Quote:
Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug
I don't think the graph is a strawman. It doesn't presuppose that 25% of the population is within each quadrant or anything like that. But I do think the gnostic/agnostic distinction is largely meaningless. I don't see many proclaiming they "know" with certainty that god does not exist. (In contrast to those who as a matter of faith "know" there is a god. There is no room for doubt.). So athiesm to me is having a fairly high degree of certainty that there is no god, because there is no credible evidence of god. Say 9/10 on the certainty scale. Agnostics on the other hand connotes more of a 50/50 split. I am not 100% certain of the absence of a god, but I am way over 50% confident. Does that make me agnostic or athiest? Doesn't really matter what label you use, so long as you understand my position (and I use athiest)
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I think this is more the purpose of the diagram. This way of speaking has developed somewhat recently, and in large part to counter silly Christian apologetics which belabour the point of whether one should identify as agnostic or an atheist. There are Christians who insist there is no such thing as atheists—some by taking Ps14:1/53:1 and Rom 1:20–22 rigidly plain as to "prove" that everyone believes in God, but those who claim they do not are "suppressing the truth." Others think so on the premise that without perfect knowledge a rejection of god-belief is irrational, and thus every professing atheist is simply agnostic.
Besides, I think that the term "agnostic" is sloppy, and serves little more than to avoid the question. Everyone either believes or does not believe in the existence of god, and saying "I don't know" is fundamentally not any different than acknowledging that one is not convinced.
I personally find it helpful, as it provides more precision to our usage of language by distinguishing between the categories of "knowledge" and "belief." It actually works quite well to shut-down Christian philosophical types who relish in playing word-games.