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Question: Why Atheism not Agnosticism!?
Theism/Atheism i don't have a personal preference, im just curious!.
if the claim of most atheists is that they base their beliefs on reason and objective evidence, what is the reason behind the jump from Agnosticism to Atheism---that is, from "It is currently unknown if there is or isn't a God" to "There is definitely not a God" !?
cold hard logic mandates a strictly agnostic view, and empirical observation is no more for or against the existence of Divinity, in general!.
It could be argued that a particular version of creationism has been refuted---
(that is, one version of one particular theory, based on one particular interpretation, made by one particular denomination, of one particular religious tradition, that holds one very particular conception of divinity)
---but how is the refutation of one (very specific) theory grounds for claiming anything other than that one conception is wrong!? that is, how do u go from "This one idea of God is mistaken" to "There is no God" !?
i say atheism is just as much a "leap of faith" as theismWww@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Aethists believe that there is no god and that the inconsistencies between religious beliefs and observations are sufficient to rule out the existence of a god!. To a certain extent, this is a similar leap of faith as theism as it defines an absolute!.
Agnostics believe that the existence of a god may not be necessary and that observations do not necessitate the existence of a god nor rule out said existence hence suspend judgement as to whether or not there is a god!.
Science is a process for testing beliefs to see if they are consistent with observations as knowledge will be a belief in a truth but the only way to discern a belief in a falsehood from a belief in a truth is by questioning that belief!. As to know something is to be believe in something that is true then that belief should be consistent with all observations, any inconsistencies either means that belief is false or that there is something unaccounted for (hence the saying, there is no failed science experiment)!.
Religions tend to find the testing of their beliefs to be a lack of faith and consider it heretical to question their beliefs!. They find the scientific process threatening as it could at times suggest that their beliefs may be false!. Personally, I suspect that the unwillingness of religions to embrace the scientific process in an unbiased fashion to be a lack of faith!.
There are those that claim that their religion has embraced science but are simply trying to selectively portray observations and theories as explicit confirmations of their beliefs, this behaviour has very little to do with science as there is significant bias guiding the experiments and reasoning!. This involves a certain intent to convince others of a belief in order to validate their own belief in those beliefs and is more related to propaganda, deceit and self delusions than to science!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Science is not a religion, it's a process for gaining understanding!.
Atheism is believing there is no god because empirical evidence makes it clear that there is no god!.
A Christian is an atheist when it comes to, say, the Norse gods, but no-one calls a Christian irrational for not believing in Odin and Thor!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
My understanding (which I admit, is quite limited) is that Agnostics believe either in a god and no religion, or no god at all!. While Athiests believe in the SCIENCE of no god, science IS their religion in essence*!.
* "In essence", as in, not literally but meant to show a belief structure in this particular argument!. (I'm not saying science is a religion, I just said that athiests believe in science, not a god)Www@QuestionHome@Com
"Cold hard logic" does not say what you claim it does!. I have studied the major world religions, and I see contradictions and ignorance in all of their sacred texts!. This shows me that the gods in all religions are imaginary!. After all, a deity who created the universe could not possibly be as ignorant about it as the authors of these holy books are!. When one sees that all religions are nonsense, the logical conclusion is that the gods in them do not exist!. There is no reason to believe any other gods exist either!. That is what logic really says, since you do not know!. Faith has no place in science and logic, so you need to study much more, if you believe that wrong idea!. Faith and beliefs are not a part of my atheism!. They are part of religions, and I have no religion by definition!. Does an agnostic have the same lack of commitment in every area of life that he has about gods!? If so, he never marries, since he cannot be absolutely certain he can find the right spouse!. He never votes either, since no one can be absolutely certain what any politician will do when he is elected!. He cannot decide how to dress when he leaves home!. Does he need his winter coat, raincoat, swimsuit, golf apparel, etc!.!? Lewis Carrol's White Knight was probably an agnostic!. He was unsure of what he might need, so he tried to carry everything he had and could hardly move!. The existence of gods or not, who should get your vote, whom you should marry, what you should wear when you leave home, etc!. are important decisions, so you cannot afford to simply say that you do not know!. The agnostic is as obsessed with absolutes as the theist is, so they are closer to one another and are much less logical than the atheist who makes the best decisions he can based upon available evidence!. Consider that any gods who do not make themselves known are the same as no gods for all practical purposes!. It is a big waste of time to speculate about what might be when there is no evidence for it!. I do not waste time thinking about what gods might exist far away that never show themselves or whether there are purple paisley tengu on any planets in the Andromeda galaxy!. This is where your twisted 'logic" may lead one!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Agnosticism and Atheism are not mutually exclusive ideologies!. Agnosticism is saying "I don't know if there's a God and I don't think there's any way you or anyone else can ever know"!.
Atheism is saying "I don't see enough evidence to justify belief in a God" (not "there is no god" as most people think)!. Because of this, except for the hard-core "there is no god" folks, Atheism typically represents a lack of faith not a leap in most cases!.
You can be both or either!. I consider myself to be a strong Agnostic and a weak Atheist!. Regardless, most (key word MOST) atheists and agnostics would become theists if they saw sufficient evidence for a deity!.
Agnosticism is equally not mutually exclusive with Theism!. Many people say "I don't know if there's a god, you don't either, but for some reason I personally think there might be!."
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