The Atheist Blogger

It seems that there are more people confused about what agnosticism means than what atheism means, and I’d like to take the chance to explain what it is, as well as dispel some common misconceptions.

Just like atheism and theism are different sides of the same coin (the belief in God coin), agnosticism and gnosticism are different sides of the same coin (the “knowability” of belief). If you have a belief in anything, you are either gnostic or agnostic about that belief.

Misconception: Agnosticism relates directly to belief in God

Whilst the modern use of the word “agnostic” is usually attributed to people who say they are “unsure” of the existence of God, it is neither a good usage of the word, nor a “direct” usage. If you are truly agnostic, you have to claim that everything is unknowable, right down to simple proofs like “1 + 1 = 2″, or “Humans need oxygen to breathe”. Such a view is rather silly, and I challenge any true agnostics to give up oxygen for a day or two and see how they feel about it afterwards.

I’d wager that everyone in the world is a gnostic “oxygenicist”. We don’t need to question the validity of the claim that oxygen is needed. It’s a known fact.

Personally speaking, I would further classify myself as a gnostic “gravitationalist” since the theory of Gravity is probably not going to be disproven. It’s a sound theory, and much better than anything flat earth theorists can come up with.

Misconception: Agnostics neither believe or disbelieve in God

Firstly, it is impossible for the above to occur; belief in God is a yes or no matter. When I was young (and we are talking pre double figures) there was a funny saying we had: “Yes means yes, no means no, and maybe means no”. It was related to the answer your mother would give you if you asked for something. If she said “yes”, the chances are you would get it, and likewise a “no” would get you nothing. A “maybe” was interpretted as a “no” wrapped in false hope. If your mum said maybe, she meant no.

The same rough principle can be applied to belief in God. If you ask person whether or not they believe in God, a “yes” means they are theist, a “no” means they are atheist, and a “maybe” (more commonly a “I’m not sure”) can be interpretted as a no. I may not be correct 100% of the time, but I have met more than enough professed “agnostics” to know that they no more believe in God than I do.

What we really have to understand is the concept of agnosticism in relation to belief in God.

There are 4 main positions on belief in God:

Both agnostic positions are rational, whilst the gnostic are irrational. Claiming absolute knowledge of a God is ridiculous, since neither way can be irrefutably proved. The only rational positions are those of agnosticism.

On Dawkins’ scale of belief in God, 1 being “knowledge of God” (Gnostic Theist) and 7 being “knowledge of no God” (Gnostic Atheist), Agnostic Theism comes in at 2.5, and Agnostic Atheism comes in at 5.5, which is where I place myself on the scale. I think Dawkins is rather silly to claim that he is rational and yet rate himself a “6.9″.

In reality, a rating of 4 (halfway) can never be achieved, unless we attribute it to deism which can be viewed as a true halfway point between theism and atheism. Deists believe that there is a God who initially created the universe, but has no further control over it, and does not meddle with humans or the natural laws. They reject religious literature, and argue that our ability to reason is our greatest attribute.