Do you believe in God? Why/Why not?

[JWeinCom]

WolfpackN64 said:

JWeinCom said:

Most atheists I know, and pretty much all that I've seen in this topic, take atheist to simply mean not believing in a god. I would actually describe it as anyone who is not a theist.  I would personally not consider babies, because I think for one to count they need to be capable of evaluating the idea.  Otherwise we get to silly positions like a pig is an atheist.

But the second point shows that you are misrepresenting (I'm assuming unintentionally) what people here mean by atheist.

I would consider someone who says "I don't know" as an atheist.  Because anyone who does not believe that god exists, whether they are certain or not, is not a theist.  And would therefore have to be an atheist, as those two categories form a true dichotomy.  

To sum it up, everyone capable of understanding the concept of god has to be a theist or an atheist. If they're not a theist, they're an atheist.   

Not this again. Agnosticism is a legitimate position.

Yes it is.  And it is not mutually exclusive with atheism.

Agnosticism is from the greek word gnostic meaning knowledge.  It refers to what we claim to know.  I am agnostic because I do not claim to know there is no god (although that depends on the specific god being proposed.)

Atheism refers to belief.  Whether you believe in a god (theist) or not (atheist).  I do not believe in a god, so I consider myself an atheist.

I would accept either label.  However, for the sake of clear communication I prefer to use atheist.  Because, I am really really really confident that no god that has been proposed actually exists.  I would say my certainty is above 99%.  And I think atheist better conveys that belief.

This is what we mean by atheist.  And just like I'm not going to try to define what you mean by Catholic, I'd appreciate it if you do not attempt to straw man me by defining what I mean by atheist.  Way more interested in your response to my other post at any rate.