I'd almost more say it's like them saying that hair is Important to them, and then asking them what their favourite hairstyle is, just to have them answer that they're pretty sure they don't like bald dudes.
I can sympathize, though. People have a hard time letting go of the idea of spirituality if they were brought up with it. Agnosticism is a stepping stone toward atheism for otherwise rational people.
What irritates me a little about it, although I do understand it, is that it is almost entirely used by atheists to avoid admitting - for whatever reason - that they are atheists. Even though I have met numerous theists who through their own words fit the definition, I have never met a theist who actually calls themselves agnostic. Every person I've met who actually uses the term agnostic has, with a little prodding, ultimately admitted they don't really believe in god(s) even if they are open to the possibility.
And you know, I'm okay with wanting to avoid talking about religion sometimes. But I don't like seeing a word that has a perfectly useful meaning already becoming synonymous with cowardly atheism.
There is an idea going around that atheism represents an extreme of agnosticism. I read a rather lengthy and well-written essay on LJ, a self-proclaimed agnostic bashing atheists because 'nobody can be 100% certain there isn't a god.' Basically saying that atheism was the extreme of agnosticism, which was the only rational, reasonable point of view regarding religion. They went out of their way to say that atheism was just as bad as religious extremism.
For real.
Though the 'cowardly atheism' thing certainly applies, I think it's also kind of a cultural misunderstanding of what atheism actually means.
(Just so you know, I guess the person who wrote the thing got pounced and later admitted to being an atheist. Cosmic justice)
Very true - atheist is suffering the same problem as agnosticism in that it is being misrepresented. Atheism simply means you don't believe a God or gods exist. But it is being used to mean that you believe a God or gods doesn't exist, and while the two overlap, they are different things
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I'd almost more say it's like them saying that hair is Important to them, and then asking them what their favourite hairstyle is, just to have them answer that they're pretty sure they don't like bald dudes.
I can sympathize, though. People have a hard time letting go of the idea of spirituality if they were brought up with it. Agnosticism is a stepping stone toward atheism for otherwise rational people.
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And you know, I'm okay with wanting to avoid talking about religion sometimes. But I don't like seeing a word that has a perfectly useful meaning already becoming synonymous with cowardly atheism.
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For real.
Though the 'cowardly atheism' thing certainly applies, I think it's also kind of a cultural misunderstanding of what atheism actually means.
(Just so you know, I guess the person who wrote the thing got pounced and later admitted to being an atheist. Cosmic justice)
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