What Are Some Reasons Why Atheism Is The Better Or More Reasonable View Than Agnosticism?

[Evan2020]

Anyone on AB who is an atheist, I am interested to know what are some reasons why you see atheist as preferable, better or more reasonable position than agnostic? I am currently deciding if I am still a believer or going to atheist or agnostic, and I know the obvious defense of the agnostic position which is we can’t know for sure so why make a strong assertion either way, so I would like to know more about the side defending the atheist position against the agnostic position.

[roadman]

I believe atheists are a bit arrogant it is perfectly acceptable to sometimes say we dont know and are probably unable to know but atheists must deny deny deny it is very close minded

[AuntPG]

I've always thought Agnostics are closed mined, like they say 'no!, God does not exist' with no room to debate, while Atheists seem to want to prove their views with science, so will preach to you with their scientific explanations.

[THECORBYLOON]

Surely atheists do not believe in God or gods whilst agnostics believe there is no evidence there is or is not a God or gods?

[Mozz71]

I consider myself agnostic. I find the possibility of an all powerful creator to be utterly absurd, but sometimes the seemingly ridiculous does happen. I'm not arrogant or closed minded enough to completely disregard the chance of it being so in this case, I just need more proof than the words in an old book.

[roadman]

exactly the corby loon its much more open minded

[naomi24]

The true meaning of the word 'Agnostic' is that the nature of God is unknown and cannot be known, so in that sense an Agnostic is a believer of sorts. That said, an Agnostic is now assumed to be a 'don't know' which still suggest a modicum of 'belief'.

'Why make a strong assertion either way?'

Until such time as tangible evidence is available, why not? I don’t believe in fairies either - but if someone comes up with definitive evidence of their existence I promise will change my mind.

Frankly, the only reason the Abrahamic God is the focus of western attention is because that is what our culture teaches. Had we been born into a different culture we'd likely have considered other Gods miraculous creators and Jehovah/Elohim/Allah/God - whatever you want to call him - to be a non-starter, relegating him to the realms of mythology along with the Greek, Roman , Egyptian and Aztec Gods.

[andy-hughes]

My atheism is based entirely on what I see when I look around me.

You don't have to look very hard at all to see utterly horrible things happening to utterly undeserving people.

No 'loving' God, especially one who expects blind devotion and adoration something he has created, could possibly allow such awful things to go on.

I know Christians talk about 'free will', but as far as I am concerned, that is God's 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card - make it all Mankind's fault, and you can explain away anything and everything - and they do.

[ToraToraTora]

you seem to think atheism is a belief, it is the absence of belief in all the different brands of religion.

[ToraToraTora]

roadman: "I believe atheists are a bit arrogant it is perfectly acceptable to sometimes say we dont know and are probably unable to know but atheists must deny deny deny it is very close minded" - not true we simply require verifiable hypotheses. We accept there are many things that we do not understand but that does not make us believe there is some form of omnipotent entity controlling it, it simply means that it remains to be explained.

[ToraToraTora]

Basically all the theists are almost athiests anyway. There are thousands of deities in different religions all over the world. Their followers will tell you that there's is the true god(s) and all the others are false. Therefore they don't believe in only slightly less than the amount of gods that I don't believe in.

[andy-hughes]

roadman - // I believe atheists are a bit arrogant it is perfectly acceptable to sometimes say we dont know and are probably unable to know but atheists must deny deny deny it is very close minded //

I find that position a supreme irony, given the default position of the fervent Christian - "I've got something, you need it, and you will always be a lesser person than me until you view God as I do."

That is arrogance personified.

[roadman]

but andy you can flip that if you think of all the good

people see events as good or bad maybe naturally they are all to be bad but god sheds the good where they can

bad things happening isnt proof god doenst exist but good things happening is proof that he could

Who is to know but one thought i have for sure if god is real he certainly isnt as powerful and magic as the Christians make him out to be

[naomi24]

TTT, “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

Attributed to several different people - but the message remains constant.

[andy-hughes]

roadman - // people see events as good or bad maybe naturally they are all to be bad but god sheds the good where they can //

I don't understand this sentence - care to clarify?

[archibaldy]

Naomi // I don’t believe in fairies either - but if someone comes up with definitive evidence of their existence I promise will change my mind //

By that statement surely you are saying you believe there is a chance fairies may exist otherwise how could you entertain the idea of anyone ever coming up with proof?

That is no different to the agnostic that says "I won't believe there is a God until I get definitive proof". Which is the same position as the person who believes there is a God because they see 'definitive proof' everywhere.

I think the problem with atheism is that it implies a closed mind: there will never be proof of God because there is no God. In my mind any position that says it will change it's belief upon evidence of God is agnostic no matter how hard the current belief is.

[douglas9401]

"roadman - // people see events as good or bad maybe naturally they are all to be bad but god sheds the good where they can //

I don't understand this sentence - care to clarify?"

It may mean that God hoards all the good stuff in a lean-to at the bottom of the garden.
Like a Pandora's Hut.

[Khandro]

Somewhere there is a quote, which I can't find, about a cook & a bandsman having a duel in the middle a battle.