| richardhutnik said: Actually agnosticism is the opposite of a belief. It states that the person forms no opinion, or has no knowledge one way or the other regarding God. Hard agnosticism projects this on everything and says not only does the person who is agnostic doesn't know, but humans can't never know for sure. Atheism is a negative belief. It is a belief there is no God. Hard atheism says not only does the person who is an atheist believe there is not a God, but there is no God at all. Now, this doesn't mean that atheism is a belief one can build anything around. A negative belief calls on a need to find other things to believe in positively. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheism
http://atheists.org/content/about-atheism
http://www.conservapedia.com/Atheism#Atheism_and_why_do_atheists_state_they_disbelieve.3F
http://www.investigatingatheism.info/definition.html
The atheism you're referring to is a specific category of atheist. The broadest definition of atheism encompasses all people who don't believe in God. There is a group within that group which asserts that there is no God; this what you're referring to. These people are called strong atheists or hard atheists.
Agnosticism has nothing to with belief. Agnosticism has to do with knowledge. If you're an agnostic, then you assert that you don't know if God exists. If you're a gnostic, then you assert do know if god exists. It has nothing to do with belief. Atheism and theism deals with belief. There's a difference between knowledge and belief.
If you're a theist, then you believe that God exists. If you're an atheist, then you don't beleive God exist. Agnostism and Atheism aren't mutually exclusive. Nor are agnostism and theism. As an atheist, you can be either agnostic or gnostic. Similarly, as a theist, you can be either agnostic or gnostic. You can be one of four categories:
Gnostic Theist: You believe in God, and you know that there's a God.
Agnostic Theist: You believe in God, but you don't know if there's a God.
Agnostic Atheist: You don't believe in God, but you don't know if there's a God.
Gnostic Atheist: You don't believe in God, and you know that there is no God.
