What is a difference between an atheist and an agnostic? Are agnostics against God Theoretically? Are you one?
112500
Athiest:  One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.\n\nAgnostic:  1.a. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. 1.b. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism. 2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.
503041
"Think about it, you have to acknowledge that there is a god (higher power) for you not to believe in, right? In that case, wouldn't you be agnostic?"\nTHAT MAKES NO SENSE, SHOULD I SAY: I DON'T BELIEVE THAT GOD EXISTS, IS THAT BETTER?
168223
How do you do? I'm an agnostic.
132811
The ones who fight to disprove God are anti-thiests.  In my liftime, I have only met a handful of actual athiests, but an enormous amount of anti-thiests who call themselves athiests.\n\nThe operating word in the definition is belief.  If you truly believe something, you act on it accordingly.  If you truly believe the roof you are sitting under is about to fall down, then you'll move.  Genuine athiests truly don't believe that there is a God, and won't waste much time talking for or againt Him.\n\nOn the other hand, anti-thiests don't want anybody to believe in any kind of higher being, and work fervently to achieve that goal.  In my experience, most anti-thiests once believed in God, but something happened in their lives which they blame God for, and thus the fervor.\n\nto zilker: Technically, anyone who does not have a belief in God is an AGNOSTIC. An atheist believes that there is no God.\nEveryone is actually AGNOSTIC by default until they develope or reject a belief in a God. \n\nto My Big Bear Ron: Maybe there are no athiests 'knocking on doors', but I guarantee there are no Christians in court rooms trying to suppress the athiests' (or more accurately, anti-thiests') right to believe what he wants to believe.
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Sure, why not....unless it is merely out of frustration or to annoy your folks.\nIf you truly believe that there is no God, no Divinity, then you already are an athiest.\nOn the other hand, if you simply reject 98% of what organized religion tells you about God and His plan, then you're an Agnostic.
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Whether there is or isn't a god, the fact is you ARE allowed to search for the truth, and so those who object on religious grounds would not be speaking for whatever god may actually exist.\n\nWhich is precisely why some people prefer to be called agnostics, because their objections are to the religious depictions of a god, and the rules that supposedly come from that source, rather than to the existence of some supreme force or being per se.\n\nMost important, in my view, is to object to depictions of a creator god, as again this implies rules exist in nature that are inconsistent with science as we know it.  Mythology is one thing, but a belief that regards that mythology as true because one wants it to be true is not consistent with the type of search for the truth that you are advocating by this question.
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dear ash,\n\nIf you say that you believe in a supreme being then technically you are not an atheist.\n\nTo be an Atheist means that one do not believe in the idea of a supreme being (God); hence, the word A-theist (A="without" theist="Theos" = "God")\n\nIf you say that you are not sure of God's existence, but still open with the idea of the supreme being then you are an Agnostic.\n\nIf you believe in God, then you are a "Theist"
590256
Personally I'm agnostic. But the category is religion not atheism. That's probably why.
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First, tabbymomma is not making a statement or asking a question about whether or not god exists, or the veracity of atheism versus agnosticism versus Christianity.  What she is asking, is why do people call other people idiots when they are trying to convince them that their view is right?\n\nI agree with her.\n\nIt seems the "debate" in here consists of believers and non-believers calling each other idiots.  This is not a debate.  Neither is telling a non-believer he/she is going to hell, or telling a believer they are in the thrall of ignorant superstition.  Debate involves respecting your opponent, and his or her ideas, while you are pointing out what you believe are the fallacies.  In the very least, it involves a little civility.\n\n___________________________________________________________\n\nOh, and an agnostic is not a "pansy" atheist.  Agnostics hold that, ultimately, the existence or non-existence of divinity can not be proven one way or the other (and, the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence), so this is a question which is ultimately unanswerable and unknowable.  This is different from atheists, who believe there is no god at all.
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Yes I believe in God, but not the way traditional Christians do.  I'm a Gnostic Christian.
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An atheist can very well have a belief system.  Being an atheist just means that you lack belief in a god or gods.  An atheist could believe in UFOs, alien abductions, Santa Claus, etc.  \n\nI, however, am a skeptic, an Objectivist, a Bright (depending on the nomenclature you are using).\n\nI try to have as few belief as possible.  I try to hold a scientific worldview.  I take in data/information and try to understand what I am learning.  I make guesses/theories about how the data relate.  When I make up a guess, I then test it to make sure it's correct.  If it fails, then I continue to use that theory until a better one comes along.  If a better one comes along, then I reject the old one.\n\nA good example of this is the sunrise.  Do you believe that the sun rises in the East?  I don't.  I have a scientific theory that the earth rotates and revolves around the sun.  I test my theory every day because my theory PREDICTS the sun will appear on the eastern horizon.  \n\nYou might say that a scientific worldview cannot account for everything in reality.  Really?  Like what?  A soul?  I don't believe that exists either.\n\nI could be wrong.  Before bacteria were seen under a microscope, people believed that disease was  caused by disruptions of the 4 humours.  If I was a skeptic back then, I would have denied the existence of bacteria... until a scientific theory could come about and explain and predict their existence.  So if someone were to present to me concrete evidence of a god... then I would admit that I am wrong and become a believer.\n\n-------------------------------\nAgnosticism and atheism are kissing cousins.  Still, does a agnostic believe in Santa Claus?  Why or why not?  There is no evidence for Santa to exist... but there is always the possibility.  I deny Santa's existence, while a true agnostic could never say yes or no.\n\nBasically, there is a ton of bullhsit out there.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of religions in the world.  This doesn't include ones that have died out or ones that have yet to be created.  I withhold belief until I find evidence for one that is correct.  Sure I could sometimes be wrong with my worldview/philosophy... but science/logic/rational thought has a far better track record in only a few hundred years than all of the history of religions.\n---------\nAlso, I think you have a misunderstanding on what a "freethinker" is.  A freethinker is someone who looks at life/reality without superstition... someone who uses rational thought.  There is no evidence for a supernatural being... so that falls outside of "freethinker".
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I think it would be more appropriate to call that person an agnostic, one who is not certain that God exists but is open to the moral code of the faith.  Tradition, theology, ideas and behavior are different things.  One may find value in one but not another.
399928
Only according to the Christians. Therefore as an Atheist, I would be classed as a disciple of the Devil, which would be difficult because I don't believe in God or the Devil in the first place. So how can I be classed as something that I believe doesn't exist? Obviously the Christians are a bunch of f**king liars :)
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Atheist or Nihilist.\n\nAn Atheist, by strict definition, is someone who doesn't believe in God. That doesn't mean that Atheists can't believe in other things.\n\nA Nihilist on the other hand doesn't believe in anything whatsoever.
544005
The atheist believes there is no god. ("God does not exist." / "There is no God.")\nThe agnostic believes that one cannot prove whether God exists or does not exist. ("We can't know if God exists or not.")\n\nThe dictionary says this about agnosticism   \n         1. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.\n         2. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.\n   2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.\n\nI followed definition 1. I guess uncertainty falls under definition 2.\n\nSUMMARY:\nATHEIST -- "THERE IS NO GOD."\nAGNOSTIC -- 2 KINDS: \nA. "WE CAN'T KNOW IF GOD EXISTS OR NOT." (THIS IS MORE DEFINITE. THERE IS CERTAINTY. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW.)\nB. "I'M NOT SURE IF GOD EXISTS. I'M NOT SURE IF GOD DOESN'T EXIST." (THIS IS REALLY UNCERTAIN.)
890386
Finally a decent out of the box agnostic thinker.  I personally am atheist, because the creation of a creator is just as probable as us being created in the first place.  But the creation of the two are that much more improbable.  \n\nHowever, on your theory, why do you propose that we are mistakes rather than a side effect...
736572
Agnosticism is a philosophy about knowledge. An agnostic says that the question of the existence of a god is unknown and unknowable. \n\nAn atheist does not believe in a god or gods. They do not have to say, "There is no possible way that there's a god," they simply have to not believe there is.\n\nThey can lack a belief in a god or gods as well. Babies, for instance, have no belief until they are taught to believe. \n\nI am an agnostic atheist. I say, "that the question of the existence of a god is unknown and unknowable," but I also say, "Even so, I have no belief in a god or gods," reason being that just because you can't know whether something exists doesn't mean you have to believe in it. \n\nPossibility of existence does not = likelihood of existence.\n\nThere are people that call themselves agnostic, and that is their right. It is not for me to say what they are or how they think. But in my own journey, I find that you either believe or you don't. If you believe, you are a theist/deist/etc. If you do not believe, you are an atheist. You can be either and be agnostic too.