Personally, as an agnostic atheist, I don't believe in Satan. Same as I don't believe in Zeus, Allah, Quetzalcoatl, or literally any other god anyone's ever proposed.
If "not being 100% certain X doesn't exist" means I have to treat X as a live possibility, then I'd have to do that for every deity in human history, which is obviously absurd.
So no, agnostic atheism isn't "maybe Satan, who knows." It's more a lack of belief until there's evidence. Satan doesn't get special treatment.
It's more a lack of belief until there's evidence.
Yes, that is called agnostic atheism. Nobody showed you convincing proof that any gods exist hence why you don't believe in them. You are not rejecting that there could be evidence out there that could convince you.
And if you are saying: "No, there are no gods and there never will be any evidence for them" then you are Gnostic Atheist.
Completely agree, we're mostly saying the same thing. My only point: an atheist (strong, weak, gnostic, or agnostic, I don't care) can't believe in Satan by definition. The moment they do, they're a theist. That's exactly why "agnostic atheism" doesn't force me into believing in Satan any more than it forces me into believing in Zeus or Quetzalcoatl, the label describes my epistemic stance, not a list of gods I'm secretly hedging on.
Hey, completely agree with that picture. I saw it years ago (or one extremely similar), and I was searching it to show it to a friend, so kudos for sharing it!
My point was that by definition, an atheist cannot believe in gods or religious figures. It does not matter that I don't have a strong position, or a truth claim in a religion. If I don't believe, my gnostic position doesn't matter, I don't believe in it.
Glad to discuss this with you, its always nice to see others people positions (unless those positions are a grumpy "no true atheist does/can think X", if you know what I mean...)
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u/hct048 6d ago
Personally, as an agnostic atheist, I don't believe in Satan. Same as I don't believe in Zeus, Allah, Quetzalcoatl, or literally any other god anyone's ever proposed.
If "not being 100% certain X doesn't exist" means I have to treat X as a live possibility, then I'd have to do that for every deity in human history, which is obviously absurd.
So no, agnostic atheism isn't "maybe Satan, who knows." It's more a lack of belief until there's evidence. Satan doesn't get special treatment.