AGNOSTICISM

Atheism

The Difference between Atheism and Agnosticism

Many people who adopt the label of agnostic reject the label of atheist — there is a common perception that agnosticism is a more “reasonable” position while atheism is more “dogmatic,” ultimately indistinguishable from theism except in the details. This is not a valid position to adopt because it misrepresents or misunderstands everything involved: atheism, theism, agnosticism, and the nature of belief itself. It also happens to reinforce popular prejudice against atheists.

Atheist Logos

Scarlet Letter American Atheist Affinity Symbol

What is Agnosticism ?

Someone who follows Agnosticism is :“a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as god, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.” The word agnostic is derived from the Greek word "gnosis" used to mean spiritual knowledge with "a" meaning the negation of spiritual knowledge.

The Definition of Agnostic Agnostic – (Agnostos)"Agnostic" comes from the Greek word "agnostos," which, "to not know." An agnostic is to those who don't know for sure whether or not God exists. An agnostic is one who believes that the existence of God is unknown. Agnostics don’t believe in or disbelieve in the existence of God. But many agnostics are "practical atheists," in that they pursue the atheistic lifestyle.

Who started it ?

The term 'agnostic' was created by T. H. Huxley (1825-1895), who took his cue from David Hume and Immanuel Kant.

Strong Agnosticism vs. Weak Agnosticism

“Agnosticism may simply be the state of not knowing whether any gods exist or not, but people can take this position for different reasons and apply it in different ways.”

If someone is a weak agnostic, they state only that they do not know if any gods exist or not.

Strong agnosticism goes just a bit further. If someone is a strong agnostic, they don’t merely claim that they don’t know if any gods exist; instead, they also claim that no one can or does not know if any gods exist. Whereas weak agnosticism is a position that only describes the state of knowledge of one person, strong agnosticism makes a statement about knowledge and reality themselves.

CriticismAgnosticism is criticized from a variety of standpoints. Some religious thinkers see agnosticism as a limitation of the mind's capacity to know reality other than material objects. Some atheists also criticize the use of the term agnosticism as functionally indistinguishable from atheism.

Top 5 Countries of Agnostic/Atheist believers

Country Total countrypopulation (2004)

% Atheist/Agnostic/Nonbeliever in God

Number of Atheist/Agnostics Nonbelievers in god (minimum- maximum)

Sweden 8,986,000 46%- 85% 4,133,560 – 7,638,100

Vietnam 82,690,000 81% 66,978,900

Denmark 5,413,00 43% - 80% 2,327,590 – 4,330,400

Norway 4,575,000 64% - 64% 81,493,120 – 82,766,450

Japan 127,333,000 64% - 65% 81,493,120 – 82,766,450

Atheism

What is atheism?Atheism is simply the position that people take because they don’t believe in god. The word “atheism” is originated from (Atheos) which means without god. The concrete meaning of atheism has varied considerably in history: even the earliest Christians were labeled "atheists" because they denied the existence of the Roman deities.

Maps

Today, about 2.3% of the world's population describes itself as atheist, while a further 11.9% is described as a nonreligious Between 64% and 65% of Japanese are atheists, agnostic, or do not believe in God

The Greeks used "atheism" in three senses:

1. impious or godless

2. without supernatural help

3. not believing in any god or the Greek conception of god.

What is the point of atheism?

1. They don’t need a leader/god

2. They are not a cohesive group, and they don’t need to be organized.

The different atheism symbols

The American Atheists

Here is the symbol that represents the organization of the American Atheists

The American Humanist Association

The American Humanists Association uses the humanized letter "H":

This is a brand name for their organization.

Humanism is a variety of atheism, it is a subset of atheism and does not represent the views of all atheists.

American Atheists Magazine use similar symbols, all "anti-" in their tone.

A very popular symbol that many atheists use is the DARWIN Amphibian, a spoof on the JESUS fish:

American atheist magazine use similar symbols, which are all “anti” in their tone.

Symbols

Atheist believe that their symbol should simply represent there own individual point of view. They need something similar to what activist groups use. For example like what the AFA (Anti-Fascist Action) use or how feminists use Lilith as a symbol.

Atheism is basically the belief that there is no higher power.

Atheists believe in the absence of god.

The first “Atheists” were believed to be existent in the 18th century.

Atheism isn't a religion as much as it is a belief. It isn't like the other religions known to humans like Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. Even though it isn't a religion, atheists manage to deliver their thoughts and opinions on other religions and they also try to figure out why God doesn't exist instead of trying to find out if he does.

Atheists also promote that Angels, demons, monsters, ghost and others, are non-existent.

Some do not approve of atheism due to the fact that Atheists have nothing to look forward to when they die compared to a religious believer that expects going to paradise and dies happily. It is also discriminated for not being a continuous state of thought following the American Patriotism that most Americans believe in.

Some Buddhists are even Atheists that do not believe in God. However they do believe in many other various concepts, such as : peace, respect and good will.

Citations

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/agnostichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_agnosticshttp://atheism.about.com/od/aboutagnosticism/a/strong_weak.htm

 http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutagnosticism/a/atheism.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism#Types_of_agnosticismhttp://www.skepdic.com/agnosticism.htmlhttp://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism#In_Greek_philosophy

http://www.skepdic.com/agnosticism.html

Citations

http://www.atheists.org/  

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&q=atheism&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1263&bih=549 

http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml9860.htm

 http://mapscroll.blogspot.com/2009/04/atheist-map-of-uk.html

 http://www.religioustolerance.org/atheist.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism