Agnostics

[Excited Penguin]

Bennie, do you believe in God, answer with a yes/no, please?

Please spell my name correctly, Exited Pancreas.

Tell me what "God" means to you, and I'll be happy to answer your question.

Let me rephrase, do you believe in any gods? Yes/no, please.

[Whateverist]

No, let me rephrase. Pengy, do you or do you not realize you are acting the imbecile?

[Excited Penguin]

No, let me rephrase.  Pengy, do you or do you not realize you are acting the imbecile?

I think it's a reasonable question to ask whether one believes in any gods or not, in addition to being a perfectly fine yes/no question.

[Excited Penguin]

I don't want to fight with you. I'm merely asking him if he is a theist or an atheist. He can't opt out with agnosticism, it just doesn't work like that, I thought I explained this already. As you people noted yourselves, agnosticism is about knowledge whereas theism and atheism are about belief.

[Edwardo Piet]

I don't believe in any gods, hence I'm an atheist. I'm an agnostic atheist because I don't claim to know there are no gods.

[Excited Penguin]

I don't believe in any gods, hence I'm an atheist. I'm an agnostic atheist because I don't claim to know there are no gods.

Yes, but would you tell us what you think about the "agnostics"?

[robvalue]

It answers a different question.

Knowledge is a subset of belief. The agnostic/gnostic part is to do with your confidence that your belief overlaps with your (correct) knowledge.

A weak atheist is automatically an agnostic because they have no belief that there is, or isn't, a God. No belief, so no claim of knowledge. It only matters when making a positive statement: "I believe there is a god" (theist) or "I believe there isn't a god" (strong atheist). In these cases it becomes relevant whether it's based on agnosticism or gnosticism. Of course, we can never "know" that what we "know" is actually true. So how exactly knowledge is defined is up for debate.

However, the question can still be dismissed out of hand. You can't give a proper answer if you don't understand the question. I might well believe "in God" if it was properly defined. Until I know what I'm being asked, I can't say what my beliefs are about that thing. I can only have beliefs about the question itself: I believe you have no idea what you're describing either, and I believe it's a projection of yourself.

[Edwardo Piet]

I don't believe in any gods, hence I'm an atheist. I'm an agnostic atheist because I don't claim to know there are no gods.

Yes, but would you tell us what you think about the "agnostics"?

Misguided naive pussies.

[robvalue]

With some definitions of knowledge, everyone is an agnostic by simple human limitations.

With others, it's perfectly reasonable to call one's self a gnostic.

Saying what you are doesn't make it true, though. You don't "know" something just because you say you do. You think you know it. Again, depends on definitions. Thinking you know it may be enough.

[bennyboy]

Please spell my name correctly, Exited Pancreas.

Tell me what "God" means to you, and I'll be happy to answer your question.

Let me rephrase, do you believe in any gods? Yes/no, please.

Define any gods, and I'll answer the question.  What is "a god" to you?

If it's an entity that is massively intelligent and lives much longer than a human being does, and could wipe out huge chunks of humanity at a whim, then I think it's definitely possible.  If it's the Christian Skydaddy, I think it's definitely impossible.

Please stop asking poorly defined questions and demanding a yes or no answer.  You don't get to determine the nature of my answer, unless I get to determine the nature of your question.