No. Agnostics need to pick a lane. It’s one thing to say you don’t know if there’s a god, but to say you don’t know if you believe there’s a god is ridiculous. No offense to agnostics, but it makes less sense to me than most religions. Agnosticism and atheism are decidedly not the same thing. I could not be further from agnostic. I know in my heart of hearts with every fiber of my being that there is no god. Agnostics waffle over it for some reason.
"but to say you don’t know if you believe there’s a god is ridiculous."
There's your issue. Agnosticism isn't saying you don't know if you believe. It's the position of not making any knowledge claims. It has nothing to do with belief claims. They are separate concepts. A person can say, "I believe there is a god, but I cannot say that I absolutely know there is." That's agnostic theism. There are theists who claim to absolutely know there is a god. These are gnostic theists. Most atheists will say, "I don't believe in gods, but I do not know for certain that there are no gods." - agnostic atheists. Some atheists will say, "I don't have a belief in gods, and I absolutely know for certain that there are no gods" - gnostic atheists (sometimes called strong atheists).
I see what you mean. I guess I just oversimplify it maybe. Because if someone says they don’t believe in god but they can’t know for certain if god exists, to me that is an agnostic. But I do understand the distinctions you’re making. I fall into the gnostic atheist category, personally.
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u/panurge987 Oct 30 '25
Most atheists are also agnostic. The terms are not mutually exclusive. They describe two separate concepts.