Atheists really Agnostic?

Question

To say categorically, "There is no God," is to make an absolute statement. For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is no God in the entire universe. No human being has all knowledge. Therefore, none of us is able to truthfully make this assertion.

If you insist upon disbelief in God, what you must say is, "Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe that there is no God." Owing to a lack of knowledge on your part, you don't know if God exists. So, in the strict sense of the word, you cannot be an atheist. The only true qualifier for the title is the One who has absolute knowledge? So wouldn't you be agnostic" - one who claims he "doesn't know" if God exists?

ON THE OTHER HAND:

I understand that Christians to claim that "God does exist" For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is a God in the universe. No human being has all knowledge. Therefore, none of us is able to truthfully make this assertion.

So now that you know that I know that my beliefs are questionable too... Please just answer the question....

So, in the strict sense of the word, you cannot be an atheist. The only true qualifier for the title is the One who has absolute knowledge? So wouldn't you be agnostic" - one who claims he "doesn't know" if God exists?

Or are you all knowing?

Please correct me if I am wrong, I would really like to understand your platform?

Patricia- I never claimed that there were no atheists, only searched for an explination of how atheist can claim to be atheist without being all-knowing?

NOBODY HAS FULL KNOWLEDGE... CHRISTIANS, ATHEIST, AGNOSTICS, MUSLIMS, NOBODY.... I'M NOT SAYING THAT ONLY ATHEISTS LACK KNOWLEDGE...

Answer 1

Excellent answer - but notice how many don't really affirm what you are saying. So they are holding onto some type of "faith" of their own. You have managed to rip their logic to shreds and yet they continue on. I haven't met a super human yet... they all seem to be pretty much the same screwed up human form like me.
I have always said it.. Atheism is just as much a religion as anything else. Because NONE OF US has an answer that is indisputably true. So they (the anti-religious and atheists) are as militant as the religions that they bash.

Answer 2

Hang on, I'll find the answer I used last time I answered this exact same question. By the way, you should really cite your source when you quote someone like this. Ray Comfort would be pissed.

Okay, here it is. I cut it down a bit, since you quoted a little less of the propaganda than the other guy:

Atheism is not the belief in the absence of gods, it's the absence of belief in gods. Atheists do not necessarily make any positive statement about gods.

As for this crap about "Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe that there is no God", do you preface every statement you make with the same qualification? Do you say "Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe I'm thirsty"? Or "Having the limited knowledge I have at present, I believe my shoes exist"?

Answer 3

By your own argument, you are not a Christian because there is a chance that you are wrong. Now, to take your claim even further, in order to be a Christian, not only must there be a God, but Jesus must also be proven to be his only begotten Son. Your burden of proof has just increased tremendously over the Atheist's by the definition of your Religion.
If you concede to this, then the argument is over and everyone is agnostic. However these terms you use have precise definitions that you are blurring. You cannot redefine 0 in order to divide by it because it is no longer 0 BY DEFINITION! You have effectively corrupted the entire number system because, by redefining a single term, all other numbers are now open for arbitrary interpretation in order to make them fit what ever purpose you decide. You have done the exact same thing with your religious terms. These terms have exact meaning associated with them just like numbers. Do not corrupt the words and their definitions to fit your argument. Atheism is not agnosticism by definition.

If you want to know what Atheism is, and yes, it is a religion because it relies on a system of faith, it is the BELIEF that there is no God.

To add a humorous quote that is fitting for this discussion, forgive that I have forgotten who said it, "An Agnostic is an Atheist with the fear of God."

Answer 4

Therefore, you are saying there is nothing but agnostics in the world? The same logic you use to make atheists into agnostics can also be used to make any theist into agnostic.

Atheists will only say there is a god if you can offer some sort of proof of a god. Agnostics neither believe or not believe in a god. That does not mean that an agnostic says that he/she kind of believes in god. It means that the agnostic has decided that it cannot be proven either way. However, a person who studies logic and scientific method knows that it is impossible to prove the non-existance of god. Therefore, the only reason for an atheist to believe in a god is if there is evidence to support it.

People do not believe in fairy tale creatures. It is impossible to prove they do not exist. Therefore, the only reason to believe in a leprachaun is if evidence for its existence is offered.

Do you believe in leprachauns? I bet not. There is as much evidence to support them as there is a god. However, you ignore that. I bet that deep down, you are really disappointed that there is no evidence to support god. It probably disturbs you on some level. Therefore, to see anyone believing that a god does not exist strengthen those disturbing feelings and you decide that attacking the non-believers is the way to go. However, your attempts are just showing how futile that trying to argue in favor of existance of god is.

Answer 5

An atheist believes that there is no god, and while they make the absolute statement that there is no god they may not be correct, but they still believe that there is no god. Agnostics believe that there is a god (or say that are unsure if there is a god), but that, if he exists, he doesn't really do anything. The difference is what the people believe, not what is the actual truth. People believe things that are incorrect (out of ignorance) all of the time.

Answer 6

You've got your defenitions mixed up. An atheist is not someone who knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that there is no God; an atheist is simply someone who does not believe there is a God. An agnostic is not someone who is unsure about the existence of God; an agnostic is someone who believes God exists in some form, but does not believe God plays any role in the world as we know it. A Christian is someone who believes God exists and that He plays a very significant role in the world and in the lives of individual people, and who believes that through a personal faith in Jesus, we can be forgiven.

Answer 7

"To say categorically, "There is no God," is to make an absolute statement. For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is no God in the entire universe. "

You should have thought more about this before posting that nonsense, and it wouldn't have hurt for you to have learned what an atheist is before telling us there aren't any.

Your problem centered on the fact that you're assuming that no-one can be said to know anything unless they can prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that it's true. That's an inappropriate standard for knowledge: for example, it defines out of existence ALL scientific knowledge, all of our knowledge of the world around us.

I can't imagine that the believers would be too taken with your argument either, as it implies that even if god exists, he hasn't been around this part of the universe so far. That doesn't jibe well with what most believers believe.

I strongly suggest that you give this argument a rest. You had your hat handed to you on it the last time you posted it, and you're flailing badly with it this time as well.
======================
You wrote:
"Owing to a lack of knowledge on your part, you don't know if God exists. So, in the strict sense of the word, you cannot be an atheist. "
...and
"Patricia- I never claimed that there were no atheists"

Well...

Answer 8

There are 2 questions. a million. do you comprehend whether or no longer there's a god/do you think of it somewhat is popular whether or no longer there's a god? in case you answer no, you're an agnostic. in case you answer particular, you're no longer an agnostic. 2. Do you think in a god? in case you answer no, you're an atheist. in case you answer particular, you're a theist. those 2 questions provides you with 4 outcomes - agnostic atheist, agnostic theist, "gnostic" atheist and "gnostic" theist. since agnosticism is a philosophy of wisdom, it would not settle on the question of theory. All agnostics are, for this reason, the two atheists or theists.

Answer 9

I do not (usually) say there is no god (absolute statement). Rather, I say that I do not think that there is a god. I say that the idea of god is illogical, and therefore I think that none exists.

No one knows whether god exists. By your argument, even a Christian should be considered an agnostic.

Answer 10

I wish you had read The God Delusion. For all the beatings Dawkins takes from philosophers, he answers these kinds of basic questions.

Yes, everyone is agnostic to some degree. To that extent, there could be no "true believers" either, because there's always the sliver possibility that you're wrong.

It's just that God is so infinitesimally unlikely, that you can reasonably conclude that he does not exist with the understanding that you could, in some very small probability, be wrong.