Dont they know that they are two different belief systems and dont want to be lumped together as one.
2007-10-23 10:05:43 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Just another example of ignorance
2007-10-23 10:09:47 · answer #1 · answered by darwinsfriend AM 5 · 3⤊ 3⤋
They shouldn't "know" that atheism is a belief system as it isn't.
Agnosticism is the idea that the individual agnostic, or perhaps humanity on the whole, either cannot now or will never be able to attain definitive knowledge regarding the existence of nonexistence of gods.
Atheism is a lack of belief in gods. That's all it is.
Given these definitions, an agnostic can also be an atheist "by default" if they technically lack belief in deities due to a refusal to commit to a definite answer. If they lack belief then they ARE an atheist, even if they don't declare themselves as such.
2007-10-23 10:12:02 · answer #2 · answered by ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT•• 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Actually, neither is a "belief" system. Atheists do not believe in God. Agnostics do not believe in God, but prefer to say that they are not convinced that God does not exist. Agnosticism was started by Charles Darwin's friend, Thomas Huxley, as a clever way of saying, "I'm really an atheist but do not want to offend believers by being blatant about it." Agnosticism has been something of an inside joke ever since.
I'm an atheist because the widely accepted concepts of God are self-contradictory. The simplest assumption about the origin of the world does not involve creation by God. That is, "the God hypothesis" is unnecessary.
Yet, if someone found a simpler hypothesis than my own "nihilistic conjecture," I would not only accept it, but actually defend it. Thus, since I am willing to entertain the possibility of a self-consistent concept of God, am I really agnostic rather than atheistic? The lines of demarcation can easily blur when the complex issues are examined thoroughly.
2007-10-23 11:29:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because for the most part an agnostic is just an atheist who is trying not to offend a theist.
Ask them about their beliefs and you find that atheists and agnostics are very close together.
There are no rational agnostic theists out there since if there is no proof of something one must refuse to believe in it to be a rational person (so all agnostics that are rational are atheists).
2007-10-23 18:40:54 · answer #4 · answered by bestonnet_00 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why do people think these are two mutually exclusive definitions?
"Atheism" is the lack of belief in deity.
"Agnosticism" is the assertive belief that the existence of deity cannot be nor ever will be proven one way or another. Go look up the history and the guy who coined the term (Huxley) if you don't believe me.
Neither, by the way, are "belief systems". They're each just ONE belief.
2007-10-23 10:21:28 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well I can honestly say that I put Athiests and Agnostics together in a previous answer but only because I stated that neither believe in a God. Which is true. Had there been another group of people that I was aware of that did not believe in a God, I would have added them in as well.
I know that Agnostics and Athiests are different, I was Agnostic for a large part of my life until I started studying religion and found one that I firmly believe in.
But as for lumping them together on a regular basis, that's something that I don't do.
BB
2007-10-23 10:13:32 · answer #6 · answered by Jessica W 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Not sure. It does get a tad tiring after a while though. I'm also quite puzzled by the assertion that you are either theist-agnostic or atheist-agnostic. I was always under the impression I was prefix-free.....
Ok, having just read some posts above I think perhaps I should clarify my position: I have yet to find anything conclusive indicating either Gods existance or his non-existance. I will not dismiss either possibility untill I do.
Call it refusal to assume, keeping an open mind, not judging before I'm certain.....any of the above. I like to think of it as a belief in falsifiability, combined with a healthy skepticism.
I do not say there is no God (Atheist), I do not say there is a God (Theist/Deist/Pantheist).
Is the distcinction clear enough yet?
2007-10-23 10:10:30 · answer #7 · answered by Rafael 4 · 1⤊ 4⤋
They aren't "belief systems" at all.
Agnostics don't know whether there are supernatural beings; atheists believe there aren't.
Thus, they have in common a lack of belief in supernatural beings.
But there aren't "belief systems" that go with these terms; just that one belief (or uncertainty).
2007-10-23 14:01:40 · answer #8 · answered by tehabwa 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Agnosticism IS NOT A BELIEF SYSTEM. Agnosticism is about knowledge, while atheism or theism is about belief. There are agnostic atheists, and agnostic theists (there are also gnostic atheists and gnostic theists).
If you are using agnostic to mean "I'm undecided" then you are using agnostic wrong.
2007-10-23 10:10:22 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Probably the same reason people lump ALL christians together.
Its easier. You see, to believers, there are believers and non-believers. So yeah, agnostics and atheists are similar in that sense, they do not believe so they are one in the same in their eyes.
Same can be said with regards to lumping all Christians together, they all believe in Jesus so why even go down the individual paths
2007-10-23 10:13:10 · answer #10 · answered by Phil M 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Isosthenia is terrifying to most dogmatics. Thus, both most atheists and most believers try to deny the existence of the isosthenic individual. Most dogmatics just can't handle true skepticism. The saddest of these are the dogmatics who call themselves "skeptics", and are either too egotistical or too ignorant to understand that, to a proper skeptic, "it is false" is every bit as much a dogma as "it is true".
Ah, Sextus Empiricus, where art thou?
2007-10-23 10:21:15 · answer #11 · answered by Hoosier Daddy 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋