I was wondering why there aren’t other thoughts half-way between Atheism and Agnostics? For example, what if I believe some superior being did create the heavens and the earth, etc., but somewhere we got disconnected. I keep leaving prayer messages on His voice mail, but his voice mail box is full!
Anyway, could there be a group of, lert’s say, “Apathyists”? A group who have kept trying to believe, but are so brokenhearted by their beliefs, they have concluded God must have just given up on His creation. Afterall, it seems we simply just won’t learn!
Not sure I follow… Deism is belief in a God, correct? Without question, without exception, with no breaks in continuity in the relationship between Mankind and Creator.
However, I say that, perhaps, somewhere along the line, there is a discontinuity which would explain why it seems God is asleep.
Maybe I shouyl call it “Narcisism”?
Kniz, I ask in all seriousness. People either believe, or don’t believe. Why? Why don’t we ever think that the Bible stories are certainly all true, but now God is simply tired of dealing with us. But, instead of Him destroying us, he’d rather we just slowly destroy each other. - Jinx
There is a good passage in Catch 22 (actually there are many) where Yossarian is talking to somebody’s wife (probably the wife of the guy that worried about parades). They are discussing their lack of belief in God and she says “The god I don’t belive in is a just and loving god.”
I always thought that it was because, on average, atheists and agnostics don’t tend to congregate and share their beliefs or lack thereof. So basically, you can believe what you want, and pick either of those labels for yourself, or invent your own label if neither suits… But if there’s no community of sharing that belief, no one knows or minds if your belief isn’t quite the same as someone else using the same label, so there’s no need to form sects. If any of that makes sense…
Hmm…if one says God doesn’t care…isn’t that a direct shedding and throwing-off of one’s beliefs? Can one hold fast to religious beliefs and still say God doesn’t care? Seems kind of contradictory to me…
Maybe I should have posted this in GD, sorry! How sheepish of me! :smack:
One definition of agnostic is being skeptical about the existance of God but not professing atheism. In other words, anywhere between believing and not believing. Now you want to know why there isn’t a word to specifically define someone who is at about the three quarter mark towards being a believer? I think kniz is right; you need a breather.
These minor doctrinal disputes are not something that atheists or agnostics give any thought to. Sects are for people who care about gods.
Just for the record and I didn’t make this up, the first commandment is that thou shalt have no god before me. It does not deny that other gods exist, only you gotta choose Yahweh first. Not that I care much one way or the other, but I don’t see where monotheism follows.
There are. But, your premise is based on a false premise; namely, that there is some organized common belief system within which sects could form. You’re assuming atheists and agnostics are organized groups, like religions, and that they all believe/disbelieve the same things. They’re not. Therefore, sects are a non sequitur.
Most people I’ve talked to who don’t believe in any of the religions they’re familiar with are not anxiously searching for a label to adopt or a group to join. These people, for the most part, couldn’t care less about the labels, except when it becomes necessary for communicating with religous people. Aside from that one special case, a label serves no purpose, and the existing labels are good enough for that. Who needs more?
They most likely aren’t very interested in joining a group that would try to tell them what not to believe any more than they’d want to join a group that tries to tell them what to believe, either. Most “professed atheists” I’ve talked to don’t have a strong belief that “god/God/gods” don’t/doesn’t exist; they just don’t feel there’s any reason to believe he/she/they do exist. In the rare cases where I’ve met someone who vehemently denied the existence of God, it has always been, specifically, the Christian God they were referring to. (Although, I suppose there are people everywhere who disbelieve the dominant religion of their area.)
Because Agnosticism is the positive assertion that the question “Are there any gods?” is unanswerable. It has nothing whatsoever to do with doubt or uncertainty, except for the obvious statistical truth that a very large number of people use it to refer to such things, incorrectly.