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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are a lot of atheists on this forum.

Why are you an atheist? How can you be definitively sure that God doesn't exist?[/quote]

When I studied religious history on my own (i.e. long after sunday school, where you're just fed what your particular religion wants you to believe), I realized there was nothing to believe. -- it was all stories - some useful, some horrible, but all just stories - then surrounded by dogma and doctrine that were also very obviously invented by humans.

As for the existence of god -- others here have explained it well.  I would add that the gods of religion (vs the pantheist god of the universe) are particularly easy not to believe in - such incredible stories, so obviously man-made.

regarding being "definitely sure" about god's non-existence, I suspect religious people, possibly clergy, got the lie started that atheists are definitely sure, because it makes us seem silly and unreasonable and easy to write off.

[b]And atheist/agnostic -- well, as evidenced here, there are several different usages of the word.  People have sort of made up their own meanings, I think, in the absence of much public discussion about the terms.  I've seen several varieties of agnostics:

1) not sure - they may become atheist when they feel more comfortable with not believing or when they get some piece of information that helps them feel more convinced about the absence of gods.

2) it's a personal thing - they prefer the word agnostic over the word  atheist - to each his own.  I've known agnostics, who later call themselves atheists -- nothing about their beliefs has changed.  They just feel OK with the word atheist in a way they did not before.
[/b]
Personally, I went from believer to atheist, based on information that to me made belief no longer possible.  [/quote]

Neither definition is correct.  And there is a definition of agnostic.  Agnosticism is the belief that the existence/nonexistence of god is essentially unknowable.  you can believe in god or not believe in god and be agnostic.  It means that whether or not you believe, it is just that a BELIEF, not knowledge, because it is impossible to know if a "god" exists or not because there really is no way to confirm/prove either position.  Claims for or against the existence of a god cannot be tested, proven, demonstrated.  Period.

The problem is that so many people use the term in the wrong way.  Agnostic doesn't mean you "aren't sure" and it doesn't mean you aren't comfortable with the word "atheist."  It is a distinct philosophical position about whether humans can know and prove the existence of a god(s).

The whole arguing over proof for or against the existence of a god(s) is useless.  An agnostic can be an agnostic theist or agnostic atheist.  But agnostic theists recognize that they CANNOT have knowledge (provable knowledge, knowledge claims that can be proven false or true) about the existence of god.

The people you claim were agnostics weren't actually agnostics, but they didn't know what the word means.

I would also like to say that agnostic doesn't mean that you are waiting for more proof.  It means you don't believe there can be "proof" one way or the other about god, that it is unknowable.

I really wish people would get this straight or just not use the word.  People use philosophical labels incorrectly all of the time.  They'd be better off just saying they don't know what they are or they are unsure what they are.  [/quote]

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