this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2025
1904 points (99.1% liked)
Microblog Memes
6520 readers
4447 users here now
A place to share screenshots of Microblog posts, whether from Mastodon, tumblr, ~~Twitter~~ X, KBin, Threads or elsewhere.
Created as an evolution of White People Twitter and other tweet-capture subreddits.
Rules:
- Please put at least one word relevant to the post in the post title.
- Be nice.
- No advertising, brand promotion or guerilla marketing.
- Posters are encouraged to link to the toot or tweet etc in the description of posts.
Related communities:
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Atheism and agnosticism are two different things. Atheism is the rejection of a higher power, you believe there cannot be a higher power. Agnosticism is the acceptance of the unknown, you believe you don't know if there is or isn't be a higher power.
In a hypothetical scenario where higher power does exist and that higher power does something that becomes evidence of the existence of a higher power. An atheist would reject such evidence because a higher power cannot exist and the evidence would be contradictory. An agnostic would not reject such evidence because an agnostic is not rejecting a higher power and as such the evidence would also not be contradictory.
And in a reverse hypothetical, let's say we discovered all the secrets of the universe and found evidence of higher powers not being able to exist. A theist would reject such evidence because a higher power must exist and the evidence would be contradictory. An agnostic would not reject the evidence because the evidence would not be contradictory.
And I personally lean on the apathetic side of agnosticism. If there is a god (or gods) then there is a god (or gods), and if there isn't then there isn't. There's no reason to mull over something that has had no bearing on my life and if tomorrow we get irrefutable evidence for either side that's when I'll deal with that new reality. In the mean time there are better things to do.
I am an atheist because I do not believe in god, not because I think that a god cannot exist. I am an atheist because the burden of proof is on those who claim that a god does exist. If such proof were to exist (and pass scientific scrutiny, not rely on faith), I would believe in a god.
I understand what you're saying, but in reality, the definition of 'atheist' is a lot broader than you are asserting. Simply not having belief in a god to begin with is enough to be an atheist.
An atheist can, but does not necessarily, reject the notion of a higher power inherently.
Hugely relatable.