“Atheism - Absence of belief in the existence of deities/god; the opposite of theism”
You literally do the opposite. Maybe that’s your personal way of believing and that’s totally fine, but the term “atheism” has a official and specific definition. I’m a agnostic myself and I think a lot of people call themselves atheists but actually only oppose organized religion. If the concept of a god or the deities outside of religion is a theoretically possible concept for you, then you’re an agnostic!
Technically there are 4 basic positions and the two terms should be used together. Gnostic/Agnostic & theist/atheist.
Gnostics know their position is correct. Agnostics don’t.
Gnosticism deals with the problem of knowledge.
Theism deals with the problem of belief.
Many theists are gnostic. They know their God is real. Some theists are agnostic. They don’t know if their God is real, but they still believe in them.
Many atheists are agnostic. While they do not believe in a god, they do not know with certainty that gods do not exist.
From a theoretical standpoint, typically agnostic is the position most people should take, since the process of proving the existence/ non existence of God is typically considered impossible.
This terms weak/strong are also used to describe these positions where weak is the agnostic and strong is the gnostic position.
“Atheism - Absence of belief in the existence of deities/god; the opposite of theism”
You literally do the opposite. Maybe that’s your personal way of believing and that’s totally fine, but the term “atheism” has a official and specific definition. I’m a agnostic myself and I think a lot of people call themselves atheists but actually only oppose organized religion. If the concept of a god or the deities outside of religion is a theoretically possible concept for you, then you’re an agnostic!
Technically there are 4 basic positions and the two terms should be used together. Gnostic/Agnostic & theist/atheist.
Gnostics know their position is correct. Agnostics don’t.
Gnosticism deals with the problem of knowledge.
Theism deals with the problem of belief.
Many theists are gnostic. They know their God is real. Some theists are agnostic. They don’t know if their God is real, but they still believe in them.
Many atheists are agnostic. While they do not believe in a god, they do not know with certainty that gods do not exist.
From a theoretical standpoint, typically agnostic is the position most people should take, since the process of proving the existence/ non existence of God is typically considered impossible.
This terms weak/strong are also used to describe these positions where weak is the agnostic and strong is the gnostic position.