I do not believe anyone who is intellectually honest can be an aetheist.
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I think agnosticism is an orthogonal concept to atheism/theism. That is, it is a template that can overlay either, and I think any rational atheist or theist must also adopt agnosticism. In fact, I would argue that agnosticism is the opposite of fundamentalist in either of the senses.
I'll be intellectually honest. Make the case for a god, and I'll believe it. No one's made the case yet, so don't hold your breath, though.
DDG - wrong way round, it'd be like Capone lecturing on puritanical values.
I do not believe anyone who is intellectually honest can be an aetheist.
Really? Because I don't believe anyone who is intellectually honest can continue to be a believer - especially an unquestioning one.
Mormons believe that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham from the original Egyptian hieroglyphs. This is demonstrably untrue, but it is interesting that the belief is held, and by so many. TJPCatholic tells us what he believes. He's wrong, but his wrongness reveals a certain state of mind. And that's all that need be said.
I agree with Ens both on the definitions of said words, and that it is essential to be an agnostic if you don't want people to think you're insane. If you really think disbelief is impossible, you're not an agnostic, and as such I can treat you as non compus mentis.
I generally assume someone who identifies as an agnostic is an agnostic atheist. Huxley said, after all, that atheism is the necessary logical result of agnosticism.
There is no god. I am as certain of that as I am of the fact that the sun will rise tomorrow. Only a charlatan would demand more confidence than that.
All arguments of agnosticism are specious. Naturally, nobody can have all experiences for all times. But when the premise is ridiculous, the mechanisms are pure sci-fi, the evidence is entirely lacking, and the proponents of religion disagree with each other so deeply, atheism is the only logical position to take. One would need to be really, really desperate or really, really gullible to try to cling to that catch-all apology of agnosticism.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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