atheism vs agnosticism

I hold no religious/supernatural beliefs, on the basis that nothing I have ever experienced in any sense, seems to suggest or require positing a supernatural entity. I also very much believe that If there were such "supernatural" (outta this world) entities there would be no particular reason why I, in this world/existence, ought to be able to know anything whatsoever about the existence of another.

Thus I do not believe in any god, but don't think we can really state absolutely that there can be no such thing.

I understand that Atheism encompasses people of these beliefs, and I think that agnosticism is nothing more than these beliefs. So isn't Agnosticism just a specific type of atheism?

And please try to keep this forum upon the topic of the differences between atheism and agnosticism

Depends.

I believe God exists, but i do not know god exists.

=

Theist

I believe god does not exist, but i do not know if he does not exist.

=

Atheist

The difference here is what you believe. Atheism and theism go to what you believe, while gnosticism and agnosticism, go to what you know, or claim to know. You can be an agnostic theist, agnostic atheist, gnostic theist, and gnostic atheist. You are an agnostic atheist.

Our beliefs are essentially the same. I always say that I'm an agnostic that errs to the side of atheism; in other words, I don't believe in any of the gods that have been suggested by man, so in that sense I am an atheist to all previously proposed gods.

However, a strong atheist, one that believes there is not only no evidence for any gods but goes a step further and says there definitely is no god, goes beyond your qualification that we cannot completely rule out all possible ideas of god or supernatural states of existence, and in doing so is an athiest only. The old joke among agnostics is that atheists make the same mistake as theists - they claim a definite knowledge of what can at most be an opinion.

Russell once said (I'm praraphrasing) that he thought all gods had the same probability of existence; to he and I and you this probability is not a high one. However one must also take into account the possibility of the "theistic agnostic." Where you and I would say "I don't know, and I cannot rule out the possiblility, however unlikely, that there might be something in the known or unknown universe that might meet some criteria for being 'god,' but nothing I have seen suggests the affirmative," to the question "Does god exist?" - the theistic agnostic would say "I don't know, and I cannot rule out the possibility, however unlikely, that there may be nothing in the known or unknown universe that meet some criteria for being 'god,' but everything I have seen suggests the affirmative" and would be, for all intents and purposes, a pantheist.
So, to answer your question: Sometimes.

Britt

I think Spinoza's god is very interesting (he's often mistaken for a pantheist). The tricky thing about atheism is that in claiming to be an atheist, you're saying you don't believe in any supreme being(s) - including variations from the traditional monotheistic or polytheistic gods. A lot of people are hesitant to make that kind of assertion, and thus declare themselves agnostics. However, I'm pretty sure that agnostics also believe that knowledge is limited to human experience; an idea with which I do not agree (I'm a rationalist rather an an empiricist).

If I say I see a flying pink unicorn in a room, they call me crazy and lock me in a mental asylum. Just because the majority see this flying pink unicorn doesn't mean it's right if they can't prove the invisible pink unicorn is, in fact, in the room. If they can I'll eat my hat and bow to the Flying Pink Unicorn.

My beliefs are kinda strange. While I don't believe in a higher power as most major religions do in one form or another, I do believe in things such as reincarnation. I believe that the soul and body are two separate entities and that after you die the body rots away while your soul leaves it and wanders. I use this theory to justify my belief in ghosts. The soul leaves the corpse and wanders around for awhile before being reincarnated into another body. This is why ghosts disappear after awhile I think although sometimes it can take hundreds of years. The soul just needs to find somewhere to go. Strange, I know.

At 10/23/2009 3:17:53 PM, InsertNameHere wrote:
My beliefs are kinda strange. While I don't believe in a higher power as most major religions do in one form or another, I do believe in things such as reincarnation. I believe that the soul and body are two separate entities and that after you die the body rots away while your soul leaves it and wanders. I use this theory to justify my belief in ghosts. The soul leaves the corpse and wanders around for awhile before being reincarnated into another body. This is why ghosts disappear after awhile I think although sometimes it can take hundreds of years. The soul just needs to find somewhere to go. Strange, I know.

Scientific proof kplzthx.

At 10/23/2009 3:19:39 PM, I-am-a-panda wrote:

At 10/23/2009 3:17:53 PM, InsertNameHere wrote:
My beliefs are kinda strange. While I don't believe in a higher power as most major religions do in one form or another, I do believe in things such as reincarnation. I believe that the soul and body are two separate entities and that after you die the body rots away while your soul leaves it and wanders. I use this theory to justify my belief in ghosts. The soul leaves the corpse and wanders around for awhile before being reincarnated into another body. This is why ghosts disappear after awhile I think although sometimes it can take hundreds of years. The soul just needs to find somewhere to go. Strange, I know.

Scientific proof kplzthx.

What scientific proof? Since when did religion rely on scientific proof? ;)

At 10/23/2009 3:21:38 PM, InsertNameHere wrote:

At 10/23/2009 3:19:39 PM, I-am-a-panda wrote:

At 10/23/2009 3:17:53 PM, InsertNameHere wrote:
My beliefs are kinda strange. While I don't believe in a higher power as most major religions do in one form or another, I do believe in things such as reincarnation. I believe that the soul and body are two separate entities and that after you die the body rots away while your soul leaves it and wanders. I use this theory to justify my belief in ghosts. The soul leaves the corpse and wanders around for awhile before being reincarnated into another body. This is why ghosts disappear after awhile I think although sometimes it can take hundreds of years. The soul just needs to find somewhere to go. Strange, I know.

Scientific proof kplzthx.

What scientific proof? Since when did religion rely on scientific proof? ;)

Hey-O!