Am I an Atheist or Agnostic?

by Buck R. Cash

I think the common problem is the mixup of two separate questions with the four relative answers to them:

1. "Do you KNOW if there is a god?" ('yes'-gnostic or 'no'-agnostic)

2. "Do you BELIEVE that there is a god?" ('yes'-theist or 'no'--atheist)

The roots of the words define what they address. 'Gnosis' addresses 'knowledge', while 'theism' addresses 'belief'. It's an important distinction, but one that is often confused until one looks closely at it to sort it out.

To the question "do you KNOW?" I think the only clear choice is agnosticism, since no one KNOWS. But when someone asks if you 'BELIEVE' there is a god and you answer, "I'm an agnostic" you've just dodged the question by answering instead to "do you KNOW if there IS a god?".

Personal opinion and story ahead: I think anyone that answers "I'm an agnostic" to the question "do you believe" is a closet atheist trying to avoid the stigma associated with the word 'atheist'. I could be wrong, but looking back, I realize it was true of me when I did it. A friend said to me at that time, "an agnostic is an atheist without guts." He's the one that pointed out to me that claiming agnosticism didn't answer the question, "do you BELIEVE?"; It only answered the question, "do you KNOW?"

I thought about that long and hard. I looked up 'atheism' in the dictionary and read that atheists (according to it) made the claim that there is no god. Further, it described atheism as immorality. Well, I didn't fit either of those, so I figured I was no atheist.

I knew that the "a-" part at the beginning of the word meant 'without' and made 'atheism' the negative of the word 'theism' so I decided to look up 'theism' as well. It said, "BELIEF in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world." Nothing about morality there, nor an affirmation of KNOWledge.

Okey dokey, what is 'belief'?

1. The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: My belief in you is as strong as ever.

2. Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: His explanation of what happened defies belief.

3. Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons.

It's good to be clear about that, and an important aspect of the whole thing.

Now that we have a clear understanding of what 'belief' is, let's think about it again. If you claim agnosticism, saying in effect, "I don't KNOW if I have BELIEF that there is a god" then obviously you do not have belief in a god yet. Check the definition. You do not yet place trust or confidence in the idea. You do not yet have mental acceptance and conviction in the truth, actuality or validity of that idea. You have not yet accepted that idea as true. So you don't yet have belief. It's that simple. Well friend, if you don't have belief yet that there is a god, you ARE an atheist, like it or not.

The definition of 'theism' was decidedly NOT the opposite of the definition of 'atheism' in the dictionary. That much was clear. Hmmm... It seemed there was some kind of double standard involved that didn't fit with the word roots themselves.

So I put the meaning of 'a-' at the beginning of the definition of 'theism' and arrived at a simple definition for 'atheism' that I have used since:

"Without belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world."

I looked hard at 'belief' again. Got it! With that, I came to my own personal truth: I am an atheist because I do not have belief (as defined) in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world.

So if someone asks me if there IS a god I can honestly reply that I am agnostic, since I don't KNOW. Depending on the conversation, I may go on to say that I doubt it, but have no way to KNOW - still agnostic. Depending on the conversation, I may ask them to define 'god' with characteristics and attributes and so forth and, depending on the description, I may go on to say I HIGHLY doubt it OR there may be some possibility of it OR (usually) I can then show how that particular version of a god is logically impossible, at which point I am no longer agnostic about THAT PARTICULAR god. At that point, I KNOW that particular god does not exist.

BUT, when asked do I BELIEVE there is a god, with OR without description, I have only one answer. I am an atheist, for I do not have belief that there is. If pressed, I can go on to declare that neither do I have belief that there is not - still atheist. I am simply without belief.

Boiled down:

'Gnosticism' and 'agnosticism' answer only to "do you KNOW if there IS a god?" They cannot answer to "do you have BELIEF that there is a god?"

'Theism' and 'atheism' answer to "Do you have BELIEF that there is a god?" They cannot answer to "do you KNOW if there IS a god?"

Hope that helps...

_________________

Smile... There is no Hell.

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Published on: 2006-02-13

I am agnostic AND Roman Catholic. When someone asks me if I believe in God, I can tell them, 'Yes, I'm Agnostic' ... but that sounds self-defeating believing in something that you don't "know."

I thing being 'Gnostic' is impossible if you understand 'know' the way I do when I say I'm 'Agnostic.' I understand "I know" to mean 'I have seen proof'; and anything supernatural stands–by definition–outside of the realm of proof.

When indepenent thinkers share a Faith ('belief without proof') with others, we share it because we happen to have it as well ... not because we learn it from them—oh, we might have learned it from them (or they from us); but the full belief is not learned or taught, it is developed by each individual believer.

As Christian children are born, they "believe" that their parents are never wrong–the parents may make mistakes, but always know when to admit to them–and so these children are introduced into Christianity (the family religion).

Growing and studying, they learn that Christianity was started mainly to keep families subservient to the patriarchy ... with the belief that followed from the fact that fathers have power over their children, it was supposed that there must be some all-powerful Father, and furthered that The Father's direct Son would also be all-powerful (yet below his Father).

The freethinking children understand that God is based in truth, but that the theoretical 'all-powerful' is supernatural (like all absolutes) and is thus unknown. Oh, absolute-power and -purity and -faithfulness can be "believed"; but can only be "known" as surely as the last decimal of pi.

Being Theistic requires 'a willingness to get rid of disbelief' (faith). Like marriage: I do not 'know' that my wife is waiting for me at home (rather than doing the neighborhood) while I'm away (I don't think I'm "worth waiting for"), but I "believe" she waits at home.