Neil Degrass Tyson is Agnostic

[Simon Moon]

Wait... what? That is the definition of "atheist".

Whether one likes the word or not, if he or she lacks a belief in deities, he or she is an atheist.

Correct.

This is not rocket surgery.

If one does not currently have an active belief that gods exist, they are an atheist. If they start believing a god or gods exist sometime in the future, they will then be a theist.

They can avoid the word all they want, doesn't change a thing.

[CleanShavenJesus]

I have always viewed agnostics as fence sitters, individuals too wimpy to identify one way or the other.

If anything, being an agnostic atheist is the most logical stance on the issue. If you can't be positive there is a god then you cannot be positive there isn't. By being an absolutely sure atheist, you're making the same mistake a theist is making. You don't know there's no god. You're just pretty sure.

I'm pretty sure. That's why I identify as agnostic.

[bladevalant546]

Well my stance is we cannot fully know if there is a deity or not because our level of knowledge and technology is not advanced enough to tell us. However, more i learn more unlikely there is atleast a diety that is active.

[Simon Moon]

Well my stance is we cannot fully know if there is a deity or not because our level of knowledge and technology is not advanced enough to tell us. However, more i learn more unlikely there is atleast a diety that is active.

Your first sentence would define you as agnostic.

Your second, as an atheist.

They are not mutually exclusive.

[CleanShavenJesus]

Well my stance is we cannot fully know if there is a deity or not because our level of knowledge and technology is not advanced enough to tell us. However, more i learn more unlikely there is atleast a diety that is active.

Your first sentence would define you as agnostic.

Your second, as an atheist.

They are not mutually exclusive.

[Simon Moon]

Yes, that diagram is a more concise way of explaining it.

Thanks for posting.

[bladevalant546]

Yea this secular thinking still working its way through. Thanka for the diagram, so what I am taking from yall is that agnostic is more of the mental process concerning the subject of god. By process i mean the description of how you view the concept of god, while the atheist term is to deacribe your passive stance pertaining to god himself and your over arching relationship with the thought.

[rexbeccarox]

It's this simple:

Gnosticism/ Agnoticism have to do with knowledge.

Theism/ Atheism have to do with belief.

[Simon Moon]

Yea this secular thinking still working its way through. Thanka for the diagram, so what I am taking from yall is that agnostic is more of the mental process concerning the subject of god. By process i mean the description of how you view the concept of god, while the atheist term is to deacribe your passive stance pertaining to god himself and your over arching relationship with the thought.

Yeah, you are making this way more complex that it has to be.

agnostic atheist - I don't claim to know if a god exists, but I do not believe one does.

agnostic theist - I do not claim to know if a god exists, but I believe one does.

gnostic atheist - I claim to know that a god does not exist, therefore I do not believe.

gnostic theist - I claim to know that a god does exist, therefore I believe.

[Zone]

The way I see it you're either a member of a particular faith or you're not. Whatever you want to call yourself if you don't have/practice a religion it still amounts to the same thing.