@Ionus,
Ionus wrote:
Quote:You don't seem to get non-belief. It is an absence.
You are describing agnostics, not atheists.
Recently someone pointed out why this dichotomy is false.
Atheism is a statement on
belief. Whereas agnosticism is a statement on
knowledge. Agnosticism is not some point between theism and atheism. Nor is atheism exclusive from agnosticism; you can express both. Atheistic expression is that of skepticism given a
specific claim. Agnosticism is the declaration that we do not have sufficient information to make a claim.
Given the specific claims made by religions, a person will probably express both. To the deficiency of information (agnosticism) to make such a claim, and the rejection of the claim itself as being unconvincing (atheism). A simple question to most self-described agnostics is: "Are you convinced there is a god?" I believe that many will say "no." Many may say "I don't know." However, wouldn't this mean simply that a cogent case has failed to form? If in the end, you don't know, but you don't believe, you not just an agnostic, you're an atheist. If you believe we have enough knowledge, then you're no longer an agnostic.
What is perhaps then scary for those who believe is that they are agnostic as well. Not being convinced that a god exists based on what your presented is atheism. Stating that we do not have enough knowledge to confirm a god's existence is agnosticism. So while the faithful like to thrust at atheists about what "we cannot know," they fail to realize that (1) this doesn't assault a person's skepticism, and (2) it asserts only their own agnosticism.
The question them becomes: "Why believe in what you will claim we cannot know?" A second question: "If you set out to illustrate the limitation of our worldly knowledge, why then would a position of skepticism be so threatening?"
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