(March 15, 2014 at 1:35 pm)whateverist Wrote:(March 15, 2014 at 12:55 pm)jesus_wept Wrote: And this is why the term agnostic is next to useless, it tells us nothing of one's beliefs.
And why would anyone expect a word which has to do with knowledge to be informative of what one believes? Wrong question.
It's not the wrong question. Agnosticism is the wrong answer to whether you believe in god or not.
(March 15, 2014 at 1:35 pm)whateverist Wrote: I am 100% certain that I harbor no beliefs whatsoever in gods. I am also 100% clear that I wouldn't know a god if I tripped on one since these are so poorly defined. So when asked if I know that a god does not exist, I'm going to answer that I am 100% certain that I don't have a fucking clue. It isn't always possible to know what you don't know, but in the case of gods I am 100% certain that I don't know anything about them including whether or not they exist. That makes me altogether agnostic as well thoroughly atheist. There is no contradiction.
I didn't say there was a contradiction between atheism and agnosticism so I'm not sure what your point is. What I'm trying to say is that saying you're agnostic is practically meaningless because you can still believe in god, or not, and claim agnosticism.
I would describe myself as an agnostic atheist if pushed but generally just an atheist. mainly because I think the term agnostic is moot because nobody but the deluded can possibly claim to know for certain. Especially when we get to some of the more vague god concepts like deism.
