Agnostics

[bennyboy]

Since I declare as agnostic, let me answer.

First of all, I don't agree with the concept of soft atheism. I don't think it's useful to declare that I lack a particular belief. I respect that others think that's a meaningful view, and it's one of the two legitimate ways to express the triadic (a + theos + ism). But for me, I will declare as atheist only when I have an active belief that there is not any kind of God in the universe, or a Deity which created it. I'm not 100% there yet.

Second, in order to answer a question, it must be well-formed. If you ask me if the Biblical God exists, I'd say I'm atheist-- I believe that God does not exist. If you ask me if ANYTHING that could be called a GOD exists-- a super-massive nebulous intelligence, or a philosophical principle that guides human history, or a universe-creating Deity, an immortal living thing, or any of maybe dozens of other possible definitions I may not have thought of-- then I'm open to the possibility of those things, and have insufficient information to know whether they do or don't exist. Some people call this "ignostic," but I prefer the more general term, "agnostic." I'd add, by the way, that when given a question that has ambiguous terms, you can simultaneously answer Yes and No.

But in the end, "agnostic" means "I don't know." And my response to "Is there a God" isn't "I lack that belief," it's "I don't know." I'm literally agnostic on that issue.