(May 10, 2011 at 4:29 pm)diffidus Wrote: Intellectually, there is not much difference between an Atheist and a Theist. As a species we have only existed for a miniscule amount of time compared to the age of the universe(~14 Billion years according to Scientists). Of this time we have only been studying Science in a rigorous sense for ~ 300 years. It is no exageration to say that, although we have learned a lot in that time, we have much to learn in the future. In fact, it is not just that we do not know everything, but we do not even know how much we don't know.
From this it follows that a claim that God does not exist can only be made on the grounds of probability, based upon current scientific knowledge. But probability is only based upon uncertainty and therefore, any claim that God does not exist must be, in the end, a belief (even if based upon the latest empirical and scientific evidence). From this perspective an Atheist and a Theist both share something in common - belief.
Atheism cannot, therefore, be ascerted based upon certain knowledge. Therefore, it follows that the truly honest position of any member of humanity is Agnostic. It is intellectual cowardice, on the part of Atheists, not to accept the rational conclusions that reason leads to - namely, that no definitive statement can be about the existence/or not of God, due to lack of knowledge.
First of all, agnosticism is not some midpoint in between atheism and theism. It lies on a different scale altogether, one that deals with the certainty of knowledge. For example, a person could be an agnostic atheist, which means that he or she does not believe in a god, but is not certain that god does not exist. For the record, most atheists are agnostic atheists, especially towards that of the deistic god. On the other hand, a person could be an agnostic theist or gnostic theist, in which case the latter is far more common.
Atheism is, by no means, the belief that no god exists. Rather, it is the nonbelief that a god exists. The difference here is subtle, but nonetheless important in understanding what atheism is. For example, I do not believe in god, as much as I disbelieve in leprechauns and unicorns. However, if I happen to see god one day, or found evidence for his existence, I would have to question my lack of belief. The universe is how we should expect if it was not designed, but we cannot be certain that it wasn't, as a god could have deliberately intended it to appear as such. However, since there is no evidence for god, nor the flying spaghetti monster, I have every reason to be an atheist.
