Atheism vs. Agnosticism

Now Playing: Turning Tables (Live at the Royal Albert Hall) by Adele (I won't let you close enough to hurt me, I won't rescue you to just desert me)

I've said before that the problem I have with agnosticism is that it seems kind of like half-hearted. Cheating, almost - like you're trying to have the best of both worlds. Like you don't believe there is a man in the clouds face palming himself every time you jerk off but you don't have the guts to say so. Some people use the word 'agnostic' to reject the stigma associated with ATHEISM...which actually isn't all that scary. I've been openly atheist since I was about eight years old.

If nerdy shy eight year old me can do it, so can you!

But I've often found it hard to explain to people the difference between agnosticism and atheism.

With the help of Laci Green, here is my most recent attempt:

Agnosticism isn't a halfway house between 'religion' and 'fuck it'. It isn't even a belief!

Let me explain.

There are two types of religious belief - theism, or the belief in the existence of a deity or multiple deities, and atheism, or the rejection of belief in the existence of a deity or multiple deities. No matter how you cut it, you can only ever fall into these two categories.

Agnosticism means 'without knowledge' - gnosticism meaning 'knowledge'. Therefore, agnostic atheism is the rejection of the belief in the existence of a deity or multiple deities because there is no proof that a deity exists. Agnostic theism is the belief in the existence of a deity or multiple deities because there is not proof that a deity doesn't exist. Conversely, gnostic atheism is the rejection of the belief in the existence of a deity or multiple deities because of the positive knowledge (however this is sourced) that a deity doesn't exist, and gnostic theism is the belief in the existence of a deity or multiple deities because of the positive knowledge that a deity does exist.

Have I confused you yet?

So basically I am a gnostic atheist in that I believe that there is no God. My friends who are 'agnostic' are actually 'agnostic atheists' because they don't believe they have the knowledge to prove that there is a God. Similarly, my religious friends are divided into the 'agnostic', who tell me that 'THERE'S NO PROOF THERE IS NO GOD' (last time I checked just because you can't prove something doesn't exist doesn't mean it does, but whatever) or 'gnostic' and say 'THERE IS TOTALLY A GOD I HAD THIS OUT OF BODY/WHITE LIGHT/HOLY SPIRIT EXPERIENCE'.

So yeah.

What are you?