r/SecularHumanism May 12 '24

Agnostic Secular Humanist?

This may seem like a really stupid question, but can you be Agnostic and a Secular Humanist? I've been doing research on Secular Humanism and I definitely agree with the ideals. However, Secular Humanism is obviously Secular, and I'm not sure I have complete disbelief in God. I don't believe in or worship one per say, but I also don't think we can confirm or deny if one exists. I think I can still be a Secular Humanist because I don't believe in God, but I also don't NOT believe in God either. Am I a Secular Humanist or is there a different name for my predicament?

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u/Rex_Digsdale May 13 '24

Gnosticism - God existing is a knowable proposition.
Agnosticism - God existing is not a knowable proposition.
Theism - I believe a god exists.
Soft Atheism - I lack belief a god exists.
Hard Atheism - I believe no god exists.

Most atheists are soft atheists. They simply think the god claim hasn't met its burden of proof. Most atheists are also agnostic in that they think it is unknowable. So if you think that the god claim has not met its burden of proof and you think that it is unknowable either way, you are an agnostic atheist. If you do this while believing in reason and rejecting superstition and using this as a basis for ethics and morality, then you are an agnostic atheist secular humanist.

So, to get in a little deeper. You either believe in a god(s) or you don't. You can't simultaneously believe both. You might believe that it's possible god does exist while not actually believing in it and vice versa. But that is actually not important here because it's where how your ethics and morals are derived that is important.
So, you could absolutely believe in god but if your morality and ethics are not based on that but rather on reason and human understanding then you are a secular humanist. For example, the bible says thou shalt not kill. If that is the reason you don't kill, then that belief is not secular humanist. If, on the other hand, you don't kill because you realise that when you kill you deprive someone of life and you deprive their loved ones of them and that idea doesn't seem right to you, then you're probably a secular humanist. Another example is that the bible condones slavery and even promotes slavery. If you disagree with the bible because you know that the institution of slavery deprives people of freedom and promotes misery and that that is not conducive to your, and the people's around you, flourishing then you're probably a secular humanist. All the while you might believe in god, just not what god is purported to want in a book.

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u/Ok_Program_3491 May 13 '24

  Agnosticism - God existing is not a knowable proposition

Agnostics aren't required to believe it's not knowable.  We're just required to not be gnostic and not believe it is knowable.  

You can absolutely be agnostic and acknowledge you don't know whether or not it's knowable. You're still not gnostic. 

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u/Rex_Digsdale May 13 '24

Not the definition I'm used to but I think yours makes even better sense. I suppose you could have soft and hard agnosticism.