Ah yes. Being lectured on critical thought by a guy who can't even read. Agnosticism is the neutrality or lack of belief (and disbelief) in God. Atheism is the positive belief there is no God.
Who cares? We could cite as many online dictionaries as we like to prove our respective points. The problem with all these secular definitions of religious phenomenon is they lack appropriate context. In traditional Christian circles, the occult is any religious practice or belief that worships a God other than Christ/Yahweh. What dictionary.com has to say on the matter is rather moot...I understand your point. And if I was agnostic, looking in, I'd see a similarity too. But once you take a few more steps in your spiritual journey, you'll realize they're not.
Don't kid yourself. Agnostics are PC atheists. For all intents and purposes, they live their lives in the same way. "Agnostics" just haven't taken the last step out of the shadow, either for appearances or personal comfort. Atheists place as much legitimacy on God as they do in Santa Claus because both have the same level of evidence to support their existence. As Stephen Roberts noted, "I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." So you see, you're an atheist too, just slightly less so.
Dude, I couldn't care less if you wrote a book or took off for lunch. I only responded because I'm bored and don't want to go to bed yet...
Well, it's all conjecture, at this point. I agree with your contention that agnostics are basically closeted atheists. Still, you'll never be able to rattle my cage about religion, because I personally know Christ exists, He is God, and the spiritual realm is very real. All I can suggest, if you're serious: ask Christ to prove Himself to you, if He's real. He will. Outside that, my point is the origin of life and the universe is very much beyond the realm of scientific understanding, and forever will be. It takes as much faith to cling to scientific theories on the origin of life as it does theistic ones. For the sake of congruency, lets get real and admit atheists engage in as much faith-based speculation as their much-hated religious brethren do. Which was my entire point to begin with.
do you think a brainwashed person ever says "yep im brainwashed"? just the opposite, they are always sure what they believe is true.
You're correct in that there is no definite line between atheist and agnostic. But you are really just arguing semantics, and your first question is all just perspective too. To atheists, all religion is occult. To Christian, any non-christian faith including atheism is occult. To Muslims, the same is true of all infidels. The word occult is defined by the user. Anyway, to distinguish between agnostic and atheist is like comparing a political independent to a liberal. There is no distinct line. Strictly speaking, an atheist believes that the existence of any God is a proven falsehood. An agnostic believes that the existence or nonexistence of God is not provable, and therefore not knowable. The agnostic IMO has a more solid footing than an atheist, because an atheist will always claim that science proves a nonexistent God. Religion will always claim that God simply used the science to accomplish things. The agnostic recognizes that science will never be able to prove the nonexistence of God, but it might eventually be able to prove the existence of a Creator at some point in the indefinite future. You say that agnostics are PC atheists. I say that the vast majority of atheists are really agnostic, but they don't understand the term. They'll believe in God when there is proof that God exists. But the possibility of God cannot be proven false.
you could but only through ignorance. there is this little thing called evidence i have on my side. the atheist takes a position based on the best available evidence whereas the believer takes a position in spite of the best available evidence. Or don't you see that?