Comments on: Agnosticism = fearful atheist? http://www.iamanatheist.com/blog/2008/03/30/agnosticism-fearful-atheist/ Discussions of religion and ethics from an atheist perspective Mon, 06 May 2013 16:01:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Christine http://www.iamanatheist.com/blog/2008/03/30/agnosticism-fearful-atheist/comment-page-1/#comment-94 Christine Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:50:52 +0000 http://www.iamanatheist.com/blog/2008/03/30/agnosticism-fearful-atheist/#comment-94 I am often a bit distressed by people’s confusion over agnosticism. It is not just “weak” or “fearful” atheism. It simply refers to an unknowing state. Quite a good number of Christians are actually theistic agnostics — they claim belief/faith, but not proof. I myself claim no proof one way or another; God (or gods) may or may not exist, but I choose not to believe.

]]> By: Nemo http://www.iamanatheist.com/blog/2008/03/30/agnosticism-fearful-atheist/comment-page-1/#comment-80 Nemo Sun, 27 Apr 2008 02:30:54 +0000 http://www.iamanatheist.com/blog/2008/03/30/agnosticism-fearful-atheist/#comment-80 I think the questioner was on the right track, in a way, but it’s not the fear of God — it’s fear of God’s believers. See, they take less offense to “agnostics” than they do to “atheists”. Someone says he’s an agnostic, and the believer hears “Your beliefs might be true; I don’t know enough to say.” But what the agnostic is actually saying is probably, “Your beliefs are ridiculous, but I’m not gonna say that to your face.” Few would really regard the probabilities as equal. And even many who call themselves atheists, like Dawkins, would admit that you can’t absolutely disprove the existence of “God” — for some sufficiently abstract conception of “God” that doesn’t in any way resemble anything that people actually worship.

I think this describes the largest category of “agnostics”, and I think there is no real difference between their views and the views of “atheists”, except that the atheist is more willing to offend.

Me, I’m an atheist.

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