Question for Athiest and Agnostic people?

Question

I don't want to start a bashing session. I want to ask a question and I hope to get some serious answers. I am a Christian and I don't know a lot about what it means to be Atheist or Agnostic. I'm not looking to convert but I want to know more about what other people believe. I hear the word Atheist on the news and I have looked up the definition but I am still unclear exactly what it really means and what the differences are between Agnostic and Atheist. I don't want to be disrespectful about asking, but I am curious. Would anyone have a few minutes to point out some beliefs and differences for educational purposes? Thanks.

Answer 1

If you remember, there was a time when you believed that Santa Claus brought you presents at Christmas time. You might say that you had absolute faith in Santa, you believed in him.

As you got older, you began to entertain doubts, you were not certain whether Santa was real or not. You didn't know. You were agnostic on the subject of Santa.

Now that you are mature, you no longer believe that Santa exists at all. If Santa can be thought of as a "theos" of your childhood, you are now "atheistic" when it comes to Santa.

Answer 2

Okay. The terms are often confused, so it's always helpful to get a definition.

A-gnostic translates literally as "without knowing." An agnostic doesn't know whether any deity exists and believes it's not possible to actually know this by any means available to us.

A-theist is literally "without theism" or "without gods." An atheist is someone without any belief in a god or gods.

An atheist may also be an agnostic (and some are), but it's definitionally impossible for an agnostic to also be an atheist. (Think about it and you'll see which way the overlap lies.)

Just to make things a little more confusing, there are different varieties of atheists, usually grouped into two large divisions: "weak" atheists who simply say "I have no belief in any god", and "strong" atheists who go one step farther and say "I am as certain as I can be that there is no such thing as god."

Answer 3

Just don't make the mistake of thinking atheist or agnostics are the same as Satanics...lots of crazy Christians come to that conclusion somehow. Someone old enoguh has thought about whether they believe all the stories about God. Some people feel it doesnt add up, or it is just a "myth," "story" or whatever passed down through generations. Others are very logiacl people that believe in evolution and science rather than a Being creating everything that exists.

Answer 4

Atheism is the belief there is no God. It can be "hard" (there is absolutely no God) or "soft" (In my opinion, there is no God). Notice, one can still be religious- Buddhism and Taosim come to mind.
Agnostic is the belief God is unknowable. We can't tell if God exists- we'll never know.
For obvious reasons, religious folk and the skeptical crowd tend to get along as well as black ants and red ants.
Some Atheists criticize Agnostics as "not taking a stand"; the common response is Agnostics aren't presupposing knowlege- Atheists are falling into the same trap as religious people are. It's a fool's errand to try and prove God does not exist- Logic 101 is "you can't prove a negative".
In the end, religions, Atheism and Agnosticism are ultimately beliefs trying to fill in the gaps of our knowledge and therefore all should carry a level of skepticism because what we "know" about how the world works could be discovered as completely wrong.

Answer 5

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. If you want to get really technical, "Agnostic/Gnostic" refers to knowledge, while "Atheist/Theist" refers to belief, so they aren't technically exclusive.

Atheists come in two main flavors as well: Weak Atheists who don't have a belief in a god, and Strong (or Positive) Atheists who believe there are definitely no gods. It's a little more subtle than the split for Agnostics. Atheists sometimes recognize a third group as well, Apatheists (apathetic Atheists), who don't believe in god but don't really care about the whole issue.

Answer 6

An agnostic will not choose because they do not believe the problem of the existence of an afterlife can be solved.

An atheist does not believe in a god or an afterlife. It isn't a belief system, it is an observation. It is like noticing the sky is blue, it isn't a belief. It also does not require faith or conversion. Faith is knowing without evidence. Atheists tend to reject anything for which there isn't any evidence.

Think about Christianity for a moment.

Let us assume a God created the Universe, who created God.

Let us assume that God always was, why cannot the Universe always be?

Let us assume there was a God who created the Universe. Does it logically follow that the God knows what is going on in the Universe or care?

Does it logically follow that a specific species of creatures on one very small planet in a very small solar system on the outer edge of an unimportant galaxy would even draw such a god's attention?

Does it follow, that of all the places in the Universe, the god would choose to reveal himself to a tribe of people in what we call palestine to be the light to the world?

Does it follow, even if there is a god who reveals himself, that he can understand our thoughts, let alone care about what they are?

Does it follow, even if there is a god who reveals himself, cares what we think, plans our lives and suspends the laws of nature to make miracles happen, that he would take on human form in order to communicate a brief message to a small handful of people.

Even if the God did all of the above, does it make sense that the God should send his spirit to inhabit the people in baptism?

Just for education, Christianity only makes sense to Christians because they do not question the ideas in it.

I used to be a devout Christian. I understand perfectly all principal denominations beliefs and how they arrived at them. No religion's beliefs fit the facts. They are carry overs from old tribal beliefs that we have not educated ourselves out of because there are people who are deeply threatened by the idea it is false.

Look at Rastafarianism and the Emporer of Ethiopia and look at the Cargo Cults. Rasta looks just like Christianity and it is a new religion. Cargo cults are foreign but look a lot like intelligent design. Humans seem to need to make religions. I don't know why. I have my suspicions, but I don't know why.

Send me a message if you are interested in a more complete answer.

Answer 7

Athiest is believing that there is no God in any form. This means evolution is the answer to creation. This also means that no heaven or hell exists and this life is all there is. The basis of one's morality is traditional or the success of society in general.
Agnostics do not know quite what they believe. God exists in some form for agnostics. Some one either cannot decide on a religion or chooses not to pick a religion. Heaven, hell, satan, afterlife, and morality vary between agnostics and are highly individualized.

Answer 8

Actual beliefs vary.

Agnostic means a person does not believe in divine revelation, i.e., that god may exist but is unknowable. Similar to Deism.

Atheist means a person discounts the very idea of gods. Theism = belief in Gods, add an A at the beginning for negation and....presto! Atheism.

Many people describe themselves as Atheist. They are just identifying themselves as non-believers, not what their ethical or philosophical standards are, which vary greatly.

Many are humanists or Secular Humanists. Some are hedonists and could care less about humanism.

Answer 9

I am an agnostic. I see no proof that any deity exists, nor do I see any proof that they do not exist either. At this point there is not enough evidence to put the debate to rest one way or the other. So until further proof comes along that does that, I choose humanity over deities.

And as for myself, I think the whole concept of religion is man-made and even if deities were proved beyond a shadow of a doubt would not follow one.

Answer 10

i've got in no way heard of an "athiest agnostic." What i comprehend is an agnostic believes that there is a larger being (which contain God yet no longer an identical one worshipped by ability of Christians or Jews). An athiest does not have faith that there has ever been a larger being (no God, no faith.)