Atheists what does Agnosticism mean to you?

Question

What do you think about Agnostics?

I asked this question before, Yahoo deleted it after it was resolved, so I am asking again. I haven't received a violation notice for the question.

In trying to select the best answer, I am having to give some thumbs down, only to eliminate non atheists, so I can judge the best from an Atheist. I am not saying your views aren't welcome.

In trying to select the best answer, I am having to give some thumbs down, only to eliminate non atheists, so I can judge the best from an Atheist. I am not saying your views aren't welcome.

I am an Agnostic. I know nothing. I believe space goes on forever. Time the distance between change) has always been endless (it didn't start with the big bang) I believe given eternity and infinity, if it is possible for me to exist, I must exist.
If there is a god, it is not that of any religion, god is whatever it takes to enable anything that is, and it enabled Atheists, Agnostics, and the rest. The god of the religions is prejudiced, that is ridiculous, a god which hates itself. If the Bible was written by God, then so was the Noddy books, the Oxford University Dictionary, and The Life of Brian. If God exists it also made the AIDS virus, and the nuclear bomb.

Answer 1

It means you are confused about what you believe when it comes to a god, but you know it exists, but you choose not to follow any religious path because you're choosing to be inactive about it until you get yourself convinced that there really is a god. It also means you won't go to church because of the different views it expresses as opposed to other churches.

Answer 2

I think agnostics generally are people who see the BS of theism, but are reluctant to go 'all the way' to atheism, either because they're afraid to 'commit' "just in case God's real," or because they are unwilling to attach the atheist label to themselves because of the stereotypes and stigmas that are still attached to it.

Yes, agnostics, I know that no one can ever DEFINITELY PROVE whether God exists or not. But agnosticism doesn't make sense because the chance is NOT 50/50--if it was, it would, and I'd be agnostic too. People (agnostic and theist alike) like to say "well, either God exists or he doesn't, it's 50/50." It's not! Think about it this way:

Either I murdered four invisible gnomes immediately before writing this answer, or I didn't.

Now, would you say the above is a coin flip, a 50/50 shot? Of course not! The probability is EXTREMELY low considering no one even knows gnomes to exist, and the suggestion makes no sense because there's no evidence behind it.

This is exactly where "God" stands. It's a claim that comes out of nowhere, and is not backed up by any evidence. The odds that there is a god or gods is ASTRONOMICALLY low.

Here's how the three groups' (theists, agnostics, and atheists) logic applies to an analogy of a lottery:

A theist buys all the tickets they can, feeling sure that they will win even though the chances are extremely low. Considering how many tickets they bought, it seems they're not aware of just how bad the odds are.

An agnostic buys a couple of tickets in lower-stakes lotteries, looking to win back at least half of what they spent, despite the odds being heavily against them.

An atheist doesn't buy any tickets, because the odds are so low that it's a fairly safe assumption to say "why bother? I'm going to lose." Yes, there is a TINY chance of winning, but it's not worth the money (analogous to time AND money in real life) to 'invest' in it considering the odds.

The only problem with the above analogy is that it's too 'nice' to theists. The odds of god existing (and ALSO factoring in the exponentially lower chance that god exists AND IT'S ALSO THE EXACT SAME GOD YOU'RE WORSHIPPING and not some other god) are lower than your chances of winning every lottery jackpot that's run in your state on the same day if you buy only 1 ticket for each. The odds are bad beyond comprehension.

But to not stray from the question, I'll reiterate: agnosticism seems non-committal and a 'fence-sitter'-like philosophy--which I'd have no problem with, except that, to restate, the probability of a god or gods existing is phenomenally low, nowhere near the 50/50 mark where I would consider agnosticism the 'right move.'

P.S. People often forget that 'atheist' is not an exclusive term--buddhists are atheists, and so are agnostics. If you do not explicitly believe in a god or gods, you are atheist by definition.

Answer 3

Agnosticism means "unknowable," and is the philosophical view that the truth value of certain claims—particularly theological claims regarding metaphysics, afterlife or the existence of God, god(s), or deities—is unknown or, depending on the form of agnosticism, inherently unknowable.

Agnostics claim either that it is not possible to have absolute or certain knowledge of God or gods; or, alternatively, that while certainty may be possible, they personally have no knowledge. Agnosticism in both cases involves some form of skepticism.

Demographic research services normally list agnostics in the same category as atheists and non-religious people, although this can be misleading depending on the number of agnostic theists who identify themselves first as agnostics and second as followers of a particular religion.

Answer 4

The term Agnostic refers to those who don't know if there is or isn't a god. There are two main types of Agnostics, Weak Agnostics and Strong Agnostics. A Weak Agnostic would say that they don't know if god exists or not. A Strong Agnostic would say that they can't know if god exists or not. There is a third, somewhat tongue-in-cheek group that calls themselves the Apathetic Agnostics. Not only don't they know if god actually exists, they don't really care if he exists or not.

Answer 5

It means what the definition says...

an agnostic is one who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God;

an atheist is one who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.

Either way neither one believes in God.

Answer 6

The arrogance of some people answering for me.

For me (and not neccessarily for anyone else), I am a theistic agnostic. That rather overly-wide and possibly confusing definition means (for me) that I believe that there may be a god, but do not know and would never definitively state that there is one.

Not specifically defined is that I believe that god is the noosphere (oversoul, group mind) of all the people on the planet, coupled with the reflection of their selves which they believe is something external, and that is a somewhat understandable mistake to make.

I consider that theist and atheists viewpoints both seem to be based in part on belief, and in light of this everyone should consider themselves agnostic. I admit that this may be considered an extreme viewpoint.

Answer 7

Agnosticism is simply the philosophical stance that the existence or nonexistence of a deity is unknowable.

Agnostic Theists acknowledge they cannot prove a deity, but believe in one all the same.

Agnostic Atheists acknowledge they cannot disprove a deity, but believe there are none all the same.

Answer 8

It's simply a stance of acknowledging that faith is insufficient for belief. Those who are agnostic believers recognize they have no basis by which to convince others, so don't even try. Those who are agnostic non-believers (i.e., me), recognize that the evidence is lacking for belief, and that there is no reason to assume that any relevant god exists.

Answer 9

Agnosticism is the philosophy that the existence of deities is unknowable.

I am technically an agnostic atheist. I don't really "think" much about them. That particular philosophy of knowledge makes a great deal of sense to me.

Answer 10

My understanding of agnosticism is that only material things
can be fully known, thus it is impossible to accept a supreme being.
I believe, that a large number of people, think it just refers to people who are keeping an open mind, on the subject.

P.S. I am neither an atheist, or an agnostic.

Answer 11

ag·nos·ti·cism (g-nst-szm) KEY

NOUN:

The doctrine that certainty about first principles or absolute truth is unattainable and that only perceptual phenomena are objects of exact knowledge.
The belief that there can be no proof either that God exists or that God does not exist.