by Christ Alone 295 Replies latest jw friends
Further, many agnostics see themselves as sitting on a fence, having not made a decision.
I think this is part of the very definition of agnostic. The "I'm not sure" answer is valid and I think that would be answering that you are"agnostic". Of course I know it means that they have not made a decision yet. But the meaning of the word "agnostic" being as it is "without knowledge" seems to apply.
What undercover said.
Deeply agnostic. Yet, hoping to feel more and more spiritual. But that has nothing to do with God.
You are actually right. I am an agnostic. I never have, and never would, claim otherwise.
The reason I’m an agnostic is because I don’t have the gumption; or the ego; to claim that I know the Theory of Everything. I realize that there’s still a lot about the universe and existence that we don’t know. So if I were to walk around trying to say that I knew for a fact that gods don’t exist, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought me to be somewhat dishonest… or, at the very least, presumptuous.
So no, I can’t be 100% certain that some sort of “creative force”, or whatever, doesn’t exist.
But please… tell me… why does that mean I’m not an atheist?
Just because I don’t know doesn’t mean I can’t decide whether or not I believe in a higher power… and the fact is, I don’t. I do not believe in a higher power. I do not believe that we were created by anything. I do not believe that the universe was created by anything. And because I do not believe, I am an atheist. Yes, I am an agnostic. But I am also an atheist.
You see, atheism is, simply translated, a lack of theism. And what is theism? The belief in a higher power or powers. Since I do not have that belief, I am an atheist.
http://natehevens.wordpress.com/2012/06/10/knowledge-vs-belief-agnostic-atheism/
Love it!
Just because I don’t know doesn’t mean I can’t decide whether or not I believe in a higher power… and the fact is, I don’t.
Yeah, I guess most agnostics say that you "can't" know, but there "may" be something out there. I guess agnostic atheist is a more appropriate term for you. You DON'T believe, but there may not be a reason TO believe. Is that close enough?
I suppose this is the reason for so many terms. There are so many varieties of people that relate to one term or another that matches their belief or lack of belief.
Love it!
LOL---come to the darkside C.A.---relative morality---guiltless parties----big plans! LOL
You know, it's interesting, and maybe I should post this on my bridge building thread, but the idea of morality.
When I believed in a god, I would not steal anything for the life of me. I still won't, and I no longer believe in a god.
When I believed in a god, I always tried to be truthful. I still try to always be truthful, and I no longer believe in a god.
When I believed, I could not have had sex without marriage without guilt. I can now---cuz I no longer believe. But that didn't translate into just having casual sex as I recognize that certain emotions are attached to such, and I don't want to hurt myself or others.
There is a lot of talk of morality, and some even say atheists have no reason to be moral. But I think it is more a question of character. I think most atheists simply don't want to hurt other people or themselves, and will live accordingly. We do this because it gives us and others peace. We like that. Perhaps that is why morality arguments irritate me, because it seems not a question of morality but a question of character, and the assumption have that a person loses character when they put away belief.
Still forming this idea, but just wanted to throw that out there.
I consider myself a skeptical atheist with a touch of agnosticism.
I think all the gods I've ever heard of almost certainly do not exist. I'd go with 99% to 99.9% chance that each of these gods do not exist.
That is to say that I have serious doubts about the existence of every god I've ever heard of, but I allow for the possibility I could be wrong. The fact that I could be wrong and that I don't know everything is the only reason I allow that tiny chance for those deities. I have no other reasons for allowing for the chance a god might exit. I am not convinced by the things that religious believers seem to be convinced by.
Note that the more I know about a god, the more confident I tend to be that it does not exist. So, if I'm wrong and there's a god out there, I tend to think it's most likely some sort of deistic god that no one has heard of. I'd still only give it as high a chance as 1% that it exists.
Hope that makes sense or means something to anyone reading this. :-)
