What's on your mind today?

[AlP]

Agnostic means "without knowledge". So if you're an agnostic atheist it means you believe there are no deities but you don't know it. In other words, you have no means of demonstrating that it is true. It doesn't need to be applied to belief in deities but it usually is.

A weak atheist is an agnostic atheist as far as I can figure out.

Free thinking is the position that what one believes should be based on reason and critical thinking. In theory you could be a free thinker and hold religious beliefs if reason and critical thinking brought you to that belief. I use that as an example to contrast it with the previous two. I haven't actually encountered any religious people who identify themselves as free thinkers.

You can be all three. They aren't mutually exclusive.

[JillSwift]

I'm having trouble considering myself Agnostic, Weak Atheist, or a Free-thinker, and I've been loosly calling myself all of these terms. >_>

Can anyone explain to me the slight differences between these schools of thought, if there are any?

Free-Thinker: Someone who does not adhere to any dogma, and is willing and likely to question all ideas. This isn't technically related to atheism, but an atheist is very likely to be a free-thinker, too.

Gnostic/Agnostic: This is a statement of knowledge. To be gnostic is to know, agnostic is to not know.
Theist/Atheist: This is a statement of belief in god.

Weak atheist: better phrased as an agnostic atheist. Someone who does not believe in god, but foes not feel they can say they know there is no god.

Strong atheist:  better phrased as a gnostic atheist. Someone who does not believe in god, because they know there is no god.

There are also gnostic and agnostic theists, though few care to differentiate.

Hope this is a help

[Whitney]

I'm contemplating how to add "don't be stupid" to the forum conduct guidelines without making it impossible for fundamentalists to participate without automatically breaking the rules.  A few recent trollish people have sparked this thought.

[Pineapple]

Agnostic means "without knowledge". So if you're an agnostic atheist it means you believe there are no deities but you don't know it. In other words, you have no means of demonstrating that it is true. It doesn't need to be applied to belief in deities but it usually is.

A weak atheist is an agnostic atheist as far as I can figure out.

Free thinking is the position that what one believes should be based on reason and critical thinking. In theory you could be a free thinker and hold religious beliefs if reason and critical thinking brought you to that belief. I use that as an example to contrast it with the previous two. I haven't actually encountered any religious people who identify themselves as free thinkers.

You can be all three. They aren't mutually exclusive.

I'm having trouble considering myself Agnostic, Weak Atheist, or a Free-thinker, and I've been loosly calling myself all of these terms. >_>

Can anyone explain to me the slight differences between these schools of thought, if there are any?

Free-Thinker: Someone who does not adhere to any dogma, and is willing and likely to question all ideas. This isn't technically related to atheism, but an atheist is very likely to be a free-thinker, too.

Gnostic/Agnostic: This is a statement of knowledge. To be gnostic is to know, agnostic is to not know.
Theist/Atheist: This is a statement of belief in god.

Weak atheist: better phrased as an agnostic atheist. Someone who does not believe in god, but foes not feel they can say they know there is no god.

Strong atheist:  better phrased as a gnostic atheist. Someone who does not believe in god, because they know there is no god.

There are also gnostic and agnostic theists, though few care to differentiate.

Hope this is a help
I guess I'm an Agnostic Atheist.

[HeathenBumbleBee]

The Air Force is on my mind. And my ex boyfriend.

[JillSwift]

I'm contemplating how to add "don't be stupid" to the forum conduct guidelines without making it impossible for fundamentalists to participate without automatically breaking the rules.  A few recent trollish people have sparked this thought.

Oh, I know the conundrum.

Sadly, the dimmer the bulb the more likely they are to be confident in their ideas. So, saying "you must have this much IQ to post in these forums" invites them in.

Fortunately, the first rule of these here forums covers the problem:

1. CIVILITY: To maintain a happy and productive forum atmosphere, members are to remember the importance of civility by striving to comply with the forums conduct guidelines.

Those with the IQ of a box of mole hair are unable to remain civil when they discover their "brilliant arguments" are so easily turned into three tins of cat food. They lack the intellectual faculties to come up with original counter-arguments, and are forced to fall back on the appeals to emotion... namely: "&@(#$ YOU!"

Some, as in one of the more recent trolls, skips the civility altogether and leaps straight to baiting - and baiting is clearly not the act of a civil person.

It's still up to the "BEHAVE!" stick and the mighty, mighty ban-hammer, though. And for that I'd like to publicly thank you and the wonderful mod team here for judicious use of those tools.

[Hat]

Thought One
I'm wondering what a Religious person would be like after playing a Shin Megami Tensei game, more specifically Shin Megami Tensei II. My reasons for wondering about this is because I remember people going batshit over thinking Pokemon was about summoning demons, whereas in the SMT games that's exactly what you do. I chose SMT II there because you can actually choose to kill God. Gotta love Atlus for having the balls to translate a game with that in it <3

Thought Two
After reading the definitions for things above by JillSwift I'm starting to wonder if I'm more of a Free-Thinker than an Agnostic Atheist or just a mesh of both. I'm thinking I'm most likely a mix of both. But gah, just when I thought I had it all sorted out something pops up that makes me wonder again. Ffffuuuuuuuu- D:

[JillSwift]

Thought Two
After reading the definitions for things above by JillSwift I'm starting to wonder if I'm more of a Free-Thinker than an Agnostic Atheist or just a mesh of both. I'm thinking I'm most likely a mix of both. But gah, just when I thought I had it all sorted out something pops up that makes me wonder again. Ffffuuuuuuuu- D:

If I may:  Chances are you find your are an agnostic atheist because you are a free-thinker.  

[Hat]

I'm not usually one for the guitar...
But there are no words for how beautiful this is.

[youtube:1ady1y13]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzLwT_TuyqE[/youtube:1ady1y13]

[curiosityandthecat]

It's still up to the "BEHAVE!" stick and the mighty, mighty ban-hammer, though. And for that I'd like to publicly thank you and the wonderful mod team here for judicious use of those tools.

Best part is that I was accused of flaming someone who had a bad habit of posting while completely trashed.  

[JillSwift]

Best part is that I was accused of flaming someone who had a bad habit of posting while completely trashed.  

That's dangerous - alcohol soaked people are flammable! You could have lost an eyebrow.

[Heretical Rants]

woooo!

I have my sketchpads, pencils, kneaded eraser, and spray fixative.

Time to get drawing

[AlP]

My 7 year old PC finally died damn it. Looks like it's the motherboard. Replacement components ordered... $272. This one will be able to play HD video =).

[Pineapple]

I'm not usually one for the guitar...
But there are no words for how beautiful this is.

[youtube:23s1pj4y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzLwT_TuyqE[/youtube:23s1pj4y]

That sir, is a bass. Not a guitar.

I for one love the bass... mostly because the blood of bass-players has run through my father's side of the family since the 1800's!  

[curiosityandthecat]

My 7 year old PC finally died damn it. Looks like it's the motherboard. Replacement components ordered... $272. This one will be able to play HD video =).

I've been thinking about my 3 year old laptop that I still use as a desktop replacement. It's still a medium-level machine after three years, believe it or not. Starting to think about getting a desktop to use.