Atheism and Agnosticism Key Terms

Atheist

a person who does not believe in the existence of a supreme being/divine power/God/gods/deity

Agnostic

a person who believes that we do not and currently cannot truly know of the existence or nature of a supreme being/divine power/God/gods/deity

Humanism

a system of thought that stresses the importance of human matters over divine matters. Humanists believe people can live meaningful, fulfilling, and ethical lives using empathy, scientific reason, and humanity as guides. Ethical decisions in humanism are those that are geared toward the welfare of human beings other sentient animals. Although humanism is an organized system of thought, there is no obligation for a person to belong to an organized humanist group in order to consider themselves a humanist

The Ten Commitments of Humanism

1. Altruism

2. Care for the world around you

3. critical thinking

4. Empathy

5. Ethical Development

6. Global awareness

7. Humility

8. Peace and social justice

9. Responsibility

10. Service and participation

Altruism

unselfish concern for the welfare of others with no expectation of personal gain

Care for the world around you

the recognition that human beings depend on one another and on the
natural world and should thus play an important role in caring for the world and the earth’s inhabitants

Critical thinking

the duty to ask “why” and to observe, experiment, analyze, and test the world around us as we gather information and seek accuracy and truthfulness

Empathy

the obligation to understand others’ feelings, build relationships with others, and build sensitivity to the ways our actions affect others’ lives

Ethical development

the duty to learn ethics, confront moral issues, and approach decisions based on good/bad and right/wrong

Global awareness

the responsibility to seek knowledge about human interconnectedness, diverse
cultures, and the responsibilities of global citizenship

Humility

the acceptance that we have much to learn about the universe and that science can and does surprise us and cause us to question pre-existing beliefs

Peace & social justice

the duty to learn about the problems of global injustice, protect human rights
throughout the world, and promote peace across nations, religions, and cultures

Responsibility

the duty to behave in ways that are morally, legally, and ethically responsible and to take accountability for our mistakes

Service & participation

the responsibility to seek fulfillment in life through acts of service toward
human rights and ideals.

Secular

unrelated to the spiritual or religious world; related to the physical world

Nihilism

the belief that nothing in life has any meaning, that we have no control over what happens, that moral reasoning is useless, and that existence itself is pointless. We include this term in our course because, unfortunately, it is common for people to equate atheism/agnosticism/humanism with nihilism. Nihilism is not a condition of being atheist/agnostic/humanist. Nihilism is a separate philosophy. Being an atheist/agnostic/humanist does not make someone a nihilist

Categories of Atheists/Agnostics

A group of researchers studied atheists/agnostics and determined there were at least six categories. This is included in our course because it helps us to see that, just like there are multiple denominations of a religious tradition and multiple ways to practice a single religion, there also are multiple ways a person can be an atheist/agnostic.

Academic/intellectual atheists

these individuals proactively try to educate themselves on various topics
related to the search for truth and meaning. Typically well-versed in a variety of subjects and enjoy engaging in healthy intellectual debate and discussion.

Activist atheists/agnostics

these individuals are socially active (commonly with humanistic ideologies)
and feel a duty to vocalize beliefs and engage proactively regarding social issues and concerns. Individuals in this group are not content to be idle and instead feel a duty to fight for a better world

Seeker agnostics

these individuals are agnostics who recognize the difficulty with taking a firm stance regarding ideologies and metaphysical subjects. They believe current human knowledge is limited and are open to/actively search for information to support or disconfirm claims of truth. Rather than choosing a firm ideological position, they search for meaning and truth that believe are not yet fully discovered

Antitheists

these individuals are assertive and even aggressive in their belief (or disbelief) about the existence of a supreme being/divine power/God/gods/deity. View religion as a sign of ignorance and see religious institutions as socially problematic

Non-theists

these individuals can be described as apathetic toward and disinterested in seeking knowledge about religion or non-religion. This topic area is simply not a big part of their life

Ritual Atheists

these individuals do not believe in a supreme being/divine power/God/gods/deity, but may find utility in some of the teachings of various religious traditions. In particular, they may participate in the more philosophical teachings of religions that focus on how to live one’s life. They may participate in specific ceremonies, classes, traditions, and rituals associated with one or more religious traditions and gain a sense of personal meaning from this participation.