Non-religious

Irreligion is the absence, indifference, rejection of, or hostility towards religion.

---

Agnosticism

Agnostic individuals are very skeptical about religion. Agnosticism comes from the Greek words a (no) and gnosis (knowledge). They neither believe nor disbelieve. They simply “don’t know.” It’s less about believing in God, and more about knowledge. They believe that God, if He exists, is either unknowable, or unable to be proven due to lack of good evidence. Some have even attempted to find God, but have not “felt” His presence in their lives. Agnostic theists assume God exists, but they do not believe they have good evidence to support Him, whereas agnostic atheists assume God does not exist, and thus, cannot prove nonexistence. True agnostics do not accept the theist or atheist assumptions. There tends to be a high correlation with level of knowledge of multiple religions with agnosticism.

Agnosticism can also be divided into limited and unlimited agnosticism. Limited agnostics believe that God is partially unknowable: it is possible to know some things, but not everything, about God. Unlimited agnosticism claims that it is impossible to know God, or anything about Him.

Two major philosophers that contributed to agnostic thought were David Hume (1711-1976) and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).

“If we take into our hands any volume, of divinity or school metaphysics for instance, does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No. Commit it then to the flames, for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.” 

David Hume

Hume believed that there are no necessary causes: that we can never know with certainty that anything caused something else. Things are only correlated, and associations are formed in our minds. He believed that because we cannot discover the cause of the universe, we cannot know anything about God.

Kant was a big proponent for empiricism (knowledge is from experience) and rationalism (everyone has innate knowledge in the mind). He believed we can only know things as they are to us because of how our minds and sensory systems work. We do not know objective reality, only our perception of it. So, we cannot know God, only our perception of His universe if He were to exist.

Top 10 Agnostic Blogs, Agnostic.com

---

Atheism

Atheism is based upon the Greek words a (without) and theos (God). Atheists do not believe in the idea of God or a divine being, so they aren’t afraid of the notion of hell or an afterlife. They aren’t mutually exclusive from agnostics. Some people are both atheist and agnostic.

Being an atheist requires nothing active or even conscious. Although some may completely reject the idea of God, most just do not believe in any proposition made by other religions. It is an absence of belief. Atheists do not believe in an afterlife. Their focus is on making life the best possible one. For some people, this may mean living their lives as they see fit, and it may or may not include a duty to care for others. They view religion from an outsider perspective, looking at human psychology as a source of why humans created their own belief systems, while at the same time, rejecting each of them.

Atheists most strongly believe in the separation of religion from government.

AmericanAtheist.org, Atheist Websites, 5-Catholic Teachings that Make Sense to Atheists, BBC: Reasons people choose atheism, Atheist on why Christianity is false, Top 5 Reasons Blog Post

---

Humanism

Humanists reject the idea or belief in a supernatural being such as God. Humanists can class themselves as agnostic or atheist. They aren’t as concerned with religion as they are with people.

Humanists have no belief in an afterlife, and seek only happiness in this life. They rely on science, and they base their moral/ethical decision-making on reason, empathy and compassion. They believe humans evolved naturally. They are ultimately concerned with human happiness and well-being. They are concerned with giving everyone an opportunity to have fulfilling lives. They believe as human beings, we are responsible for solving all of the world’s problems, particularly environmental ones in order to protect people in the future.

---

Unjust Atheist Discrimination

The video below investigates some surveys sent-out about people who unjustly discriminate against atheists. Some go so far as to believe that atheists are comparable to murderers and rapists.

I think that it’s important to note that these individuals can be good people without believing in God. Some atheists have done incredible good for humanity. Any form of discrimination toward an individual that undermine’s one’s dignity as a human person should is unprecedented and intolerable, even according to true religious adherents.

---

Non-religious people are people too. “We’re all in this together”

I think Bill Nye (“THE SCIENCE GUY… BILL BILL”… sorry unwarranted) brings up a fascinating point. He claims that we are all “agnostic,” and none of us can truly “know” that there is a God, so we’re better off just living our lives as human beings who love and support one another. Personally, I completely agree with his first statement, and I only disagree with the notion of “being better off” in his second. I think most deeply-rooted religious adherents would agree that natural human knowledge is inadequate to conclude the existence of God. Where they differ from Nye’s understanding is in their notion of supernatural faith that stems from a the gift of knowledge that does not limit one’s intellectual understanding; rather, believers would say that it expands it, exponentially. If you find this at all confusing, I recommend my posts “Knowledge: Virtue or Vice?,” “Born Good or Evil?” or “Why there’s no “proof” of God,” and “Geniuses of their time…close to truth?” to try to break-down how/why the religious believe in a supernatural notion of knowledge, faith, and the human person; of course, only if you’re interested.