POLL What's the Difference Between Agnosticism and Atheism? | HowStuffWorks
FTA: People choose to identify as religiously agnostic for a variety of personal reasons ā philosophical, psychological, theological or even political. But it's wrong to think of all agnostics as "spiritual fence-sitters," unwilling to state whether they believe or don't believe in God. True agnosticism, it turns out, has nothing to do with belief at all.
You might think that agnosticism is nothing more than a handy way to dodge the question of whether you believe in God. Instead of saying yes or no, the agnostic chooses a third position: neither.
But this is where things can get hairy, explains Draper, who wrote the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Atheism and Agnosticism. "People get so angry about this," he says, referring to testy exchanges between atheists and agnostics online. "The atheists will say, 'You call yourself an agnostic but you're really an atheist!'"
And you can see the atheists' point. At face value, it seems like there's a razor thin line between saying "I don't see any evidence that God exists" and "I don't believe that God exists." But the truth is that you can be an agnostic and an atheist, just as you can be an agnostic and a believing Christian (or Buddhist or Muslim). That's because agnosticism, as its core, is separate and unrelated to questions of faith.
Poll Question: What do you consider yourself to be?
4
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33 comments (26 - 33)
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I'm agnostic because of what I know, or don't know in this case. I can't prove there is no doG.
I'm atheist because of what I believe, or don't believe in this case. I don't believe there is a doG. Iām also dyslexic and used to stay awake late at night wondering if there really was a doG. 
DaveSchumacher
Level 7
Apr 23, 2019
2
Ag-Theist, here... I've seen weird shit in my life, and I'm fairly certain, mother nature and her children of deities, are pulling the strings behind the curtain...
frisbee212
Level 5
Apr 22, 2019
2
Ag-? What is the prefix Ag supposed to mean?
A- means without as in A-theist, and A-gnostic without god and without knowledge respectively
@LenHazell53 I'm fairly certain he meant Agnostic Theist. Hey, at least he is being honest about his beliefs....
So, many you are really either a pantheist or a panenteist?
i don't see why some ppl find so much difficulty trying to express the diff between agnostics & atheists. to me it's simple. i don't believe in a god that cares about the human race. but i can't completely discount the possibility that there are beings out there that are so intelligent compared to us that they could be considered supreme beings. as we can be considered supreme beings compared to a protozoa.
callmedubious
Level 8
Apr 22, 2019
1
Only the human ego would allow for the presumption that a protozoa would consider humans gods or consider humans at all.
The difference is, one is about belief and the other is about knowledge. Real simple.
So what did you mark in the poll? From your comment I would guess Agnostic Theist.
I don't think that protozoa consider anything.
Nearly every society known to us or to paleontologists has had a god who accounted for all the things in life that they could not explain. In some cases they are personal gods who listen to prayers and supplications and intervene in the affairs of humans and thus giving the supplicants some sense of control over their lives, some not. Almost all are responsible for natural phenomena such as weather, earthquakes, eclipses, sickness, death, births, love, random luck, etc. This take on things supports, not only that there is no god, but is an explanation for the ubiquitous belief that there is one?
I believe Man created God in his own image, for his own purposes.
SandBKnox
Level 4
Apr 22, 2019
2
You didn't include the option of Ignostic.
Heraclitus
Level 8
May 2, 2019
1
That would fit under the 4th option.
You have based this poll on an incorrect definition the agnostic philosophy. Thomas Huxley, who coined the word agnostic simply meant it to name a philosophy that insists on empirical evidence for something to be considered true. Originally, he was talking about pure science. He later extended it to include knowledge about whether God exists after he was challenged by clerics. An agnostic is simply someone who insists on evidence. We are post-modern atheists logically since we do not believe in gods. One can not be an agnostic theist even if one allows for possibility/probability logic and we are definitely decided that one can't know without evidence, not undecided about whether we believer or not.
DougTElmira
Level 6
Apr 26, 2019
1
I based it on the dictionary's definition: a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena;
IMO this is the correct definition.
[agnostic.com] "More recently, the term agnostic has been used in some cases as a substitute word for atheism, the lack of belief in a god. While some people use it to express doubt or lack of conviction for their atheism (i.e. āfence sittersā or āweak atheistsā ), as Richard Dawkins described in āThe God Delusionā, we stress that agnosticism is more a reason for atheism than a replacement for the term.
Many have quarreled over which word to use and when. Agnostic, as it is correctly defined, is about knowledge, where atheism is about belief, so the two terms are not on a separate scale if taken literally. Indeed, Humanism, agnosticism, and atheism, are often used interchangeably, but taken literally they are all on different scales (Agnosticism is about knowledge, atheism is about belief, Humanism is about ethics). However, the popularity of Dawkinsā scale shows modern usage has shifted from the original intent."
With the definition I used, there is indeed a group of Agnostic Theist, and according to this poll there are two of them on this site.
You are welcome to post a poll of your own, with your own antiquated definitions........
To Believe in God is to know that all the Rules will be Fair and there will be Wonderful Surprises. Now hows that for a Solid Response.
Nevermind345
Level 7
Apr 22, 2019
1
You neglected theist in your poll. Not that there are many here but there are a few.
Your poll certainly confirms my belief though that the majority of people on Agnostic.com are Atheist I thought it was closer to 15% but looks to be half of that. Unless half of the I don't care group are Agnostic without being Atheist
Biosteelman
Level 7
Apr 22, 2019
1
No, I didn't. It is the second option. So far there are only two of them, I suspect there are several more.
The one I didn't list are Gnostic Theists. IMO the most dishonest of all folks, and if there are any of them on here I highly doubt they would give an honest answer or comment.
@zblaze you have Agnostic theist but not just theist, you do include atheist and agnostic atheist. You don't have gnostic atheist in your list so to include gnostic theist seems loaded to me.
@Biosteelman Gnostics of either category are inherently dishonest about what knowledge they have. I don't really want to hear from them, but I think I have anyway...lol
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