Geezer Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOxU37iW6s8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted September 25, 2013 Author Share Posted September 25, 2013 Agnostic vs Atheist Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUfE4Y1RSbo Agnostic vs Atheist Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no6PKPCc3Gg These videos bring out some interesting points and offer more sophisticated definitions that outline the differences between being agnostic vs atheist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 Technically everyone is agnostic. But that is not how people use the term. So the usage leaves the word agnostic with a double meaning. It's good to understand the problem to avoid misunderstandings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geezer Posted September 25, 2013 Author Share Posted September 25, 2013 By definition it would seem that I am a weak atheist rather than an agnostic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 By definition it would seem that I am a weak atheist rather than an agnostic. Given the common meaning for agnostic there isn't much difference between agnostic and weak atheist. It's leaning. It's shades; very subtle differences. Call yourself whatever you feel comfortable with. You have to factor in how others are going to respond to the words. If calling yourself agnostic won't offend your family and you are okay with it then it's fine. Your beliefs are your own. My opinion leans enough towards strong atheism that it's what I call myself but I'm not so far along that I would claim to have explored all of reality and be absolutely sure. I can only prove gods are fictional beyond a reasonable doubt. Somewhere floating in a reality, perhaps not even our universe, might be some creature that has a few traits humans assign to gods. I acknowledge that is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExCBooster Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Yeah, I say I'm an atheist, because it would take about an hour-long lecture (with power-point or a blackboard), a college dictionary, and a recap of socio-political and philosophical world history to explain very completely exactly what I am. I'm a very exacting Ignostic, actually. But, I've found that in my place and time, whenever someone asks if you're an "atheist" they mean: "do you believe in (my version) of the Christian God." I'm definitely an Atheist in that sense: such a definition of God as Christianity has is certainly definable and falsifiable, and testable - and it fails the test, so hard. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaraOlive Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Yeah, I say I'm an atheist, because it would take about an hour-long lecture (with power-point or a blackboard), a college dictionary, and a recap of socio-political and philosophical world history to explain very completely exactly what I am. This plus the fact that many ignorant people take the label "agnostic" to mean "searcher". I don't believe in any gods of any religions that currently exist or used to exist in the world, and I think that the label atheist best conveys that to the most people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galien Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I don 't requre a label. Why does anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overcame Faith Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 As to the god of the Bible, I am a definite atheist. As to the possibility that there was some sort of creator, I am an agnostic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaraOlive Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I don 't requre a label. Why does anyone? Because I don't feel like making a long explanation to questions about my religion. Saying "I'm an atheist" conveys everything that someone needs to know when I don't want to have a long conversation. I think there's a tone of unnecessary superiority in your question. Labels are helpful for a lot of things. My clothes size is a label. It helps me shop quickly. My profession is a label. It helps me job search and other people's professional labels help me get the right services. Surely you labeled yourself in a certain way when you saw a website called "ex-Christian" and decided to join. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galien Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I don 't requre a label. Why does anyone? Because I don't feel like making a long explanation to questions about my religion. Saying "I'm an atheist" conveys everything that someone needs to know when I don't want to have a long conversation. I think there's a tone of unnecessary superiority in your question. Labels are helpful for a lot of things. My clothes size is a label. It helps me shop quickly. My profession is a label. It helps me job search and other people's professional labels help me get the right services. Surely you labeled yourself in a certain way when you saw a website called "ex-Christian" and decided to join. Nah. I find labels superior and something people use to judge. And I'm not american, they seem to love those damn things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2me Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 The word Atheist is more closed causation and excludes the possibility of anything. Agnostic is more open ended. Atheism as a hard meaning cannot be proven, so Agnostic is a place holder, much like using a variable in a math problem. Atheist is a hard 'NO' and Agnostic says...'I don't know'. I don't really agree with this. I consider myself an atheist, because I see no evidence that god exists. But, I can't say that I know 100% of anything for sure, so if pressed I would clarify my position as that of an agnostic atheist. I don't see the two terms as being opposites, but as complementary concepts. It is also possible to be an agnostic theist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midniterider Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 Why agnostic and not atheist? Why beef and not chicken? Why Ford and not Chevy? It's just personal preference. Personal preference need not be defended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midniterider Posted October 1, 2013 Share Posted October 1, 2013 I don 't requre a label. Why does anyone? It's fun to tell one person you're a Christian and someone else you're a pagan and someone else you're a Scientologist. :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaraOlive Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Nah. I find labels superior and something people use to judge. And I'm not american, they seem to love those damn things. Oh the irony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galien Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Nah. I find labels superior and something people use to judge. And I'm not american, they seem to love those damn things. Oh the irony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwc Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 The word Atheist is more closed causation and excludes the possibility of anything. Agnostic is more open ended. Atheism as a hard meaning cannot be proven, so Agnostic is a place holder, much like using a variable in a math problem. Atheist is a hard 'NO' and Agnostic says...'I don't know'. Atheist, historically speaking, was just a rejection of the popular gods which is why xians were considered atheists. They were "without gods" as per the word. Since "god" has pretty much become some all-encompassing "thing" I see no problem with saying that I am without the common notion for "god(s)" and am an atheist. That is to say there is no understanding of a god that I accept. That *can* change if such god, or notion of god, presents itself (for me personally it will have to be the actual god). Agnostic only goes back to the 1800's I believe. However, the idea is that it is based around "knowledge." And since "gnosis" in the case of religion was often tied to mystery religions and therefore a special, or spiritual knowledge, this would indicate that an agnostic would lack this very same meaning a special, spiritual knowledge. This also means that, unless everyone is agnostic, there are "gnostics," or people that do have this special, spiritual, knowledge. And that this knowledge is available from someone, something or some place in some fashion (ie. it is attainable). Some people believe this does exist in some current form(s) and practice these various things hoping to gain/further this knowledge. mwc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2me Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 I like this video about atheism and agnosticism (although it is a bit repetitive at the end.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2me Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 This video kind of refutes the position of the last one I posted, but she makes a lot of good points. And it's funny! I am as agnostic about God as I am about butt-elves, so maybe I'm not an agnostic atheist after all! And maybe labels are less helpful than I originally thought, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted October 3, 2013 Super Moderator Share Posted October 3, 2013 To have people easily and quickly understand my general position on religious topics, the label Atheist serves the purpose. People understand that I don't believe their god exists, and that's all that matters to them. In fact, I am actually agnostic for the lack of definitive proof that no gods exist, but I don't want to spend 30 minutes explaining logic and probabilities. I leave it to the philosophers and college freshmen to argue the fine points and attendant semantics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaraOlive Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 I am as agnostic about God as I am about butt-elves, so maybe I'm not an agnostic atheist after all! I'm not a gnostic, so technically I'm agnostic, and I'm not closed to new evidence (really actually new, not just 'this Christian hasn't had a chance to argue with me yet') but I've made a judgment and a decision that there is no reason to believe in any gods. So I'm like an agnostic but decided atheistic ex-Christian ignostic. But I still hold that "atheist" conveys the most important part just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawn Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 Unbeliever. Works for me. Applies to gods, elves, ghosts, trolls, Flying Spaghetti Monster, etc, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2me Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 To have people easily and quickly understand my general position on religious topics, the label Atheist serves the purpose. People understand that I don't believe their god exists, and that's all that matters to them. In fact, I am actually agnostic for the lack of definitive proof that no gods exist, but I don't want to spend 30 minutes explaining logic and probabilities. I leave it to the philosophers and college freshmen to argue the fine points and attendant semantics. Yes, fortunately in the real-life conversations I've had on the topic, the term atheist fits the bill without need for further explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts