Aug 15 2009
Thoughts on an Early Saturday Morning…
I’ve been traveling, and had a very good dinner last night with a good friend. We started talking about spirituality, and what each of us believes, and it was a very interesting conversation. I told her, that after 10 years away from the church, I know I don’t believe in Christianity, and that I’m skeptical of all religions at this point. All of that said, I’m still an agnostic because I’m not positive that there is nothing out there. This may come as a surprise to those of you who have been reading my blog, but maybe not.
I know that I don’t believe in a guy in the sky, I don’t believe in the Bible, I don’t believe in any other organized religion. However, I won’t count out completely that there is something out there that connects all of us. Perhaps science connects us, perhaps something more than science connects us, perhaps nothing connects us… but after being so rigid and full of dogma on the Christian side of things, I refuse to be that way on the other side.
What does all of this mean… well, it means that I’m not interested in some book written by men to try and get lots of people to follow them and do what they wanted. I’m not interested in anything that states EVERYTHING must be this this way, or must ALWAYS be another way. I’m interested in allowing people to live their life, believe (or not believe) what they want, and not pushing others to believe (or not believe) what they do. That’s it.
I write this blog because I struggled with the whole ‘leaving Christianity’ thing. Because I know there are others out there who have gone through or are going through something similar and may want to know they are not alone. Because, I like to write… it helps me process… and I am still processing… probably always will be to some degree. I’m in a better place than I was when I first left, less bitter, less angry… but not entirely rid of these emotions. I still get angry and frustrated and emotional over things I read and see. What gets me going? When I see any religion (but, admittedly, the Christian Church affects me most because of my own history with it) telling those who are not in their religion that they must follow their rules, even though they don’t believe it.
2 responses so far
I’m with you. There is no way to be completely certain. i always say that I am atheist regarding the gods and religions known to humans thus far.
I don’t know about you, but I also feel that trying to find that something that COULD be out there is fruitless. In other words, even if there is a slight chance that something is out there, I feel that trying to figure out what that is is a waste of time. I suppose that I am too practical. I prefer to concern myself with “sure things” rather than with possibilities.
I agree with Lorena. It’s possible that there is something supernatural that created or effects the universe, because it’s impossible to prove that there is not, but our chances of finding it, at this stage, seem pretty unlikely.
Under the definition of Atheism espoused by George H. Smith, “Atheism: The Case Against God,” you are an atheist if you do not affirmatively believe in a god or gods. That describes me. He defines an Agnostic as somebody who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a god or gods. Using these definitions, a person could be either an agnostic-atheist or an agnostic-theist.
Atheist vs. Theist goes to belief in the existence of a god or gods.
Agnosticism addresses whether you believe it is impossible for humans to know the truth.