# Am I Atheist or Agnostic? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 28, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428 "2003-12-28T17:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/21 "2003-12-29T04:22:36Z")
Even if you don’t know if there is milk in the fridge? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/22 "2003-12-29T04:27:41Z")
“I don’t know” _is_ an answer. It’s long been the answer of those who recognize that it’s beyond the capability of man, in our corporeal state, to definitively answer the question of a God’s existance. I, as an atheist, have taken a leap of faith similar to that taken by Christians, Muslims, Jews, Coptics, LDS and what have you. When you consider the plethora of beliefs active in the world today, you must consider that whatever the real deal is, (at the least) almost all of us are wrong. But that’s not the point of the OP. I think **Alan Smithee** answered the question. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/23 "2003-12-29T05:05:20Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Ringo_ > “I don’t know” _is_ an answer. It’s long been the answer of those who recognize that it’s beyond the capability of man, in our corporeal state, to definitively answer the question of a God’s existance. The operative word in the question “Do you believe in God?” is “believe,” not “know.” A belief does not hinge on knowledge. More precisely, belief is in dependent of knowledge. There are two answers to the question, either “yes” or “no.” “I don’t know” is merely an evasion. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Ringo_ > I, as an atheist, have taken a leap of faith similar to that taken by Christians, Muslims, Jews, Coptics, LDS and what have you. This is incorrect. It takes **no** faith not to believe in something. ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/24 "2003-12-29T05:42:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \* > \*\*The operative word in the question “Do you believe in God?” is “believe,” not “know.” A belief does not hinge on knowledge. More precisely, belief is in dependent of knowledge. > > \*\* Hunh. That makes perfect sense. I never actually dissected this question very carefully, and I should have. I _know_ nothing about the existence of God, but I believe there must be something beyond simple biological cell division that makes us what we are. Now I don’t know if _I_ am an agnostic anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Cantankerous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Cantankerous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cantankerous)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/25 "2003-12-29T05:53:58Z")
I’d say you’re an atheist. Sure not everything is knowable, but some stuff just sounds made up and you can tell. If someone tried to convice you of the Greek myths and Mt. Olympus, you’d laugh, not doubt. You have the same feelings about modern religions, that people wanted an answer so bad they made one up. ---
**Author:** ![IWLN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@IWLN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IWLN)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/26 "2003-12-29T07:23:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cantankerous \* > You have the same feelings about modern religions, that people wanted an answer so bad they made one up. What do modern religions have to do with God? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/27 "2003-12-29T11:01:45Z")
I played with the idea of agnostic v’s atheist. I came down on the atheist side as I just don’t see how there could be anything supernatural about the world. Unexplained phenomenon, yes but no “god” etc. > [@](#): > > “I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I’ve been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say that one is an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn’t have. Somehow it was better to say one was a humanist or agnostic. I don’t have the evidence to prove that God doesn’t exist, but I so strongly suspect that he doesn’t that I don’t want to waste my time.” > – Isaac Asimov ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/28 "2003-12-29T14:22:47Z")
I’d say that you are an agnostic atheist, as I am. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/29 "2003-12-29T14:57:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \* > **The operative word in the question “Do you believe in God?” is “believe,” not “know.” A belief does not hinge on knowledge. More precisely, belief is in dependent of knowledge.** To be sure, belief is simply the self’s perception of knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/30 "2003-12-29T18:29:39Z")
It depends on which definition you pick. I consider myself a weak (soft) atheist, which means that I lack belief in any and all gods. It does not mean that I defy god(s) or deny their existence, but that I have no evidence to say either way. This is a position that is usually called agnostic, but I disagree with that usage. The term agnostic as meaning a-(not)-gnostic would mean a belief that the nature-not the existence-of god is not knowable. This allows for the curious state of Theistic Agnosticism, where one can believe in a diety, but state that the nature of that diety is beyond human comprehension. It also allows for the state of Atheistic Agnosticism which, according to George H. Smith in **Atheism - The Case Against God** is a awkward position that implies intellectual cowardice. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/31 "2003-12-29T19:31:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lobsang \* > \*\* I believe strongly that the earth is not banana-shaped, but since I have never seen it from space, \*\* If you weigh the same as a duck then you are an atheist. If not, they you’re an agnostic. Now, about how ram’s bladders can be used to prevent earthquakes… ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428/32 "2003-12-29T22:33:52Z")
Keep it simple. If you’re going to hell because you assert there _is_ no god, you’re an atheist. If you’re going to hell because you assert we can never _know_ if there’s a god, you’re an agnostic. Devout atheist here. See you in the hot place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-atheist-or-agnostic/221428.md?page=1)