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Old 08-31-2007, 04:47 PM   #8 (permalink)
pseudonous
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What is the difference between an agnostic who does not believe in god and an atheist?
If you define an atheist as someone who lacks a belief in god than an agnostic is an atheist. However, many buddists, ancestor worshipers, superstitious people, etc... are also atheists under this definition. This was the original meaning of the word as used by religious people who did not see a big difference between these groups.

If you define atheist as someone who believes, "god does not exist" then the difference is that agnostics do not believe "god does not exist" while an atheist believes "god does not exist". Most self proclaimed atheists fall under this definition, which is why Huxley coined the term agnosticism.
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