Am I Agnostic or Atheist?

[SGOS]

As I've come to understand things, agnosticism is a place of knowledge, while atheism connotes a position of belief. In that case, then even theists could be agnostic, for no one knows with certainty (has knowledge either way) if a deity exists or not. We could get technical and say 'of the knowledge available to us,' no one knows if a deity exists or doesn't.

Welcome to the forums! :)

Some theists use "knowing" instead of "believing" because doubt (a legitimate human condition) is the fastest ticket there is leading straight to Hell.  My grandmother was an example, and taught me that if you have any doubt at all, just a wee amount, you go to Hell.

That's a heck of a predicament, and requires some fancy redefining of both definitions and reality itself.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

I tell folks I'm a secular humanist and leave it at that. It's a bit silly to identify yourself by what you don't believe.

[kilodelta]

There are cases where one can know or be gnostic about the non-existence of a god. "Gnostic atheist"

What this requires is a well defined definition of that god. If they claim that the god lives on Mt. Olympus in Greece. Then we can go and check for his house and see if he's mowing his lawn or something. If the definition includes that the god created Earth 2,000 years ago, that god can be knowingly rejected based on facts about the age of the Earth. (gnostic atheist about that god)

However, we get people who define gods that live outside of our universe and does not have an effect on our universe. So, there's no way to measure if this god is truly real. These are the claims that we can rejects based on lack of evidence, but cannot truly verify. (agnostic atheist)

Then there are claims, such as the god that made the Earth 2,000 years ago, get additional claims that another god put fossils in the ground in a manner that makes them appear older in order to trick people into not believing in gods. Though they have no evidence that another god is playing these tricks, we really cannot disprove that nature was setup in a way to fool us. So, that's just when one can not believe it based on a lack of evidence without disproving it entirely. (or agnostic atheist)

Welcome to the forum.

[Munch]

I've often felt that agnosticism is someone who has opened there minds to possibilities outside of the religious doctrine they have been feed, while atheism is outright cutting off taking sides of any belief. I was agnostic for a while myself but it kind of opened the doors for me to analysis religion and people, and over time the dots joined, until I finally came to the conclusion all religions are the same, and cut off from it.

[Johan]

Here's my take FWIW. I identify as atheist*. I do not believe god exists nor do I practice or subscribe to any sort of theology. I don't know for a fact that god doesn't exist. But I do know for a fact that I've never seen any amount of credible repeatable evidence which supports the existence of god. Lacking that evidence, I am left with no other choice but to believe that god does not exist. I am always willing to revise my belief on the existence of god should credible and repeatable evidence come to light just as I'm always willing to revise pretty much every belief I now hold.

I used to identify as agnostic or non-religious. But that was mostly because I had never bothered to learn what athiests were and were not.


*While its true that I do indeed identify as atheist, I should note that only do this on anonymous forums and in the presence of my wife. Otherwise I am more or less completely in the closets about it. My friends don't know, my family doesn't know and my employer and co-workers most definitely don't know. As you're learning, there is a lot of misunderstanding out there when it comes to people knowing what atheists are and are not. That misunderstanding can often mean people treat you differently than they otherwise would. I'd just as soon not expose myself to that sort of thing so I keep my beliefs to myself as much as possible. I applaud all those who are 'out' about their atheism. I'm just not someone who will likely ever be comfortable with doing the same.

[trdsf]

As I've come to understand things, agnosticism is a place of knowledge, while atheism connotes a position of belief. In that case, then even theists could be agnostic, for no one knows with certainty (has knowledge either way) if a deity exists or not. We could get technical and say 'of the knowledge available to us,' no one knows if a deity exists or doesn't.

I would disagree that atheism is a 'belief' position.  I state that there is no god on the same basis that I state that there is no luminiferous ether or phlogiston: 'god' is an old theory of how the universe works the need for which has been superseded by better information, and the existance of which is not supported by observation.  That's not belief, that's taking the available evidence at face value.

At least I believe it is.  :D