Question with 9 notes
dammit-sherlock asked: Are you an agnostic atheist? Because I came out to my father that I'm an agnostic atheist, and he said that atheism is just another form of religion. To be 100% sure that there is no god is the same as saying you are 100% sure there is a god. I agree with my father, and I've been asking other atheist tumblrs if they agree with this line of reasoning. (and my definition of agnostic atheist is that there is a possibility there may be a god but I strongly think there is none.)
I’m not really sure why the term agnostic gets misunderstood by so many people but to answer your questions, I am. There are actually very few Atheists in general that would not qualify as agnostic Atheists (Victor Stenger being one) because Atheists don’t want to put the burden of proof on themselves. It is incredibly difficult, if not entirely impossible, to prove something that has such a vague definition does not exist in any way or form throughout all of space and time. One would have to claim more knowledge than what is really possible to say they know with 100% assurance.
Agnostic very simply means someone that believes nothing can be or is known about god. In practice I believe everyone is an agnostic but for someone to claim gnostic Atheist or gnostic theist they don’t necessarily have to prove it, they simply have to profess it as their belief. I think that makes it a very flimsy qualifier in general because it only provides information about personal speculation of available knowledge regardless of validity. Either you believe things are knowable or that things are unknowable.
Atheism is certainly not a religion. I have never met an Atheist that considers Atheism just another form of religion, I only hear it from non-Atheists. Atheism is the rejection, the refutation, and a divergence from religion. Atheism couldn’t possibly be more polar opposite from religion. People just like to think everyone has their own insanity, we shouldn’t let it bother us though. It’s not as if anything else the religious blindly assert without proof has real merit either.