what is the difference between atheist and agnostic?
544005
The atheist believes there is no god. ("God does not exist." / "There is no God.")\nThe agnostic believes that one cannot prove whether God exists or does not exist. ("We can't know if God exists or not.")\n\nThe dictionary says this about agnosticism   \n         1. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.\n         2. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.\n   2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.\n\nI followed definition 1. I guess uncertainty falls under definition 2.\n\nSUMMARY:\nATHEIST -- "THERE IS NO GOD."\nAGNOSTIC -- 2 KINDS: \nA. "WE CAN'T KNOW IF GOD EXISTS OR NOT." (THIS IS MORE DEFINITE. THERE IS CERTAINTY. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW.)\nB. "I'M NOT SURE IF GOD EXISTS. I'M NOT SURE IF GOD DOESN'T EXIST." (THIS IS REALLY UNCERTAIN.)
168223
How do you do? I'm an agnostic.
413424
The terms come from Greek.\nGnosticism is a historical term for various mystical initiatory religions, sects and knowledge schools which were most active in the first few centuries. These systems typically recommend the pursuit of mysticism or "special knowledge" (gnosis) as the central goal of life. \n\nthe "a-" prefix in Greek means the negative/un-/not \n\nA-gnostics were opposed to this...as such that includes Christianity.\n\nTheists, believers in a god (not necessarily the Christian God), have only this in common.  \n\nA-theists, only reject the one proposition, ie that God exists.  Atheists aren't all necessarily rational, ethical, logical, or anything else. \n\nGeneralizations and assumptions about all theists are just as invalid and unwarranted as generalizations and assumptions about all atheists.
801933
Sigh...this is the sort of thing that makes me twitch.  Okay, here goes:\n\nAn atheist believes that there is a logical contradiction inherent in the idea of a/the God.  Because it is otherwise impossible to prove that something doesn't exist (for example, try to prove that there is now or never was any such thing as a unicorn), atheists hold that the idea of God is logically impossible.  Atheism is usually opposed to the traditional omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent God of monotheists.  In other words, atheists find it impossible to believe that a being can be all-knowing, all-powerful and all good at the same time.  They usually cite something like the problem of pain.  (If God is all-good and all-powerful, how can He let bad things happen?)\n\nI realize that there are atheists that are complete materialists and reject the idea of anything that can't be perceived through the senses.  However, usual usage of the term "atheist" is one who doesn't believe in the Christian/Muslim/Jewish God.  (Let's be honest:  how often do you see atheists and Hindus duking it out?)\n\nAs for agnostics, there are two kinds:  1) those who think that it is impossible to know if God exists and 2) those who think it is possible, but aren't convinced one way or the other.\n\nHere is an example to clarify.  You're walking down the road, and a big light from the sky suddenly shines on you.  You hear your name and are told to repent.  Would you acknowledge the possibility that you had just witnessed a miracle, or would you immediately assume that you've done one too many acid trips?\n\nThe 2) kind of agnostic would believe that it is possible and that it might even be the proof they were looking for.  The 1) kind of agnostic would lay off the drugs for a while; he doesn't believe that a God, even if He/She/It exists, can interfere in such a way in human affairs.\n\nI realize that this might not be the simple answer you were looking for.\n\nThe quick answer is that atheists say no and that agnostics say maybe.\n\nSome agnostics are convinceable, and some are not.
1174781
No, once you start believing in a god, you stop being an atheist. Knowing that god doesn't exist is the definition of atheism. An atheist could still have a religion, though. Buddhists, for example. An atheist might believe in other supernatural things, besides god. Usually not, though. Atheists don't think that religion doesn't exist, if that's what you mean. That would be stupid. I'm perfectly aware of the existance of religion, I just find it pointless.
1033165
An atheist doesn't believe in a deity. An agnostic doubts the existence of a deity. A deist, on the other hand, believes them both to be wrong. It's beginning to sound like a 'shell game' doesn't it?
216267
Atheism, in its broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of gods. This definition includes both those who assert that there are no gods, and those who make no claim about whether gods exist or not. Narrower definitions, however, often only qualify those who assert there are no gods as atheists, labelling the others as agnostics or simply non-theists.
884494
I think you may have your terms a little off.  \n\nAn agnostic is someone who feels that the belief in a diety cannot be proven therefore his or her own belief is one of ambivalence. They don't necessarily have faith, but they don't necessarily deny God's existence either.  They are simply saying they don't know.  \n\nA person who has a belief in a diety, but feeling the existence of that diety, or it's characteristics is unknowable would be a mystic.
290226
Theist comes from the greek word theos meaning 'God' and Gnostic comes from the greek word gnosis,which means knowledge.An 'a' in front of the word means 'without', so an atheist is without god and an agnostic is without knowledge (of God).
132811
The ones who fight to disprove God are anti-thiests.  In my liftime, I have only met a handful of actual athiests, but an enormous amount of anti-thiests who call themselves athiests.\n\nThe operating word in the definition is belief.  If you truly believe something, you act on it accordingly.  If you truly believe the roof you are sitting under is about to fall down, then you'll move.  Genuine athiests truly don't believe that there is a God, and won't waste much time talking for or againt Him.\n\nOn the other hand, anti-thiests don't want anybody to believe in any kind of higher being, and work fervently to achieve that goal.  In my experience, most anti-thiests once believed in God, but something happened in their lives which they blame God for, and thus the fervor.\n\nto zilker: Technically, anyone who does not have a belief in God is an AGNOSTIC. An atheist believes that there is no God.\nEveryone is actually AGNOSTIC by default until they develope or reject a belief in a God. \n\nto My Big Bear Ron: Maybe there are no athiests 'knocking on doors', but I guarantee there are no Christians in court rooms trying to suppress the athiests' (or more accurately, anti-thiests') right to believe what he wants to believe.
328040
Being an atheist means one more thing (or, depending on how you look at it, thousands) you won't have to fool yourself about.  Because now, all you have to do is deal with concrete evidence, and the implications of that evidence.  It takes a lot of effort to maintain an honest religious mindset, and as an atheist, you've got a little more brain energy to devote to making real sense of things.
43803
Atheists are usually people who center themselves completely in reality and to the laws of science. They don't believe in the devil (technically there isn't really a religion of "satan/satanism") but they just don't have a belief system. They might believe there are powers around them or powers higher than them, but most likely, these are people who are mainly focused only in the world of logic they see in front of their eyes. \nThey might give a harsh response if you were to ask them if they believe in god and why they don't believe in a god; but then, how would you feel if someone asked you something and tried to convert you into something you really didn't believe? You can't just think that Christianity/Catholic is the only religion out there and that everyone should experience it.
95723
Agnosticism is a doubt that there is enough evidence to prove the existence of god one way or the other.  There are both atheistic and theistic agnostics.  The atheistic agnostics believe there is no conclusive evidence, but lean towards atheist conclusions; theistic agnostics also do not think there is conclusive evidence, but lean towards there being a god, just an unknowable one.  A common criticism of agnosticism in general is that by avoiding a choice, you are still choosing, in effect choosing atheism.
498296
It's not agnostic. Agnostic means you believe there is no proof of the existence or absence of God. It is simply a way of saying you choose not to choose. In other words, an agnostic draws NO conclusions on a spiritual level. An agnostic truly has an open mind.\n\nThe belief in an undefined higher power is simply your personal sense of spirituality. Your own brand of religion if you will. Anyway, thinking for yourself and living by your own moral code is definitely the healthier and far more intelligent alternative to pre-packaged organized religion (like Christianity).
440196
Atheist - about 2 to 3 %. Agnostic, 11 to 12%. Type "world religion population" into Yahoo search engine. Pretty much evey site agrees with these figures. One link can be found below.
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Someone who is against religion is called "unreligious" or "irreligious". An antitheist COULD refer to someone who is against religion.\n\nAn agnostic is someone who neither believes in any specific deity, nor denies any specific deity's existence. Agnostics are neutral or undecided in terms of religion.\n\nSomeone who is jaded is void of emotion or is incapable of love.\n\nNon-denominational is a type of Christian that does not conform to an organized denomination of the Christian faith (i.e. Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, Baptist, etc.), and interprets the Bible individually as he/she feels the Bible is supposed to be interpreted.\n\nSomeone who is anticlerical is someone who opposes the influence of religion in political affairs, and supports the separation of church and state.\n\nA materialist is a philosophical term that can be coined as someone who is similar to an Atheist's view of religion, or it can refer to someone who believes physical well-being and material possessions are the greatest good and of the highest value in life.\n\nAn apostate can refer to anyone who has abandoned their religion, or their their political party, or principles, or a cause.
853325
That all depends.\n\nAn agnostic believes theres some greater force out there, but cant put a name to it, an Athiest believes that physics and science is all there is. That when you die you cease to be. Wicca is it's own religon (or can be described as a group of diffrent faiths if you're not reffering to Wicca as the Brittish Wiccans) If you believe in many gods or one god interpreted as many gods, and that god is nature, then I'd say wicca, or pagan. \n\nTruth be told, spiritual but not religous sounds more agnostic to me. You know theres a higher power, but you dont wrap that Higher power in archaic customs and hokey religons