atheist or agnostic...there seems to be some confusion?

Question

Some atheists are claiming that there is a possibility that God does exist...a very very small possibility.

And so then I see other atheist claiming that these are not "true" atheist...but are in fact agnostics and just claim to be atheist.

So if you are an "atheist" that admits to the very remote possibility that God(s) may exist, are you comfortable still calling yourself an atheist? Are you offended or angered by those other hard-core atheist that claim that you are not an atheist, but actually an agnostic?

Did you ever think atheists and agnostics would have the same problem that Christians and Catholics do?

Let me make this clear...I am not doing the labeling here. It is coming from some agnostics and some atheists. But it is funny to see some suggest that I am the one causing the confusion.

I only use labels as they already exist...I don't pin one to myself...I let other do that for me, thus I probably have many labels. If I call out the label "atheists" and you reply...that is yourself attaching the label...not I.

Larissa: Judging by what you just said, I would say that you are a deist who thinks there's a chance that atheists are right :)

Answer 1

To each their own, I have no beef with it.

Answer 2

Unless an agnostic is also a theist then they are by definition an atheist also.

"So if you are an "atheist" that admits to the very remote possibility that God(s) may exist"

I am.

"are you comfortable still calling yourself an atheist?"

Of course. I'm still "not a theist".

"Are you offended or angered by those other hard-core atheist that claim that you are not an atheist, but actually an agnostic?"

I haven't run into them but if someone did I would laugh and explain to them that the prefix 'a' means not or without. The word doesn't explicitly or implicitly say what someone thinks or does beyond being 'not a theist'.

"Did you ever think atheists and agnostics would have the same problem that Christians and Catholics do?"

Some do now. For some reason some agnostics have the same misconception about the word 'atheist' that theists do. Some seem to have the misguided notion that all atheists think there absolutely is no god. I've seen some declare it proudly that they believe agnostics are somehow the logical middle ground between theists and atheists.

When the word atheist couldn't possibly be more neutral. It only says what someone is 'not' and makes no claim of what they are.

+++
To bookworm4jc, do keep in mind that dictionaries are not a source of how words 'should' be used - they are lists of words and how they are being used. That whole "deny the existence of" tripe has been sneaking into usage for the last 20 or so years. It only means that theists are successfully adding their usage of the word to dictionaries.

I'd be willing to bet agnostics would disagree with the "believes it impossible to know..." part of too since it says that in a universe of infinite possibilities they believe that one thing is impossible.

Lets not feed the theist usage shall we...?

Answer 3

"So if you are an "atheist" that admits to the very remote possibility that God(s) may exist, are you comfortable still calling yourself an atheist?"
Yep.

"Are you offended or angered by those other hard-core atheist that claim that you are not an atheist, but actually an agnostic?"
Nope

"Did you ever think atheists and agnostics would have the same problem that Christians and Catholics do?"
Not really


I suggest you do a little research on atheism. It's not as simple as you would like to think.

Answer 4

If you classify atheists as agnostics because they consider the probability of the existence of God to be trivial, but not-zero, then you have missed the point of Russell's teapot. The fact that you cannot fix the probability at zero does not make belief rational. Atheism and Agnosticism have a considerable area of overlap. One can be an atheist, and not have to know with certainty. The only confusion comes from deceptive theists who actively conflate the terms.

Answer 5

I'm not too concerned about what others opinions are of my disbelief in god, or how much they agree with what I "call myself".

Now that I put that out there, I think maybe the concept is being misunderstood. When I say, the probability of god existing is very very slim... i don't mean that I think there is a slim possibility that there is a god. What I mean is, that the probability of god existing is the same as the probability of the Flying Spaghetti Monster existing. Neither can be 100%, unequivocally "disproved", but the probability of their existence is equally unlikely.

I can't speak for every atheist who has ever uttered the words "remote possibility", but I'll be bold and venture to say that this is probably what many of them mean by that terminology.

Answer 6

The confusion lies right here: evaluate those 2 eventualities - interior the 1st one, there is not any faith. no one has proposed or imagined or believes in a god or some gods or spirit beings. actual everyone in that society is by potential of definition an atheist (no longer believing in god). regardless of the shown fact that, they do no longer call themselves 'atheists' - they are merely human beings. 2nd situation: - in this one many human beings have come to think of / have faith / espouse a god or some gods. some human beings are the comparable as interior the 1st situation different than that now, by way of fact the winning techniques-set is definitely one of concept, those human beings finally end up referred to as the 'non-believers' or atheists. In the two eventualities the atheists have not replaced. the only distinction is they are actually referred to as some thing different and the only reason for that's that this new group, the "believers" has come into existance. Many christians don't understand that earlier faith actual everyone exchange into atheist, yet merely weren't referred to as that.

Answer 7

As agnostic deist I think there is a God but I KNOW there is no proof.

I do see agnostics described as people who sit on the fence and do not know what they believe, and that is just not true at all. I know exactly what I believe.

I can sense disapproval sometimes for thinking there is a God but I have never been bashed by anyone but fundies.

As you know, I do my share of the bashing as well.

Willful ignorance is something I cannot grasp at all.

I see agnostic/atheist as a person who thinks there is no god but knows there is no proof.

Answer 8

Just as there are several types of Christians, there a several types of atheist.

A "hard" atheist doesn't believe in god the way a Christian believes in god. This person will never accept the possibility of god.

Most atheist are "soft" atheist. We don't believe because there is no evidence. While we admit to the possibility there is a god, we also believe that evidence to support the existence of god would have to be extraordinary and unrepeatable. Generally speaking, there is a possibility that Santa Claus is real, but I am not holding my breath for the evidence.

Agnostics are simply unsure and don't generally believe one way or the other. Many atheist were believers, became agnostics, and are now atheist.

Answer 9

an atheist lives by the assumption that there isn't a god. i don't know many, if any, atheists who say flat out there is not a possibility at all. most agree that there is a possibility of a god existing, but that the possibility is so small that it's nearly zero. i'm not holding for a savior of any kind. i'm an atheist.

Answer 10

An atheist is someone who doesn't believe in God. I don't see any contradiction in conceding that there is a possibility of some kind of god while not personally believing in one.

Personally I don't like either label because I don't care to be defined by what I don't believe in.

Answer 11

I think there is a spectrum of beliefs. From strong theist, to theist, to agnostic, to weak atheist to strong atheist. There is no such thing a a "true atheist" or "true Christian" for that matter. I don't think it is my business to give others labels as to how or what they believe. Just as I say anyone who calls themselves a Christian is, it is the same for atheism.