9.14.2011

Atheist or Agnostic? I'm Both

Atheism and agnosticism remain poorly understood, and confusion continues even among some who call themselves atheists or agnostics. This diagram (source unknown) puts all the pieces together and illustrates that the agnostic-gnostic dimension deals with certainty while the atheist-theist dimension focuses on belief and has nothing to do with certainty.

Agnostic or Atheist

I am an atheist in that I lack belief in god(s). This doesn't have anything to do with certainty, as atheism does not require certainty. I usually identify myself as an agnostic atheist, but that depends on how "god" or "gods" is defined. If a theist defines these terms in such an absurd way that they describe contradictory or incoherent notions, then I might be a gnostic atheist with respect to that god(s) because I'd know that an entity with logically incoherent properties does not exist because such a thing could not exist. Most of the time, however, agnostic atheism fits me better. I don't believe in gods but make no claims about whether they could exist.