Hi there. I attend a Catholic school, though I have really stopped believing in God. My religion teacher once told me that atheists are in a way hypocritical because, "They don't believe in God but yet they acknowledge his existent". I'm not sure that I really understand atheism, or even the difference between being an atheist and being agnostic.  Of course I tried looking concrete definitions up on the internet but in reality, that doesn't give me what I am looking for. I would appreciate it if some of you could help me understand what it means to be an atheist and what the difference is from being agnostic. Side note: This thread is available to everyone and of course that means there is a possibility that there will be some disagreement. I encourage everyone to make sure they read what they say and think to themselves, "Should I really be saying this?" Thank you to everyone who participates because this not only helps me with my life and beliefs, but it serves as a learning experience for everyone else who is kind enough to read along.  

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Atheist= Believing in no God greater than the God of yourself. Agnostic: There could be a God, but I dont believe in a definite one.

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"restinpeaceHavoc" wrote:

Hi there. I attend a Catholic school, though I have really stopped believing in God. My religion teacher once told me that atheists are in a way hypocritical because, "They don't believe in God but yet they acknowledge his existent". I'm not sure that I really understand atheism, or even the difference between being an atheist and being agnostic.  Of course I tried looking concrete definitions up on the internet but in reality, that doesn't give me what I am looking for. I would appreciate it if some of you could help me understand what it means to be an atheist and what the difference is from being agnostic. Side note: This thread is available to everyone and of course that means there is a possibility that there will be some disagreement. I encourage everyone to make sure they read what they say and think to themselves, "Should I really be saying this?" Thank you to everyone who participates because this not only helps me with my life and beliefs, but it serves as a learning experience for everyone else who is kind enough to read along.  

An atheist is someone who doesn't believe in any gods. An agnostic is someone who doesn't know whether or not there is a god. So, we're all technically agnostic, since nobody ever really knows, but some people claim gnosticism, or claim knowledge of whether there is or isn't a god. However, a lot of the time people use the term agnostic to describe a person who hasn't decided whether or not they believe in a god. Atheists do not acknowledge God's existence in reality, however, we do acknowledge his existence as a character in the bible. A lot of people confuse the two, and it looks like your teacher is one of them. 

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Skittlez is correct. When an atheist says "God is a cruel being," he's not contradicting himself, he's saying that the character depicted in the bible is a cruel being. 

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