So, surely you’re agnostic?
09 Thursday May 2013
Written by Monica in Agnosticism, Atheism, Atheist, Education, Skepticism
Tags
Agnostic, Agnostic Atheism, Agnostic Theism, agnosticism, Atheism, Atheism vs. Agnosticism, Atheist, Atheists, Belief, Beliefs, knowledge, Monicks, religion, secular
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That’s the reply I got to this tweet:
I have irrefutable proof that #god doesn’t exist. No, you can’t see it & I won’t show it to you. You can’t prove I don’t have it. #atheism
— Monica Salcedo (@Monicks) 9. Mai 2013
Sigh…
Because it does not matter how many times people explain this, or how many blogs have this topic somewhere featured, there’s always room for another Atheism vs. Agnosticism explanation. Hopefully one of these will, at some point, stick with you!
If you ask me about my religion, I will say: “None, I am an atheist.” But I won’t tell you that I’m also a Skeptic, a Humanist — a Secular Humanist, a Freethinker, a Rationalist, an Egalitarian, and also an Agnostic.
The misconception is unbelievably widespread and I have addressed it before, more than once, in different contexts and mediums. Atheism and Agnosticism are not mutually exclusive.
Let me break it down for you:
Atheism is about (lack of) belief.
Atheists: The existence a god (any deity) is improbable, atheists find no reason to *believe* a god exists.
Agnosticism is about knowledge.
Agnostics: The existence or non-existence of god (or any deity) is unknown and possibly unknowable.
So in this sense we are all agnostics, because nobody can prove (yet?) the existence or nonexistence of a god, therefore nobody can *know* for sure. That, technically, makes you, by definition, an Agnostic. That’s how we get Agnostic Atheism and Agnostic Theism.
Now, if you consider yourself an agnostic, that means (to me, anyway) that your belief in the existence of a god is, to say the least, very weak so, you’re almost an atheist in my book. (◕‿~)✿
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