I'm of the opinion that anyone, atheist or theist, that doesn't have just a little agnostic in him/her is a total idiot. Or a lunatic. Or both.
Here's why:
An atheist that says he/she doesn't just not believe in God/s, but KNOWS there is no God/s is basically saying he/she knows everything. Why? Because they're saying that there is no room for there to be a God in all the things they don't know.
A theist that says he/she doesn't just believe in God/s, but KNOWS there is a/multiple God/s is probably either lying, (again) an idiot or insane, because there is no way they can prove that God/s exists. And if they say they know because they've experienced God/s, then how are they to know that they didn't mistake something else for God/s, or that they aren't just insane?
I'm saying this as a theist, and one that believes very, very strongly. But I also know there's room to be wrong.
But that's actually not an answer to the opening post. The answer is: yes, you can just not know. It's usually an in-between stage when going from theism to atheism or vice versa. Not everyone goes through it, and not everyone that does makes the full transition. But many do. And some never leave it. I used to date a girl that honestly didn't know whether she believed in God or not. Sometimes she felt like she did, sometimes she felt like she didn't. She would be described as an agnostic. Our relationship didn't last long enough for me to find out what, or if, she was transitioning to. But she was definitely agnostic while we dated. And I went through a period of pure agnosticism as well, while I was doing some major soul searching after leaving the Christian church. I didn't end up transitioning to atheism, and I eventually decided that I really did believe, in part due to my learning (well, re-learning) of the Baha'i Faith.
So yes, it is possible to just be an agnostic without being a theist or an atheist. It's just not normal for it to last a long time. But, that doesn't mean it never does.
Here's why:
An atheist that says he/she doesn't just not believe in God/s, but KNOWS there is no God/s is basically saying he/she knows everything. Why? Because they're saying that there is no room for there to be a God in all the things they don't know.
A theist that says he/she doesn't just believe in God/s, but KNOWS there is a/multiple God/s is probably either lying, (again) an idiot or insane, because there is no way they can prove that God/s exists. And if they say they know because they've experienced God/s, then how are they to know that they didn't mistake something else for God/s, or that they aren't just insane?
I'm saying this as a theist, and one that believes very, very strongly. But I also know there's room to be wrong.
But that's actually not an answer to the opening post. The answer is: yes, you can just not know. It's usually an in-between stage when going from theism to atheism or vice versa. Not everyone goes through it, and not everyone that does makes the full transition. But many do. And some never leave it. I used to date a girl that honestly didn't know whether she believed in God or not. Sometimes she felt like she did, sometimes she felt like she didn't. She would be described as an agnostic. Our relationship didn't last long enough for me to find out what, or if, she was transitioning to. But she was definitely agnostic while we dated. And I went through a period of pure agnosticism as well, while I was doing some major soul searching after leaving the Christian church. I didn't end up transitioning to atheism, and I eventually decided that I really did believe, in part due to my learning (well, re-learning) of the Baha'i Faith.
So yes, it is possible to just be an agnostic without being a theist or an atheist. It's just not normal for it to last a long time. But, that doesn't mean it never does.
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