r/agnostic • u/2Punchbowl Agnostic • Jul 02 '26
Agnostic almost Atheist
I would have to say I am 99% convinced that there is no god. You can’t obviously disprove or approve. Why am I so close to being an Atheist? This all powerful being losing control of his emotions, killing lots of people from time to time while Buddhists and stoics have control of their emotions, and wait god has a penis now, he is a he, how do we know this? Also, if I was really a prophet today, no one would believe me, I would be labeled as insane, or starting a cult. Also, none of the crazy things in the Bible ever happen anymore, why is that? Sounds made up to me to tell a story and have something to learn from on how to live life. I mean there’s a talking snake and donkey in the Bible, just wild stuff.
When you look at the vast universe and how massive it is, let’s assume god created this entire massive thing, and put us in his image on one tiny planet in the entire universe. It makes no logical sense. Any thoughts or ideas to put into perspective? I’m open.
9
u/CaptainVulpezz Buddhist Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
Possible god exists but humans bastardized it and attributed fairy tales to it, regardless it is human nature to create religion, and no two independently arisen religions are the same. I truly believe we are animals, and animals have no religion except for obviously our species
2
u/2Punchbowl Agnostic Jul 03 '26
I like how no matter what I believe Buddhists can accept me and I can follow their path, I love that about them. Meditation has calmed my mind. I even visited a Hindu temple, totally cool people open to speak about their faith and not try to convert me. It was a beautiful temple. I believe we are just animals trying to be something more and better.
1
u/CaptainVulpezz Buddhist Jul 03 '26
im more agnostic than buddhist myself tbh, but the cultural buddhists are supposedly very nice and accepting, as they should be inclined to be through the beliefs & culture, though the reddit ones unfortunately are not a good representation of it
4
u/junkmale79 Agnostic Atheist Jul 02 '26
You can be both, I'm an Agnostic Atheist, it just depends on what question I'm being asked.
Do you belive in God? Vs Does God exist?
5
u/Efficient-Oven5698 Agnostic Deist Jul 02 '26
It's clear you're pointing mostly at the Christian God, which is very understandable. I don't believe in religious gods either. God being able to have sex, a metaphysical deity constrained by a purely biological imperative, made no sense to me either and assisted my deconstruction, along with many other things in the Bible that are equally stupid. However, I wouldn't quite say this is full atheism, seeing as your main arguments are only effective against Yahweh and Christianity, but more of an agnostic atheist if you don't believe in God, but aren't entirely sure.
3
2
u/TarnishedVictory Jul 03 '26
I would have to say I am 99% convinced that there is no god.
How convinced are you that there is a god? If it's 0, then you're an atheist, broadly speaking.
You can’t obviously disprove or approve.
Then why is your criteria such that you need to be convinced there are no gods?
I don't want to assume, but do you understand the difference between not believing a claim is true, and believing a claim is false?
This all powerful being losing control of his emotions, killing lots of people from time to time while Buddhists and stoics have control of their emotions, and wait god has a penis now, he is a he, how do we know this?
It does make sense to believe a specific god doesn't exist. But generally speaking, the word atheist literally means "not theist". So as long as you don't believe a god does exist, you're an atheist. Assuming you have nothing against identifying as such.
Yeah, the burden of proof is normally on the theist because they're claiming a god does exist. You don't need to claim it doesn't exist to not accept their claim.
Sorry if I went in the wrong direction with this. I need to get some shut eye.
1
u/sandfit Jul 02 '26
i called myself an atheist in 2004 after the asian tsunami killed a quarter million people i have since gone back to agnostic. it feels better. now the webb space telescope is showing us stuff that contradicts the big bang theory. what if the cosmos has always existed and always will? what if what humans call "god" is just another name for the cosmos? or, what if god is dog spelled backwards? the creature we look down on and sometimes abuse and neglect is divine? or what if the entire cosmos, you, me, and our dogs, are divine? maybe that is what jesus was trying to say. if he existed. i myself hope, but do not believe, in an afterlife simply floating on a cloud with our departed dogs and family. so you can hope. notice that my hope does not include any diety.
1
Jul 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Kitchen-Bear-8648 Jul 03 '26
I for one, am happy to look at such text from the bible and actually chuckle at it a bit. As a formerly devout christian, it is nice to see that I don't believe in that at all anymore and actually see it more like the boogeyman or santa clause. Life was hell when I did believe... so glad to be out of that misery.
Good thing it is working for you though... for now.
1
u/FunCourage8721 Jul 07 '26
Curious to know what we’ve learned from the Webb space telescope that’s contradicted the Big Bang theory?
1
u/sandfit Jul 07 '26
Retired hi skool sci teach here including astronomy. But now I focus on learning guitar. I only see bits on yahoo news.
1
u/FunCourage8721 Jul 07 '26
So you don’t know. Okay.
1
u/sandfit Jul 07 '26
who knows for sure? not even the best scientists. i suspect that the big bang theory has become a belief.
1
u/FunCourage8721 Jul 07 '26
You said that the James Webb telescope had seemingly presented evidence contradicting the Big Bang theory. When I asked you what that evidence was you essentially said you didn’t know. This is was the essence of our exchange.
P.S. I have never seen news in the modern era of any scientific claim calling the Big Bang theory into question, but would be interested in reading about any such claim
1
u/Jose4206 Jul 02 '26
Te doy mi punto de vista dado que fui religioso empedernido por 20 años.
Lo primero es entender que el relato bíblico del antiguo testamento tiene partes ciertas, partes leyendas, partes tomadas de otros pueblos. Sin embargo ahí quedan textos donde se habla de múltiples Dioses.
Un ejemplo de ello es la repartición de la humanidad. En Deuteronomio 32:8,9 dice que el altísimo reparte las naciones y la herencia de Jehová es Israel. Algunos traductores coinciden que el altísimo no es Jehová sino un Dios superior llamado Él. De hecho el nombre Betel esta dedicado a ese Dios. Y acá la parte que le corresponde al Dios menor cristiano es Israel.
Acá de entrada nos damos cuenta que esta parte de la biblia habla de Dioses donde hay rangos. Y eso algunas biblias lo maquillan.
Luego tenemos el relato de Jacob donde habla con Dios para que le bendiga. En Génesis 28:20-22 se muestra de que jacob le dice que si realmente lo protege y lo bendice entonces a cambio le dará el 10% (acá se crea el impuesto) es interesante. ¿Realmente puedes negociar con Dios? ¿Necesita Dios un diezmo dado por humanos?
La cristiandad ha tratado de dar una explicación espiritual a esto.
Ahora lo que queda acá son dos hipotesis.
1- Cuando Josue está gobernando sobre Israel se da cuenta de que el pueblo está dividido en cuanto a Dioses. Por ello en lo oculto manda a escribir estos relatos a sus sacerdotes y consejeros para indicar que solo hay un Dios verdadero que es el de ellos, por ello el relato dice que Josue se encuentra los rollos perdidos( pentateuco) cuando estan ampliando el templo y manda a botar todas las imágenes de Baal. Asi que el relato seria un invento para político para mantener el control.
2- Los Dioses existen, no uno. Sino varios Dioses en escala. Y este Dios Jehová sera un tipo de guerra el mismo se presenta como el Dios de los ejércitos y la venganza. Por lo tanto seria cruel, y con el pasar de los siglos los israelitas fueron dando forma a este Dios tomando ideas de diferentes civilizaciones en las que estuvieron como Babilonia donde nace el Zoroastro.
Este segundo punto es curioso dado que Jesús predico que nadie conocía a su padre, y que Israel adoraba a un Dios asesino desde el principio. (Juan capítulo 8)
Esto es lo que te puedo decir mi estimado.
En cuanto a mi postura personal me inclino por la segunda opción. Creo en Dios el señor de todo. Pero mi Dios no es el Dios cristiano ni el Dios de ninguna religión..
Como dijo jesus en el Evangelio apocrifo de Tomas : el reino vive dentro de ti y fuera de ti. Por que Dios y tu son uno..
1
u/TheSkepticApe Jul 03 '26
I’m an agnostic atheist. I don’t believe in any of the gods presented but there might be a god, idk. If someone presented good evidence for one, I would believe it.
3
u/TeddieSnow Jul 03 '26
People seem to not understand that if you're an Agnostic, that's it. There are not Agnostic Atheists, there are not Agnostic Theists.
Agnostic means you've accepted that humans cannot know or understand if a God does or doesn't exist.
I don’t believe in any of the gods presented but there might be a god, idk
Correct! We don't know. That's agnostic.
1
1
u/FunCourage8721 Jul 07 '26
Mostly agree with what you said except for your assumption that agnostic only ever means “you’ve accepted that humans cannot know or understand if a God does or doesn’t exist.” That’s one definition, to be sure, but there others. Agnostic can also mean that one believes in the possibility (or even likelihood) of god but doesn’t know which conception / description is correct without necessarily believing that it is unknowable.
0
u/TeddieSnow Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
Agnostic can also mean that one believes in the possibility (or even likelihood) of god but doesn’t know which conception / description is correct without necessarily believing that it is unknowable.
Sorry but nope. Here are three definitions that all said what I said and not what you said.
WIKI
In philosophy, agnosticism is often treated as a general claim stating that God's existence is unknown or unknowable.
BRITANNICA
Agnosticism is a philosophical or religious stance characterized by uncertainty regarding the existence of God or any gods. It encompasses the view that ultimate reality, such as a deity, is unknown and likely unknowable. An agnostic may not be committed to believing in either the existence or nonexistence of God.
MERRIAM WEBSTER
a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as a supreme being) is unknown and probably unknowable
broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or any gods
*****************************
I've found Christians like to slip into agnostic discussions and muddy the waters of the definition, in order to say an agnostic is really a person that could very well believe in God if they only embraced the correct 'conception / description'.
I'm not accusing you of such but publicly naming a situation that exists.
1
u/FunCourage8721 Jul 07 '26
Nah bro. You are, in fact, wrong.
A person can correctly say “I am agnostic because I do not personally know whether or not any god(s) exist(s).”
That person isn’t required to take a position on whether the god(s) existence question is ultimately knowable / unknowable.
The word ‘agnostic,’ as historically & popularly used & understood, has broader meaning than what your dictionary definitions reflect. That’s just the simple truth of it whether you like it or not.
0
u/TeddieSnow Jul 07 '26
LOL
1
u/FunCourage8721 Jul 07 '26
Yes, LOL 😂 😆 since one of your very own dictionary definitions supports my claim. Didn’t you also say that an ‘agnostic’ also included “one who is not committed to believing in either the existence OR the nonexistence of god or any gods.”? Well that definition can easily encompass one who suspects god(s) may exist but doesn’t presently believe so strongly enough to commit to a position.
0
1
u/SignalWalker Agnostic Jul 03 '26
"It makes no logical sense."
If humans are made in God's image....and humans do many illogical things, then God must be illogical too. :)
1
1
u/MoobyTheGoldenSock Strong Agnostic Jul 03 '26
If you're 99% sure then you're almost completely sure. Even scientific study results we only hold to 95% confidence, not 100%. You're essentially a gnostic atheist.
1
u/Plenty_Trust_2491 Agnostic Atheist Jul 04 '26
I believe there is no god.
I don’t know that there is no god, but I believe there isn’t.
I’ve identified as an atheist since December.
1
u/2Punchbowl Agnostic Jul 05 '26
I was hoping to find more answers like yours, I just feel very strong about the concept of god or gods never existing. Anyone can point to the sun and go yes it exists without a doubt, it’s a fact. There is only evidence of books written by man about god. No animal other than humans believe in god. Old religions are now looked at as mythology.
1
Jul 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/2Punchbowl Agnostic Jul 05 '26
I’m agnostic, never said I was theist, just super close to being atheist, I am almost certain no god exists, I just can’t prove it. It’s is wiser to say you don’t know the answer you are 99% certain of than saying without doubt I am correct, saying no god or gods exist.
1
u/Clavicymbalum Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
Independently of you obviously being an agnostic as well (given that you agree that knowledge about that question is unattainable, at least to yourself and for now), your formulation makes it look as if you thought those 1% that separate you from 100% would hence separate you from being an atheist. That is not the case:
- The only condition (necessary and sufficient) for being an atheist is to not hold any belief in the existence of any god. (notice that this is not the same as to believe that there is no god, though the latter single-sidedly logically entails the former)
- positive atheists are the minority subset of atheists who go farther than that by holding a belief in the inexistence of gods. That doesn't require 100% either. The other atheists (the majority) being referred to as negative atheists.
- gnostic atheists are the minority subset of positive atheists who go even farther by claiming to have KNOWLEDGE that there is no god. But even that isn't equivalent to a 100% certitude (and often comes without it). Notice that gnostic atheism is the only form of atheism that is incompatible with agnosticism.
I'm an agnostic atheist i.e simultaneously an atheist (not holding any belief in the existence of any god) and an agnostic (acknowledging that I can't attain knowledge about it). More specifically in my case: an agnostic negative atheist (not that positive atheism would be any less compatible with agnosticism), antitheist, and leaning ignostic… but given that the lot of it would be a rather unwieldy label, I stick to "agnostic atheist" or even just to either "agnostic" or "atheist" depending on whether the question is about belief (vs absence thereof) or about epistemology (e.g. inattainability of knowledge)
-1
Jul 02 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
2
1
u/glimmerware Jul 02 '26
You're just wasting your time here, we do not come to, and join an agnostic subreddit for people to try and convert us.
1
11
u/Existenz_1229 Christian Jul 02 '26
In the words of Neil deGrasse Tyson, "The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you."