'What I hate is agnosticism…'
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ZildjianDFW — 17 years ago(January 11, 2009 12:22 PM)
I believe in a higher power - if not a believer in what religions claim about it - but I do respect agnostics. To be fair, the logical conclusion in the God debate is that we just don't know. It's just, some people don't like such ambiguity, and feel a need to make a choice, as I and many others do.
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narnia4 — 17 years ago(January 27, 2009 03:37 PM)
That is a strange quote since he doesn't seem (according to his quotes that I've read, he obviously had his own private thoughts on the matter) to have made up his mind on what religion to follow either.
I respect the right people have to be religious, atheists, or agnostics. Whether I respect an individual's decision well, it depends on why they make the decision. Sometimes individuals' decisions about what religion they will choose to follow or choose NOT to follow are motivated by ignorance or hatred. I have no respect for atheists who hate religious people for being "mindless idiots clinging to ridiculous ideology", or vice versa. -
aunt_fanny — 17 years ago(February 03, 2009 04:48 PM)
Agnosticism is from greek and means 'without knowledge.' This often means that agnosticism is mislabelled as the middle ground between theism and atheism. Since it is impossible to disprove any evidence for a god then most atheists will have a degree of agnosticism in them, however because there is also no evidence of there being a god they choose not to live their lives under the assumption that there is one.
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rtms1988 — 17 years ago(March 12, 2009 09:20 AM)
I love to read his words as much as I love to read Charles Chaplin words, because, his intelligence, his way to think, his sense of humor.
He's almost a
philosophic
. Hehe, just kidding.
Roberta
"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown." - Last lines -
sannitti — 17 years ago(April 07, 2009 01:47 AM)
The thing is I think everyone, even the most religious or the most unbending aetheist is, jsut a little, agnostic. I honestly don't believe that everyone can be 100% sure about anything they can't prove, even if they say they are or want to be. As for Welles himself, the dude has always seemed sorta crazy, at least to me,so I take most of his comments quite lightly. His point probably was that he wants people to be more decisive than simply saying "I don't know".
"I am the cheese. I am the best character. I am better than both the salami and bologna combined" -
xffanatic_4ever — 16 years ago(May 22, 2009 09:09 PM)
I don't
think
big foot existsbut I really have no way of knowing, so I wouldn't dare say with 100% certainty that bigfoot either does or doesn't exist. That's how I feel about god, and that's why I'm agnostic. I always found atheists as odd thinking they
know
god doesn't exist, as religious ppl are thinking they know god
does
.
"I pray every single dayfor a REVOLUTION!" -
baz047 — 16 years ago(August 27, 2009 10:52 AM)
"Agnosticism, to me, is trying to appear by saying that "one doesn't know", when they're just too stupid to choose."
The thing about it though, is just that"One doesn't know". Even though I consider myself an Atheist but cannot with any knowledge say that there is or isn't a God. Anyone who tells you different is lying. This is truly something that we cannot know.
So, in a way, saying that you don't know and ultimately don't care is probably the smartest thing to do, why let someone with no real authority except from "I believe this." tell how to live your life? -
Chapaev36 — 16 years ago(October 06, 2009 09:40 PM)
Agnostic Atheism - means not subscribing to doctorine on god or gods while at the same time not claiming to have proof of their non-existence.
However, agnosticism without atheism should not even qualify as a point of view.- "So what's your stance on religion"?
- "Oh, I don'111ct know. Don't really know anything. Don't believe much in anything either, except in my lack of knowledge."
- "Oh, okay. Thanks for your time."
Every reasonable person is basically agnostic - but that's not a philosophy; it's just a basic declaration of modesty. However it takes a special fool to be agnostic and pretend it to be a belief system.
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pc_buttspasm — 15 years ago(December 30, 2010 07:51 PM)
For me it's kind of the difference between saying "I don't believe in god," and "I believe there is no god."
I'm agnostic about lots of things, but there are degrees to my agnosticism.
For example I am agnostic about there being life on other planets; I'm open to the idea, especially given the size of the universe etc, but I don't believe in it per se. It just seems likely.
As for god, well I don't even know what god is, or which god you mean. Everyone seems to have their own definition. Some people say that god is the universe; I'd have to get pretty abstract to deny the existence of the universe, so if god's the universe than yeah god seems to exist. Some people say that god is an all-powerful supernatural patriarch who created everything according to his own whim. That seems pretty unlikely to me, so boo to that one from me. Is god an unmeasurable life force that runs through us all? Is god the spark of imagination and intelligence that makes us human? Is god a worldwide (or maybe universe-wide) hive-mind that we are all part of? Are gods a race of giants who live on top of a mountain and mess with ordinary people's affairs for their own amusement? Is god the black man, as taught by the five percent nation? Is god chaos herself, as the discordians don't believe?
There are thousands of other definitions, but I forget them. -
buckshot69 — 15 years ago(January 02, 2011 07:32 PM)
I absolutely love the man for this comment. What sort of intellectual virtue does uncertainty serve? Religion is simple, either you believe it, or you don't Agnosticism is an ignorant nonexistent state of being. It's basically a fancy word college kids use to sound intelligent because they wouldn't want to come to a conclusion without the input of their teachers.
How can agnostics be stupid for being unsure about something that can't be seen, heard and touched?
Because their is NO PROOF. Anything without proof isn't worth being believed in, unless it's in the act of being proven.
She tried to sit in my lap while I was standing up. -
Goldberryiswaiting — 14 years ago(April 16, 2011 03:24 AM)
Actually, I think an Agn5b4ostic is someone who does not believe in any specific creed. They may indeed believe in God. Interesting that this probably off the cuff comment of Mr. Welles has spawned so much debate here. But you know what they say about Politics and Religion
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Sybran — 14 years ago(June 16, 2011 12:24 PM)
I'm gonna challenge you on this - the thing is, the fact that there are so many definitions and beliefs about god means that nobody knows what it is that there is no proof of. Some people define god as the universe - it could be said that they are just giving the universe another name, and i'm not gonna dive into semiotics, but because there is no single definition of god, this definition cannot be equated to the other definitions which atheists find improbable (such as god communicating to people through prophets). If 'God' to this person is the universe then yes, god exists.
You cannot prove the existence of god, but you cannot disprove it either - it's not like unicorns or the tooth fairy, because they have a singular meaning to them. God is far too abstract a concept, and too important a concept to compare to mythical creatures. In some religious sects, it may be described in this way, but because it is not a universally accepted description, it cannot be said that this definition of god is representative of all religions. And you don't even have to be religious to believe in god.
Lastly, 'anything without proof isn't worth being believed in, unless it's in the act of being proven' - i believed this too for a while and i can see how it makes sense, but for some people, the fact that we exist IS proof of god. Also continental drift was once considered fringe science and was mocked - three or four decades later it WAS in the act of being proven. And very little that we consider fact today is actually backed up by undeniable proof, theories are the best we have. Dinosaur bones are relics, and are evidence - we can deduce how they lived but we can't KNOW. Evolution, etc
Let's go inconspicuouslythrough the window.