Does this make me a theist?

Question

I consider myself agnostic. The statement got brought up that if you are agnostic, you are either atheist or theist. After discussing this with my atheist boyfriend he told me the burden of proof does not lie on the athiest, but the one making the claim, which I do believe.
Now the question is since I believe there is a possibility of things that have not been proven existing, does that make me a theist, even if I do not worship a deity?

I am not confused. I know what I believe. I am certain there is not enough proof either way.


If someone told me there were faries under my flowerbed, I would believe them the same way I would believe someone who told me there is a soul in my heart, the same way I believe there might just be a tea pot floating around in outerspace. I have experienced things that seem a little more silly.

Answer 1

It's purely a semantic issue, and there is a difference of opinion on it. Whatever the choice would be for the word, it doesn't change what you believe, so don't worry about it too much.

I would say that since you don't believe there are any gods, you are an atheist. I'm in the faction that says that an agnostic is a type of atheist.

It doesn't really matter all that much. But to answer your question, it seems obvious that if you don't believe there are any gods, even though you think it could be possible, you're not a theist.

Answer 2

Burden of proof always lies with someone making a claim. And it is absolutely unquestionably true that there are ONLY theists and those who are not.

Pick anything to describe a person. "Red-headed" There are only those who are and those who are not. And the not includes those with no hair or even no head because they are still "not read-headed".

People are very mistakenly coming at this as though agnostic and atheist are mutually exclusive. They are NOT. You can be without theism and also believe god can't be proven. You can be a theist and yet still believe god can't be proven.

The only way people come to any other conclusion than this is to generalize every atheist as being antitheist. It's false and their argument falls apart.

Answer 3

Uh, the "if you're agnostic, you are either atheist or theist" makes no sense.

If you're agnostic, you're agnostic, either because you, personally are uncertain, or because you believe it's unknowable whether there are supernatural beings.

Whoever brought up the statement didn't know what they were talking about.

Since you belive there's a possibility, but you aren't saying either way, you are an agnostic.

A theist is someone who believes there IS or are supernatural being(s).

Answer 4

Well, this type of situation is exactly what the word agnostic was designed to cover. If you do not believe in any sort of god that would make you an atheist and if you do that would make you a theist. I don't think you have to follow or belong to any religion to be a theist. It is tough for us however to realize that theist doesn't necessarily have to mean belonging to a religion. But if you are unsure, if you believe there may or may not be a god than you can just stick with agnostic. B/c you are simply undecided.

Answer 5

Well the first bit is wrong.

An agnostic is neither a theist or an atheist.

Theists consider them unbelievers but for a firm atheist like myself who doesn't believe in anything supernatural I'd be more likely to group them with the faithheads for even considering such silliness.

Saying the question is unanswered, even unanswerable effectively makes you an agnostic. Not a theist by default. You should consider though that there is not definite proof against fairies, santa, elves, all sorts. Do you consider them all possibilities simply because they have not been 'disproven'? You can't prove a negative anyway.

Answer 6

No.

You are allowed shades of gray here.

Are quarks made up of smaller preon particles? Who knows? Some people think they might be, other think probably not.

Physicists do not have to come down on one side or the other. "I don't know" is an acceptable answer.


On the other hand, this does not mean that you have to accept the possibility of all versions of god out there. If a particular religion's god is non-sensical and contradictory you can reject that version of god without rejecting all versions of god.

Answer 7

"if you are agnostic, you are either atheist or theist"

Shome mishtake shurely? This sounds exactly wrong. A pure agnostic is supposed to hold that the existence of a deity is unknowable, and thus one cannot be theist OR atheist.

If you concede that there is a possibility of a deity, but don't worship it, you sound like a pretty doctrinaire agnostic to me.

Examine your seating arrangement. Are you sitting on a fence? If so, that clinches it.

CD

Answer 8

ok, afaik agnostics don't HAVE to be theist or atheist, they just can be. An agnostic theist believes there is a god but believes proof on this is not available or possible, an agnostic atheist believes there is no god but believes proof on this is not available or possible (most atheists are of this inclination, people who believe there is proof there is no god are pretty rare), and a true agnostic withholds judgement on whether there is a god and believes there is no proof available or possible in either direction. At least, that's one definition. The agnostic realm is extremely diffuse.

Answer 9

It makes you agnostic, dear. : )

Truly, all are agnostic, because there is no proof either way. It's just some people want to use old dusty books as proof, and others want to not believe in a deity the same way they do not believe in leprechauns. Even Richard Dawkins said he was not 100% atheist.

Answer 10

Do you believe in a god.

If you answer yes you are a theist. If you answer no you are an atheist.

Whether you believe there is a possibility is not relevant.