong atheism."

Edit #3 last edit:
After reviewing multiple sites on this, it is apparent that there are far to many explanations to give a worthwhile answer. I have read that there are Theist Agnostics, then I have also read there are no Theist Agnostics. I have read that there is Atheist Agnostics, then later I have read there is no such thing. This is fairly frustrating so I am going to give up on the answer for now and default to the original meanings.

Atheist = Lacks belief in God(s).
Agnostic = Believes it is impossible to know.

Personally, I can not see why an Agnostic could not also be a Theist. Agnostic would appear to compliment either the Atheist lack of belief or Theist belief.

I can not see how anyone could say they are not theist, or atheist. It would be similar to saying they do not believe in God but Believe in God at the same time. Perhaps my imagination can not hold such a concept as to understand them.

I myself am an Atheist, I do not hold a belief that it is impossible to know if God is real or not. I do not hold a belief that it is impossible for a God to exist, but I do not believe in a God because it is not at all plausible.

Because other comments have been added regarding my answer I will leave it untouched. I will say this was not an attempt at rhetoric but instead was more so trying to give you a valid answer. At the very least I am glad I learned some more on the issue.

Answer 4

Agnostics are seekers after truth, as are atheists. The difference is that atheists have a belief system tacked on--they BELIEVE there is no God or deity figure or figures. Because such a belief cannot be proven using rational logic, it would qualify as an opinion or belief. An atheist shouting "There is no God!" is of a piece with a theist shouting "There is SO a God!" Agnostics are not simply atheists who can't admit being so. They do not believe in the absolute absence of the possibility of deity, so they do not profess such belief. Atheists are quick to point out that they are not "a religion," but they do share in common with religious thought the belief in something not seen or proven, in their case, the absence of God.

EDIT: Deazone states below: Most Atheists say they do not believe in God. There is no positive statement in saying you do not believe in a God. There is nothing to prove.

How is "do not believe" different than "do not believe in the existence of.."? What part of God don't you believe in? Normally, this lack of belief is taken as lack of belief in the existence of God, because any other disbelief entails the possibility of God's existence. Perhaps it is religion that atheists do not believe in, not God? What is it that atheists do not believe in? Religion or the Object of that Religion?

Answer 5

Atheism is not a religion-it's a form of non-belief in anything in particular. I read about two categories...a 'hard' atheist believes in nothing spiritual at all and a 'soft' atheist is someone who believes there is a spiritual other world but not (I think specifically) Christianity.
Agnostic means the person is undecided between hard atheism and Christianity. That's my understanding.
Hinduism has many gods/goddesses
Buddhism can be seen as a philosophy/way of life but I don't know if there are specific gods/goddesses. Buddha was an enlightened individual but started out human.
Wicca worships nature
Satanism does everything opposite Catholicism. I grew up Protestant so I know there are certain ceremonies/rituals that their practices are based on that I'm not familiar with. There is a certain code they live by but I've forgotten most of it.

Answer 6

An atheist believe that the know for sure a God/ the God your God anyones God DOES not exist what so ever. How they come to KNOW this is beyond me.

A religious person is a person who believes a God exist and exist in exactly the way their religion describes along with all the contradictions that come with the fairy tales that they are spoon fed from child hood.

An Agnostics knows through logic and life experience that there is a possibility that God/ a God exist, how ever since no known evidence exist to prove that the possibility is a reality nor does there exist conclusive evidence to irrefutable prove that there is no possibility of any God existing ... we make a CHOICE ... we DECIDE to not to believe either side rather than to live a lie by choosing to pretend we believe something that has not been proven.

edit:

Deadzone: Have you no shame. To any logical rational person you clearly are being foolish with your rhetoric.

Atheist are certain that God does not exist. Atheist do not leave room for the possibility of the existence of God/ a God... again the description of Atheist is that there is no room for discussion, God does not exist.

Now how they are certain that God does not exist... is beyond me.

Answer 7

Atheism is, by definition, an absence of religion.

Agnostics hold that the ultimate knowledge of the existence of a deity is unknowable and the question therefore moot. The answer to "Is there a deity" is thus, "We don't know, nor can we know."

Atheists hold that the existence of a deity is negative (strong atheism) or hold no belief at all in the existence of a deity (weak atheism).


As for why I'm an atheist, because the concept of a deity, ANY deity, not just the Christian idea of it, is logically inconsistent in so many ways that it is entirely unbelievable to someone with a sound grasp of logic who actually stops to think about it.

Answer 8

An agnostic is a person who is not certain whether God exists or nor, or believes that God exists but is not certain of how that existence is formulated.

An atheist is a person who does not believe that God exists at all.

Atheism is not a form of religion.

Answer 9

Not at all.

An agnostic doesn't not know if there is a God or not.

An athiest doesn't believe in God.

Athiesm is not a religion

Answer 10

An atheist believes that there is no divine being. A position as hard to prove as that a divine being does exist.
An agnostic believes that we cannot prove either the existence or the non-existence of God. That we as human beings are finite and unable to determine such things. And even if we could prove he existed, we could never begin to understand his motives and reasoning.