I am certain enough that there is no god that I’ll risk my “immortal soul” and I’ve never lost any sleep over it. But technically I’m an agnostic atheist because there’s really no way to prove there isn’t a god, even though I absolutely don’t think there is one. I don’t believe in supernatural anything, ghosts, demons, magic, souls, spirits, bigfoot or the loch ness monster. Never have, never will. There is no ultimate point to life, there is no grand design to the universe, and when you die you’re dead and there’s literally nothing you or anyone else can do about it.
So, I make my own meaning in life, I live the way I want to live, I try to be kind to others and treat people with respect, not for fear of punishment, but because being a pathetic self centered dickhead isn’t what I want to be. I don’t wish for death, and I don’t fear death itself; though I fear how I will die. But since there’s little I can do to control it, I don’t waste much time worrying about it.
Oh, and I’m glad I’m an atheist. I sleep well knowing there isn’t some weird thing reading my thoughts and judging my life choices through the moral framework of a bronze age goat herder. That and where I live, Sunday morning is a great time for some R&R while everyone else is pretending they don’t hate sitting around and listening to some sexually repressed weirdo talk about the evils of porn (that they totally don’t have on their church provided computer).
- Weak atheist: doesn’t think gods exist.
- Strong atheist: knows that gods do not exist.
- Weak agnostic: doesn’t know if gods exist.
- Strong agnostic: says no one can know if any gods exist.
- Physicalist: doesn’t think supernatural things exist (unlike some atheists who think things like souls/spirits/spirituality/reincarnation exist).
I’m a weak agnostic, weak atheist, physicalist. I’ll change my position when presented with scientific evidence, or good honest arguments.
I always describe myself as a “cheerful agnostic” - don’t know, don’t care.
I’m a strong physicalist. If a thing is measurable, it is not supernatural… It is by definition natural. But I think it’s a bit of a tautology as well. Basically things that exist are natural. Supernatural things don’t exist.
Is there a good way to break it down that isn’t a tautology?
I don’t see why not. Atheism, like theism, knows all kind of different people and perspectives. For me, atheism means the conviction of the absolute absence of god and that god was a creation by man to explain what the science of the time could not. Atheism does not, in my mind, discount some sense of spirituality through the respect of nature and seeking to live in harmony. I think I might hate the dogmatic religions like Judaism, Islam, and Christianity because they really are responsible for a lot, if not most, of the problems that we have today.
