Areligious, agnostic, atheist all mean not believing in God

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting an “a” at the beginning of any word makes it negative. E.g., symptomatic means having symptoms and asymptomatic means not having symptoms. Thus areligious means not being religious, agnostic means not knowing and atheist means not being a theist (a person who believes in God).

In common usage, they may seem distinct from each other, or seem like a progression towards non-belief, but they’re really not. Think about it: If you’re areligious (not religious) or agnostic (not knowing – no one knows, really), then you don’t believe in God – in other words, you’re an atheist.

There can be a progression to non-belief, with atheism as the end point. Still, it seems to me that people are born as potential believers or non-believers – just as some people are born musically talented and others aren’t.

In some cases,
1. Religion didn’t make any sense to people, even when they were children;
2. Other people are open to believing in the supernatural and to accepting religion;
3. Others reject religion as they get older and think about it and/or study it more.

I’m #3. What about you?

None of the above.

What are you, then?

DP
Define God and define religion. Then I can tell you what I am.

DP
Can God be defined with words - a man made construct? I don't think so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you are wrong.

I am areligious and I believe in God.

Then you are wrong. You may not belong to a particular religious group, but you are religious if you believe in God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting an “a” at the beginning of any word makes it negative. E.g., symptomatic means having symptoms and asymptomatic means not having symptoms. Thus areligious means not being religious, agnostic means not knowing and atheist means not being a theist (a person who believes in God).

In common usage, they may seem distinct from each other, or seem like a progression towards non-belief, but they’re really not. Think about it: If you’re areligious (not religious) or agnostic (not knowing – no one knows, really), then you don’t believe in God – in other words, you’re an atheist.

There can be a progression to non-belief, with atheism as the end point. Still, it seems to me that people are born as potential believers or non-believers – just as some people are born musically talented and others aren’t.

In some cases,
1. Religion didn’t make any sense to people, even when they were children;
2. Other people are open to believing in the supernatural and to accepting religion;
3. Others reject religion as they get older and think about it and/or study it more.

I’m #3. What about you?

None of the above.

What are you, then?

DP
Define God and define religion. Then I can tell you what I am.

DP
Can God be defined with words - a man made construct? I don't think so.

God is canonically ineffable. I prefer my gods eff-able.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:May God bless you and protect you and show you the way back to Him. Amen.

Amen 🙏

platitudes are easy.

Agree. I think people say stuff like this out of fear. I pity them; what a difficult way to live. And I believe God is real. But saying a platitude prayer for a stranger accomplishes nothing except navel gazing, which I'm not sure God would look favorably on - but who am I to say? She talks to me in my deepest moments. I assume she does this with others too, so it's up to them to believe or not. It's not up to me to have a relationship for them.

You see pretty sure God is a woman. Kinda kinky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gnosticism refers to knowing. The opposite of knowing is not knowing. As an agnostic I don’t know if there is a higher power, and if there is I don’t know how it manifests. Some agnostics, like me, also believe that it is impossible to know.

That not knowing is different from atheism. Theism is the belief in God or gods. The opposite of that is the belief that there are no gods. That is completely different from agnosticism.

Someone who is areligious is someone who doesn’t follow an organized religious tradition. You can believe in a higher power and be areligious. You can also be like me and participate in an organized religion even though you are agnostic or even atheist.

This is great. Thank you PP.

Except pp is not quite right. Atheism is simply not believing in god or gods and not celebrating God in any way. No one knows for sure that there are no Gods. Some atheists - and agnostics too - might sincerely think that there are no gods, but they don't know because God - like Santa Claus - is invisible. We now know that God, if there is one, does not live in heaven, because we've been to heaven, in space ships, and we know there's no air up there.

Atheism is not "completely different" from agnosticism, as said above. They do have different meanings, though. Agnosticism means not knowing and atheism means not being a theist (not believing in God) Atheists, if they think about it, will identify as agnostic atheists, because they neither know nor believe. No one knows - some people believe, though.

No one ever said heaven is just above the stratosphere.

If God created the sun, moon and stars, that's not where God lives, unless God hired a heck of a moving company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting an “a” at the beginning of any word makes it negative. E.g., symptomatic means having symptoms and asymptomatic means not having symptoms. Thus areligious means not being religious, agnostic means not knowing and atheist means not being a theist (a person who believes in God).

In common usage, they may seem distinct from each other, or seem like a progression towards non-belief, but they’re really not. Think about it: If you’re areligious (not religious) or agnostic (not knowing – no one knows, really), then you don’t believe in God – in other words, you’re an atheist.

There can be a progression to non-belief, with atheism as the end point. Still, it seems to me that people are born as potential believers or non-believers – just as some people are born musically talented and others aren’t.

In some cases,
1. Religion didn’t make any sense to people, even when they were children;
2. Other people are open to believing in the supernatural and to accepting religion;
3. Others reject religion as they get older and think about it and/or study it more.

I’m #3. What about you?

None of the above.

What are you, then?

DP
Define God and define religion. Then I can tell you what I am.

Not really -- you're just being demanding. Please tell us what you think you are from a religious point of view.

PP is agnostic. Not knowing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting an “a” at the beginning of any word makes it negative. E.g., symptomatic means having symptoms and asymptomatic means not having symptoms. Thus areligious means not being religious, agnostic means not knowing and atheist means not being a theist (a person who believes in God).

In common usage, they may seem distinct from each other, or seem like a progression towards non-belief, but they’re really not. Think about it: If you’re areligious (not religious) or agnostic (not knowing – no one knows, really), then you don’t believe in God – in other words, you’re an atheist.

There can be a progression to non-belief, with atheism as the end point. Still, it seems to me that people are born as potential believers or non-believers – just as some people are born musically talented and others aren’t.

In some cases,
1. Religion didn’t make any sense to people, even when they were children;
2. Other people are open to believing in the supernatural and to accepting religion;
3. Others reject religion as they get older and think about it and/or study it more.

I’m #3. What about you?

None of the above.

What are you, then?

DP
Define God and define religion. Then I can tell you what I am.

Not really -- you're just being demanding. Please tell us what you think you are from a religious point of view.

PP is agnostic. Not knowing.

No one knows, really. Some believe, some don't

[Anonymous]

Someone needs a dictionary.

[Anonymous]

My religion does not rely on a supernatural being. I am religious but I do not believe in a god.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My religion does not rely on a supernatural being. I am religious but I do not believe in a god.

What is your religion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting an “a” at the beginning of any word makes it negative. E.g., symptomatic means having symptoms and asymptomatic means not having symptoms. Thus areligious means not being religious, agnostic means not knowing and atheist means not being a theist (a person who believes in God).

In common usage, they may seem distinct from each other, or seem like a progression towards non-belief, but they’re really not. Think about it: If you’re areligious (not religious) or agnostic (not knowing – no one knows, really), then you don’t believe in God – in other words, you’re an atheist.

There can be a progression to non-belief, with atheism as the end point. Still, it seems to me that people are born as potential believers or non-believers – just as some people are born musically talented and others aren’t.

In some cases,
1. Religion didn’t make any sense to people, even when they were children;
2. Other people are open to believing in the supernatural and to accepting religion;
3. Others reject religion as they get older and think about it and/or study it more.

I’m #3. What about you?

None of the above.

What are you, then?

DP
Define God and define religion. Then I can tell you what I am.

DP
Can God be defined with words - a man made construct? I don't think so.

God is canonically ineffable. I prefer my gods eff-able.

So we're all "Effed"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:May God bless you and protect you and show you the way back to Him. Amen.

Amen 🙏

platitudes are easy.

Agree. I think people say stuff like this out of fear. I pity them; what a difficult way to live. And I believe God is real. But saying a platitude prayer for a stranger accomplishes nothing except navel gazing, which I'm not sure God would look favorably on - but who am I to say? She talks to me in my deepest moments. I assume she does this with others too, so it's up to them to believe or not. It's not up to me to have a relationship for them.

You see pretty sure God is a woman. Kinda kinky.

Why are you a sexist? Why do you assume God is not a woman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:May God bless you and protect you and show you the way back to Him. Amen.

Amen 🙏

platitudes are easy.

Agree. I think people say stuff like this out of fear. I pity them; what a difficult way to live. And I believe God is real. But saying a platitude prayer for a stranger accomplishes nothing except navel gazing, which I'm not sure God would look favorably on - but who am I to say? She talks to me in my deepest moments. I assume she does this with others too, so it's up to them to believe or not. It's not up to me to have a relationship for them.

You see pretty sure God is a woman. Kinda kinky.

Why are you a sexist? Why do you assume God is not a woman?

Why would God have a gender at all? It's not like it has to engage in sexual reproduction.

[Anonymous]

I don't participate in organized religion or belong to a church. I pray. Believe in a Higher Power that I call God.
I don't think I am areligious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My religion does not rely on a supernatural being. I am religious but I do not believe in a god.

What is your religion?

One of the ones previously mentioned as not having a god.