I'm not agnostic, I'm an athiest

[jeffrey_pdx]

A good friend of mine pointed out that saying I was agnostic was merely not taking a stand one way or the other. Then I started thinking about it, and she was right. I grew up Catholic, alter boy and all that shit. But one important fact of being religious is knowing without a doubt that god exists. I can't make that make sense in my mind, some would call it a lack of FAITH. But FAITH is what religion is about.

Just on an slightly unrelated note, I highly recommend reading the book "Zealot". Its the story of Jesus from a historical stand point.

[Mr.Bill]

1. Another altar boy Atheist, like me.

Once you've been backstage, it all plays differently.

[dangin]

2. Agnosticism

I think it is only possible to be agnostic in regards to deism. No scripture in deism. As soon as "revealed" scripture is on hand it's clearly man made and atheism is the only response.

[JNelson6563]

3. Well said.

[Major Nikon]

12. We are all born agnostic

Atheism is a conscience choice as is theism. There are plenty of theists who reject organized religion along with all of its dogma and tomes who aren't necessarily deists. It's human nature to invent an imaginary entity that exercises domain over the lives of sentient beings.

[OriginalGeek]

4. I'm both

I don't believe there is a god but I admit I don't, and probably can't, know for sure.

Furthermore, I think all believers are agnostic too - I know they are just "sure" there is a god but they can't know. Everything they've offered as evidence so far is just how they interpret what they believe - so, no evidence really. I get yelled at a lot for that opinion lol.

[jeffrey_pdx]

5. I agree with your post

But I've come to the conclusion that if you don't absolutely believe, what's the point? And I like to think if there is a benevolent god, he won't care if I believe, just that I tried to treat people the way I would want to be treated.

[frogmarch]

6. I am agnostic

in that I don’t know whether any deities exist. What I do know is that I have no belief in any of them.

I call myself an atheist. If I were to call myself an agnostic, I’d be bombarded with “Oh, so you ADMIT that God might exist!” and other such crap from Christian friends and Christian family members.

[Curmudgeoness]

7. I'm an athiest.

But I also went through all the stages, from just going to church and not thinking much about it to agnostic declaration to atheism. It usually is not a single step from belief (or at least not questioning) to atheism.

I do not think that being agnostic is not taking a stand though. To say that you do not know the truth, one way or the other, is acceptable and not wishy-washy. I have moved beyond that, though, and now can say that I absolutely do not believe in any deities. But I have no problem with someone just admitting that they do not know.

[jeffrey_pdx]

8. I know I don't know everything, but I sure think this...

if you don't have absolute faith in the fact that god exists, what is faith? I believe that people have the right to believe whatever they want, but my scientific mind finds it beyond reason that you believe in an unquestionable, omniscient (did I spell that right?) god.

[NastyRiffraff]

9. I read "Zealot"

And I too recommend it.

I'm an atheist too (not an agnostic). Meaning I am 99% sure that there is no god. The scientific mind always allows that 1%.

[dorkulon]

10. From what I understand, these are two separate issues.

That is, whether you believe in god (theism/atheism), and whether you believe the truth is actually knowable (gnosticism/agnosticism). I don't believe in god, but I also don't think the true nature of life, the universe and everything is something I can possibly know.

Most atheists are also agnostics. There are gnostic atheists, who insist that they know for sure there is no higher power, I suppose, but I don't think that's any more supportable than insisting there is one.

Most believers are gnostics, but there are those who aren't.

Personally, I don't see how anyone can pretend that they really understand what the heck is going on here. My position, briefly, is "I don't know and neither do you." But I sincerely doubt that any of the stories people have created and chosen to believe could possibly be true. That makes me an agnostic atheist, and unless you are as doubtless that there is no god as your Catholic brethren are doubtless that there is, then so are you.

[jeffrey_pdx]

11. I guess my point was more about faith

Faith implies a specific belief, my god is better than yours, or my not believing in god is right. I don't know, so to absolutely believe anything is just false.

Edited to add: I don't think my friend was wrong. I'm open to arguments one way or the other, but take a stand.

[dorkulon]

13. "I don't know, so to absolutely believe anything is just false." That's agnosticism.

You can also be an atheist, but I'm just saying you clearly are agnostic. You're wise enough to understand that you could be wrong about things. There's nothing soft about that; it's just good sense.