RE: I'm no longer an anti-theist
September 7, 2022 at 1:14 pm
(This post was last modified: September 7, 2022 at 1:17 pm by Simon Moon.)
(September 5, 2022 at 4:56 pm)Duty Wrote: At work today I met a man who spent his whole childhood in care and later prison, including for murder. He is in his late sixties and his face and demeanour reflect his tragic and tortured life. He did not have to disclose this information to me but clearly felt he trusted me enough to be honest and open. He wears a crucifix around his neck and today I decided the LAST thing I'd want to do is proverbially "snatch that chain from around his neck" - the thought that he is forgiven for the "sins" of his youth/past and that salvation awaits is likely all that keeps him going. There are doubtless 100s of thousands of others like him in the same boat.
My outspoken atheism/anti-theism is a thing of the past. If anybody asks me from now on, my reply will simply be "I'm an agnostic."
Where to start...
Atheism - the disbelief in the existence of gods
Antitheism - the philosophical position that religion should be opposed
Agnosticism - the position that the existence of gods is unknown, and possibly, unknowable
Saying you are an agnostic, does not answer the question for which "I'm an atheist", or "I'm a theist" would be an answer to. In other words, if someone asks you if you believe in a god, and you answer, "I'm an agnostic", you are not answering the question.
The question, "do you believe in a god?", is asking about whether you accept the proposition that a god exists as being true, or do not accept that proposition. It is not asking if you claim to know if a god exists, or not.
Atheism and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive. Most atheists do not claim to know, that gods do not exist. Most atheists are, philosophically, agnostic-atheists. Also, many (honest) theists, are agnostic-theists.
Seems to me, that you are just using the word agnostic, in its colloquial form, as a sort of way to exclude yourself from being labeled an antitheist. To avoid ruffling any feathers.
The bottom line is, if you are currently unconvinced that at least one god exists, you are an atheist, by definition.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
