(September 20, 2014 at 5:02 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: They also seem to think agnosticism is some sort of happy middle ground between theism (belief) and atheism (disbelief).
Belief is the psychological state in which one accepts a proposition to be true. Either you accept the proposition that a god exists (theism), or you don't accept the proposition that a god exists (atheism). There is no middle ground.
I am against forcing labels on people, but if you currently do not actively accept the proposition that at least one god exists is true, by definition, you are an atheist.
^Yep, very much this.^
It is fine and good to say, as I will myself sometimes, that deciding what to believe regarding gods is just not a high enough priority to bother with at this time. But, in truth, I really don't believe in fanciful things which other people claim in the absence of any clear idea of what it is they believe in or any reason why I should too. So I'm definitely an atheist, if only a provisional one.
Our new member definitely has the idea that she is maintaining neutrality in the absence of any evidence for gnostic theism or (gnostic) atheism. What she fails to recognize is that atheism is not a counter claim, it is simply the rejection of the prior claim for theism.
Aack.