How can anyone NOT be agnostic? I really don't understand...?

Science has continuously proven more and more that many of the stories told in the bible are true. Anybody who thinks it's just a bunch of "fairy tales" just hasn't done the research...

Video.Google:

Dead Men's Secrets by Jonathan Gray

Archaeological Proof of the Bible

Zecharia Sitchin and/or Lloyd Pye

Africans In Science by Dr. Ivan Van Sertima

Also, I was not raised religiously. My personal beliefs developed and strengthened over time.

You fail to define "knowledge". Some epistemologies make this a far stricter standard than others. If, to have knowledge, one needs to prove logical falsity or logical necessity, then virtually no claim, including things like "I have blue eyes" are ones about which we do in fact have knowledge. If you are not evenly applying the strict standard across the board and only apply it to religion, you are using a double standard in terms of defining 'knowledge'. Most people equate knowledge with rational belief, setting up a certain standard for rationality. For example, scientific knowledge involves proof via the scientific process to attempt to get evidence so as to reach a rational position. If you are using scientific knowledge, the colloquial use of the word knowledge, or even utilizing the legal burdens of proof, it is a perfectly fair statement to say "I know no gods exist". Get back to me when you have a clear and consistent epistemology.

"Do you understand the inherent problem in PROVING things don't exist?" Actually, even under the strictest notions of knowledge and proof, this is possible. Logical self contradiction proves impossibility and therefore nonexistence. Consider, for example, a circular square. Such a thing is impossible by definition and cannot exist. Ever. It is possible for science to demonstrate certain things to be impossible indirectly, such as things which directly contradict the proven laws of the universe, but empiricist systems cannot start out with a negative claim, they can only utilize positive claims and the implications of those. Even an empiricist system, though it cannot prove something like "not A" directly can prove this is true by proving something true which makes A impossible. Say that A and B are mutually exclusive, like being a circle and being a square, then if you prove X is B, you have shown that it is 'not A'. The saying "you can't prove a negative" is based on the truth that empiricist systems must have a positive claim for evaluation, but it is not actually completely accurate even for empiricist systems and it is false for rationalist systems like logic and math.

"there is "NO PROOF EITHER WAY"..." I disagree with this. I think that if you count certain levels of evidence below logical necessity or logical falsity as proof, there is clear proof that god does not exist. Some definitions of god even fail under the strict logic test by involving self contradictory definitions. See the "Stone Paradox" for one example. Also, you misused the term "begs the question", that's a pet peeve of mine, so quit it.

It can be argued that everybody is an agnostic, in that there are thousands of gods that are theoretically possible and can't be proven or disproven. Agnosticism is about knowledge, or lack thereof (usually about gods). Theism and atheism have to do with belief in gods.

However, if we give characteristics to a god we may be able to determine if it exists. Thus we can logically look at Yahweh and Allah, because they have defined characteristics.

Nobody has proven that a god exists.

Here's a proof about the nonexistence of Yahweh and Allah, in four paragraphs:

There's no reliable evidence for Jesus, God/Yahweh, Allah, Zeus, Thor, or any of the thousands of other gods that people have worshipped. There's also extensive evidence that they are all just myths, created to help soothe our fear of death, and perpetuated through religion to subjugate the underclass into obedience.

Science has shown that there's no need for gods to explain the traditional reasons for a god -- origin of the universe, origin of life, origin of species, origin of humans, origin of morality. Science also shows us the psychological reasons that people believe in god(s).

If a god like Yahweh or Allah existed there would be explicit evidence. No such evidence exists, therefore these gods do not exist.

Yahweh and Allah are also internally and externally incongruent, and thus cannot logically exist. An omnipotent and omniscient god with free will can't exist, because it could not both know the future and change it. An omnipotent and omnibenevolent god can't exist and allow the true horrors that occur to sentient beings.

I am an Orthodox Jew, and I am completely aware that there's a huge unknown there.

I believe in God because there must have been some sort of initial creator.

People being God is far-fetched to me, hence being Jewish and only believing in a corporeal God.

Completely explaining why I LOVE my religion is too difficult to do in this one answer, because it would fill pages.

Every religion has little tidbits of truth.

(By the way, Judaism is the only religion substantiated by a mass revelation. [I'm not going missionary, it's not a missionary religion])

Just when I get really worried that an agnostic or athiest is going to be really smart and pose a question I can't possibly answer, along comes a person like you and renews my faith that you are all living in dark little caves, afraid to read.

For the 10,000th time, there IS NO PROOF EITHER WAY.. only "evidence" and all evidence (like common sense) is subjective. The only place that iron clad proof (balance) exists is in mathematics. You can not deny my power to doubt your evidence and vice versa.

What Christians have that you don't, is the power to use/prove the power of God to themselves... even "common sence" scientific test have "proven" the power of prayer without giving a "terrestrial" explanation.

PS... Talking snakes, virgin births, global floods etc, don't have to be literally real for God to exist.. real or not, those stories teach valuable lessons... as did Isis and Thor.

to believe in something does not necessarily mean to believe in the texts word for word. Most of my life I did not believe but some truly miraculous stuff has happened in my life and I can not chalk it up to anything but that there is something somewhere who is planning. Either that or I am extreamly lucky and I just dont think anyone could be this lucky. AND since I have embraced this change in belief my life has changed drastically for the better. It sounds insane but when something so GOOD happens to you that you NEVER thought would happen. Im talking all chances are against you and IT HAPPENS maybe youll start to think... maybe there is something out there somewhere

(so silly I KNOW... I know what your thinking.. this girl is nuts but it really happened. Im not trying to change you just explain how people come into believing) When something happens that is just so incredibly impossible you have to think... was it luck or was it fate?

I think you're right. There's all these religious weirdo's claiming to BELIEVE this or that... but they don't really BELIEVE anything. they WANT to believe maybe - but they don't actually BELIEVE because there's nothing to believe. Take a look around - god and jesus aren't present.

Religious folks have some old book and the memories of priests beating them until they claim that they BELIEVE - but frankly... there's nothing to believe - just some vague feeling of religiosity and a made-up story about Sky Daddy.

So actually everybody is an agnostic. None of us - atheist, believer or otherwise - really knows anything about all this god/religious stuff although there are those who certainly make Big Brave Claims to know stuff.

In my thinking, God is the light from within the atom. I came to Christianity because of its psychological effect. I know God exists because I see the light within the atom every day. If everyone sees the light within the atom every day, then I'm wondering why every other person cannot see that the light within the atom is God. I don't know why anyone would be Atheist or Agnostic. Just flip on the lights in your house and you'll see God.

Because not everyone thinks the same way as you do. Some of us actually think about the things Dawkins and Darwin and all the others say and realize the foolishness of people who just blindly follow what they say. That is no way to get knowledge and information.

yes, you are correct...

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I was born a christian, but lately I have become more agnostic in practice...

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the whole religion thing in general seems like a fairy tale,

if someone walked up to you and say, punched you, you would feel pain right...?

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and that would be very real, not something you imagined, right...?

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everything else is just a story, more or less...

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we cannot ignore what senses we DO have...