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Agnosticism
- Thread starter Eddi
- Start date
What were you before and why did you change?
I don't think there is a a particular way of life, just live as though you don't know gods exist or not until something come along to convince you that either
A/ gods do exist
B/ gods do not exist
Long story short:
Since 2020 I have been a Christian, I got baptised in 2020
But at times I have also believed that reality is a "simulation" of some kind but that was mostly my mental illness talking...
So before I recently became Agnostic I was a Christian - a protestant Christian
Recent global events (such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war in the Ukraine and the potential for WWIII both around Taiwan and in Europe) got me thinking about God...
Especially the so-called "Abrahamic God" which is what I believed in
If there is such a God then either it is being really careful and concerned and is delicately working behind the scenes to stop global events from getting any worse - or it is callously indifferent and has left its humans to their own devices and doesn't care one bit...
Of course, there would be no way of telling which of these is the case but to me the world just does not seem as though it is governed by a monolithic deity or anything like that - at least not a morally concerned one (which is what I used to believe in)
Indeed, I am beginning to think that it is more likely that a less concerned simulation is in charge than it is for the Christian God to be in charge
The way I see it, there is about as much evidence for there being a simulation than there is a kind of non-interventionist Deist God......
I see the evidence for each of these as being roughly equal
Yet with beliefs, there is safety in numbers. That will always be the case......
Basically, the current state of the world has taken its toll on my faith and the actions of believers of all faiths has lessened my faith in faith too
It does not seem as though religion is making people better people and the world a better place
I now count myself as being amongst the irreligious:
- I am agnostic about the Christian God
- I am also agnostic about there being a kind of Deist Supreme Being
- I am also agnostic about there being no God at all
- And also about reality being a simulation.........
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Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
According to Professor Richard Dawkins, it's a scientifically approachable topic since its a yes or no question.
It's discussed in his book, "The God Delusion" including the approach through agnosticism.
Either there is a God or there isn't a God.
Heyo
Veteran Member
And here Dawkins is wrong. The question isn't scientifically decidable, as the proposition "isn't even wrong". Without a definition, the proposition can't be examined. With a definition, the majority of believers will say: "the god you have just disproved isn't my god - so you haven't disproved god.".
I have never considered the idea that God is a servant
I think that belief is most likely a personal quirk of that man you know rather than a characteristic of all Agnostics
Heyo
Veteran Member
I don't know about a way of life, but there is a way of thinking, it's call scepticism. Agnosticism is mostly applied to the god question, but originally it is the general notion that one should withhold judgement towards every un-evidenced or unproven proposition. For me personally, that means that I don't listen to gossip, that I question news and I sometimes even question my perception and memory.
HonestJoe
Well-Known Member
Deep down, most people are and always have been. The shift isn't in belief, just realisation.
No. There is an Eddi way of life though. I'd suggest you focus on getting that one right.
When I identified as agnostic/atheist, it was a way of doing two main things: (1) practicing skepticism for skepticism's sake as I believed that was the only "intellectually honest" position possible, and (2) being non-committal and refusing to "stand for" anything, so to speak. Inherently, one cannot really build anything out of agnosticism. That's a major reason why I abandoned it - stories and lifeways cannot be built on no-knowing. But to be honest, I haven't really given agnosticism much thought since abandoning it almost two decades ago for gnosticism. It's hard to say what would or wouldn't have been built in my life if I had never committed to anything.
Ignatius A
Active Member
You arent sure if God exist so you're an atheist because you don't think anyone can know God exist, is that right? Why do you think they can't know that?
Heyo
Veteran Member
An Agnostic doesn't know about the existence or nature of gods.
An atheist doesn't believe the claim of the theists.
There are "soft" and "hard" Agnostics. The former think that god isn't known, the latter think that god can't be known.
There is at least ample evidence that gods aren't known. Just look around, and you'll find that the theists don't agree about any properties of "god", even so they had millennia to come to an agreement. They obviously don't know what they are talking about.
Ignatius A
Active Member
I was asking the poster called Eddi but thanks for your thoughts.
If a "hard" agnostic thinks God can't be known why wouldnt they just be an atheist?
What is the ample evidence God cant be known? Lumping all theist into one group is as nonsensical as atheist and agnostic are the same. I must say though I don't hold any agnostic in very high regard. There are only two possibilities in regard to God, he either exists or he doesn't.
Heyo
Veteran Member
IndigoChild5559
Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
I would love to hear your story.
Despite not knowing, we all have to choose how to live our lives. Will you live your life as if God does NOT exist, or will you live your life as though he DOES? Because while may not wish to make a positive statement one way or the other, you still have no choice but to act one way or the other.
I will just try and live my life as ethically as possible!
Although I am agnostic about God I know that morality is real and I believe that natural law has imposed an obligation on me to treat other beings ethically
IndigoChild5559
Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
There are also agnostic theists. I ought to know, being one. It means I think God can neither be proven nor disproven, we simply can never know. Yet despite this I choose to believe in God and to live my life as though he exists.
IndigoChild5559
Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
Which is absolutely awesome, and in my book, that counts the most. But without religious activity such as worship, it is basically choosing to live your life as though God doesn't exist, so even if your ideology is agnostic, your practice is atheist. Not putting you down, dude, its fine with me. I just want to bring clarity to your choice.
Heyo
Veteran Member
It seems you don't understand what (philosophical) Agnosticism entails. There are agnostic theists, but there can't be believing or practising Agnostics. What should we believe or practise when we don't know about the nature of god? Even if it existed, we wouldn't know what god(s) preferred. Any kind of worship is pure speculations about the nature of the gods.
You have not only chosen to believe in a god, but you have also chosen all the attributes your god has. There is probably no other person on Earth who believes in the same god as you.
We don't do that.