A True Dichotomy

When facing a dichotomy, it often takes only a small amount of creative thinking to find a secret, third option. Some people will use this tactic unknowingly when their religious beliefs are called into question, especially when the question posed is: “Are you a theist or an atheist?” The secret, third option in this case is agnosticism, which, in the case of this question, is a nonsensical answer.

The irrelevance of such a response to the question posed is something that often goes unnoticed and unchallenged. Of course, agnosticism as a concept has no intrinsic connection to the question of the existence of God, and can be defined only as “not knowing”. It in fact relates to an entirely separate dilemma, forming one half of another dichotomy with “Gnosticism”.

The truth is the distinction between atheism and theism leaves no room for a middle ground. Not even the most skilled of verbal contortionists can slide themselves between the two without ignoring the most basic rules of the English language. A thorough understanding of the terms at hand is at the crux of the issue and, when achieved, forces those who have previously dismissed the choice to come down on either side of the non-existent fence, on which they have been previously content to sit.

The concept of theism... is not the primary source of confusion

A “theist” is someone who believes that a God (or Gods) exists. Definitions will occasionally include the belief that the universe was created by this God (or these Gods), although such additions are superfluous to this discussion. The concept of theism is, in general, well understood and is not the primary source of confusion as far as this issue goes. That mantle is taken up by atheism in almost every case. The prefix “a” is of Greek origin, and denotes an absence of, a lack of, or simply “not”. Taking this into consideration, it must be conceded that atheism is not a belief, as it is so often professed to be. It is merely a lack of belief. It is nothing other than an absence of theism.

The fact that we even have a word for this kind of disbelief is simply a sign of the historical prevalence of the belief in the existence of a deity, and is nothing other than a direct consequence of the fact that belief in God itself commands its own label. The reason that we do not, for example, have a word for disbelief in the existence of less popular beliefs, such as unicorns, Bigfoot, fairies, or any other fantastical creature that you can care to imagine, which, by the way, could easily be believed on nothing other than “faith”, is simply the result of the absence of the word for positive belief in these things (you may argue that “stupid” may suffice in each case). Without theism, no one would be labeled an atheist.

A more useful question than the one I asked in the first paragraph would perhaps be: “Are you a theist?” If you answer in anything other than the affirmative, you are an atheist, and this includes those who “don’t know”. This is the point at which agnostics have a choice to make. The choice is not, however, between two viewpoints. There is only one viewpoint to consider.

If you answer in anything other than the affirmative, you are an atheist, and this includes those who “don’t know”

If you do not identify with theism, you are an atheist. The separate question of Gnosticism opens up a long and arduous debate, which requires confrontation of many contentious issues pertaining to the meaning of knowledge and our ability to acquire it. I often find that agnosticism is a rather useless term to include in discussions due to these contentions. This discussion, I’m sure you’ll be relieved to hear, is for another day.

You could well be an “agnostic theist”, which would mean you have a belief in God, but do not claim to “know” that a God exists. Be that as it may, I would hazard a guess that the label “agnostic atheist” would in fact best describe most agnostics. This would satisfactorily illustrate a state of not knowing whether a God exists and believing that we cannot possibly know either way, or, as you so often hear, a state of mind in which the subject “doesn’t care” about the question enough to have a belief about it.

The key thing to recognise, in my opinion, is the discrepancy between two issues that are only loosely related: one about belief, and one about knowledge. This means that agnosticism is indeed a viable position, but you must not fall into the trap of thinking that this answers the main question about the belief in a God. As an agnostic non-theist, you may be reluctant to associate yourselves with the group that all have two horns and a tail, but don’t let this reluctance or any social stereotype get in the way of what is the plain and irrefutable truth. An atheist you are.