Are you born agnostic or atheist?

[HeyItsZeus]

I would say you are both atheist and agnostice when you are born. Atheism and agnosticism can BOTH be held at the same time you know.

A la moi.

As for your question... I don't know.

[Judas BentHer]

I'll answer your argument: you are born with 5 legs, but 1 is chopped off. That is why you have never felt complete and have always felt violated.

Now many people would read that and quip, it's the perfect anti-tourism flier to your region of the world of 4 legged peeeoplez. While those like myself would think, damn I gotta move there and open a shoe store.

[Tiberius]

It of course depends on what you mean by "agnostic" and what you mean by "atheist". A baby has no belief in God, since it does not have the mental capacity to hold beliefs yet. It is therefore as much an atheist as a rock. The same goes for being born agnostic, only I'd hold that agnosticism is a positive belief, whilst atheism is more of a lack or "passive" non-belief.

In simple terms, it is not possible for a baby to hold opinions on agnosticism, whilst it is possible for a baby to lack belief in a God.

[Gawdzilla]

You guys need to go to Pern.

[BethK]

You are born an atheist. You lack (a-) belief in God (-theist). A baby, or someone who has not been taught anything about Gods are atheists. I doubt many would come up with the concept on their own.

Agnostic is one who does not know. Babies are agnostic about the existence of God, just as they are agnostic about the existence of orbital mechanics. They are from a position of ignorance, until indoctrinated.

[Epimethean]

It'd be incredibly interesting to see what kids would be like in this regard if they were raised with no religious claptrap around them, and, since no discussion of atheism would then be necessary, their development would speak volumes.

[BethK]

You do not have a frame of reference to evaluate religious / non-religious belief when you are born. And also because you have insufficiient mental capacity to make such a decision anyway. In order for one to be whatever, then it is logical that one is aware. Not being aware that there may or may not be a God is not the same as believing or not believing it when one has given the subject detailed scrutiny. How is it possible to be an atheist / agnostic when one has no understanding of what one is and has yet to develop language, reason, comprehension and memory ? When you are born you only respond to physical stimuli such as hunger and sleep. A baby that has to cry in order to communicate its feelings is not intellectually capable of dealing with anything other than its immediate biological needs. Incidentally Islam teaches that everyone is born a Muslim. That position is equally untenable.

Yes, and the baby who has not developed reason or language comprehension lacks a belief in any God. The baby is an atheist by definition (a- Prefix meaning not; -theist Believer in God).

The baby is also an agnostic because he or she also lacks knowledge.

[Faith No More]

Here is the definition of agnostic from dictionary.com

1.a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as god, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.
2.a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study.

Here is the definition from thefreedictionary.com

1. a. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
b. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.
2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.

Here is the definition from merriam-webster.com

1. a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (as God) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god
2. a person who is unwilling to commit to an opinion about something <political agnostics>

If one takes into consideration these definitions, then a person cannot be born an agnostic, because a prerequisite for each of these definitions is that some thought has been put into the subject. Personally, I think the better definition for agnostic is without knowledge, but this is some food for thought.