Is agnosticism more intellectually honest?

I think everyone has to be technically "agnostic" when it comes to immaterial beings including theists-- we can't "know" whether such beings exist or not, but since they tend to be indistinguishable from non-existent (or mythical) beings, it's rational to treat them as such.In my experience it's theists who claim knowledge they don't actually have. It's they who claim to "know" certain invisible beings exist (gods, souls, angels, and demons) while being certain that others don't (Xenu, fairies, incubi, Thetans, invisible penguins, gremlins etc.) Moreover, they often claim to know what these invisible beings did, think, do, want, etc. Of course, they don't agree with each other, and brain scans show that theists tend to imagine that their god thinks just like them. Just a moment... Atheists don't lay claim to divine knowledge or "higher truths". I want to know what believers are using to determine the real immeasurable entities and realms from the imaginary ones. I don't think there is a valid method for doing so, though every believer in the supernatural seems to think they've found the secret. I'm not even sure I've heard a clear definition of god.I see no evidence that any immaterial/divine/magical beings exist and so I disbelieve in all of them. I think if there were evidence for such things, scientists would be testing, refining, and honing that evidence to distinguish such things from illusions. I don't even know what an immaterial being would be-- how it could think or feel or perceive anything without sensory organs and a brain. As far as I'm concerned, they are all cut from the same cloth as the proverbial emperor's new clothes. Sure, there could be invisible fabrics that only the "chosen" can see, but...A lot of agnostics seem to think that agnosticism is "being on the fence" about the existence of god-- but why would you be on the fence about god if you aren't on the fence about gremlins or invisible penguins? Heck I'm not even on the fence about alien visitation. I don't believe that aliens are visiting people even though I understand that some people truly believe they ARE getting such visits and there are very likely to be aliens on other planets.I think a lot of people fear consequences of non-belief in god, and so they claim to be on the fence in case some invisible overlord cares and would punish them for lack of faith. I also think the religions have indoctrinated people to hear the term "atheist" as being scary. People have been indoctrinated to believe that "having faith" is the equivalent of "being moral". Edited by articulett, : No reason given.

The evidence for these things existed even before we discovered such things. Contrast this to gods and such-- people appear to believe in all sorts of invisible magical and mystical beings despite there never having been an iota of evidence for any such being and lots and lots of evidence that people are prone to delusions on the subject. Moreover, whenever we find a real explanation, it never is a supernatural explanation... in fact, believing in the supernatural, often makes it very hard for people to understand actual facts.If it rains after a rain dance, you are less likely to learn that dances have no affect on the weather. And if it doesn't rain and yet you believe rain dances affect weather, then you would probably just conclude that you need to try harder and add a few steps or something. The believer in rain dances is, not only less likely to learn actual causes of rain, they are unlikely to learn about drought resistant crops and irrigation techniques and other scientific advancements. I'd say the same is true with all superstitions including those involving gods.(Remember people invented their gods back in a time when they were not aware of things like schizophrenia, logical fallacies, the scientific method, and such. Science has error correcting mechanisms; faith does not.)

But I don't think the believer in the supernatural really knows anything... they just feel like they do. To me, the believer in the 3-in-1 Jesus-god is as deluded as the Mormon, the Scientologist, the Muslim, the rain dancer, the schizophrenic and the neighbor lady who thinks she saw a chupacabra.I don't see how any of their supernatural beliefs are any more likely to be true than the supernatural beliefs they dismiss. I understand that believers in such things FEEL like they have good reasons to believe, but in my experience, real things are distinguishable from delusions when tested. Believers seldom put their faith to such a test. They would rather keep believing than to find out that they were as wrong as all those other believers in the "wrong" faiths.Naturalists tend to be people who were once believers, but they got tired of fooling themselves. They'd rather admit to not knowing than to believe a lie. When you believe a lie, you are likely to confirm your biases and unlikely to learn the truth as it is discovered.
Those who imagine themselves saved for their beliefs have an especially strong interest in preserving their faith and finding ways to negate all information that threatens it.

Thoughts evolved in creatures who survived better that their peers that weren't so thoughtful. So did pain. And the will to live. And socia skills.It's not really a magical mystery that requires us to invoke an immaterial magical thought giver.If our true natures were immaterial, why even invent matter-- without matter, there'd be no pain, hunger, poop, mess, etc. Why not heavenly perfection for all beings all the time.From my experience, god is a much bigger "conundrum" than he's supposed to explain. He doesn't really make any sense-- and I know theists are told that it's all part of the mystery of god and that it's arrogant to think you can understand god, but I don't think there's really anything there to be understood.