Weak Atheism and Agnosticism. Are they not the same thing?

Weak atheism is lacking a belief in a God.

Strong atheism is believing that God does not exist.

(I believe the two are the same, but go figure.)

Agnosticism is believing that there is no way to prove that God does or does not exist.

If a weak atheist doesn't have a belief in a god does that not mean he doesn't believe god exists? They are the same thing...

If I don't believe in the tooth fairy, does it not mean that I think the tooth fairy does not exist? If I am not sure if the tooth fairy exists, but I do not believe in it wouldn't that make me an agnostic?

quote:Originally posted by Inti:

Weak atheism is lacking a belief in a God.

Strong atheism is believing that God does not exist.

(I believe the two are the same, but go figure.)

Agnosticism is believing that there is no way to prove that God does or does not exist.

agnosticism is sitting on the fence. an atheist/theist can accept that gods existance cant be disproven/proven and still believe whatever it is that they believe.

Ignore all of the above posts.

For all practical purposes, yes, agnosticism and weak atheism are the same thing. Both lack a belief in God without making the positive statement that God does not exist (which is what differentiates the two from strong atheism).

Weak atheists can also acknowledge a God is possible but believe there is no reason and no evidence to support one. Which is slightly different from agnostic which either doesn't know or thinks one can't know.