Agnosticism for Idiots; or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the People Who Hate Atheists

[gcomeau]

136. Sigh

"No Evidence For God - No Evidence For No God - No Evidence Either Way"

Ok, and?

You realize that saying there's no evidence either way has absolutely not one single solitary thing to do with atheism or theism, which are terms which denote the presence or absence of a BELIEF, not of EVIDENCE... right?

It also doesn't make you an agnostic... which is not a claim that there is not any evidence but the philosophical position that there CAN NEVER BE evidence. if you are taking the position that you believe it is impossible to EVER acquire evidence one way or another about God's existence THAT makes you an agnostic. Not a shoulder shrug and an "I dunno if there's a God..."



There is only one factor that determines whether a person is an atheist or a theist.. and that is whether their answer to the question "Do you believe a deity exists" is a yes or a no.

(Note: If you try to answer "I don't know" I almost guarantee you weren't paying attention to the question... because yes you do, unless you have some kind of severe psychological issue you should seek immediate help for because not knowing the content of your own thoughts is a pretty serious issue. And that certainly would not make you an agnostic, it would just make you terribly impaired)


And there is only one factor that determines whether a person is an agnostic (which they would be in addition to being either a theist or an theist) and that would be their answer to the question "Is it POSSIBLE to KNOW FOR CERTAIN whether God does or does not exist?"

(Note the difference in the nature of the question, one inquiring about a state of belief about existence of God, one inquiring about a state of belief about the ability to acquire evidence pertaining to that existence or lack thereof.)