RE: Is atheism a belief?
March 6, 2019 at 10:59 am
(This post was last modified: March 6, 2019 at 11:01 am by Mister Agenda.)
If I see a pregnant woman and don't hold the belief that she is a pregnant with a boy, yes, I am an a-boyist. I am without a belief that she is carrying a male fetus, it could be a female fetus, or a harder to determine the sex of fetus. But I don't hold it to be true (which is what a belief is) that she is pregnant with a male fetus. We don't have a very good prefix for a person who is certain she is not carrying a boy. Anti-boyist is more like whether she's carrying a male or a female fetus, you're against it being a male. 'Dis-boyist' maybe connotes a stronger position against the likelihood of it being a boy. Agnostic/gnostic is about what you don't or do know. Atheist/theist is about what you don't or do believe.
That said, I'm inclined to make the distinction between agnostic as an adjective that can modify a belief state; and agnostic as a noun for someone who believes that the existence of God is unknowable and refuses to take a position on their personal belief about whether some sort of God exists or not; that is, the common understanding of an agnostic as being between an atheist and a theist.
Gnostic Theist
Agnostic Theist
Agnostic (or, as I like to call this position, Agnostic Agnostic)
Agnostic Atheist
Gnostic Atheist
There are people who waver between belief and disbelief, and rather than expecting them to call themselves atheists or theists from moment to moment depending on which way they happen to be leaning at the time. it's reasonable to just call them agnostics. IMHO.
That said, I'm inclined to make the distinction between agnostic as an adjective that can modify a belief state; and agnostic as a noun for someone who believes that the existence of God is unknowable and refuses to take a position on their personal belief about whether some sort of God exists or not; that is, the common understanding of an agnostic as being between an atheist and a theist.
Gnostic Theist
Agnostic Theist
Agnostic (or, as I like to call this position, Agnostic Agnostic)
Agnostic Atheist
Gnostic Atheist
There are people who waver between belief and disbelief, and rather than expecting them to call themselves atheists or theists from moment to moment depending on which way they happen to be leaning at the time. it's reasonable to just call them agnostics. IMHO.
I'm not anti-Christian. I'm anti-stupid.