I'd like to propose that the Agnostics DIR is moved out of the Non-theistic/Non-religious DIR and is totally separate from it. Here's a few reasons:
Any thoughts?
- In Practice, Agnostics are not non-theists or non-religious. They are simply "undecided" on the matter. They should therefore be in a "neutral" environment rather than in with the atheists.
- Even though "Agnostic Atheists" blur the distinction between Atheism and Agnosticism, their "lack of belief" is typically based on assuming a "lack of evidence". Strong Agnostics assert the impossibility of knowing whether god exists and Weak Agnostics are undecided. This is not the same thing and given that "revealed theology" will be treated often as an illegitimate path of knowledge as "blind faith" this means atheists can dictate terms of debate. Consequently, Agnostic Atheists are in practice atheists because they have made a decision, whereas Weak Agnostics have not and Strong Agnostics do not believe a decision is possible.
- An Agnostic DIR is potentially a space where people who "don't know" can ask questions and answer them without the intervention of either Theists or Atheists. As we now have to select which DIR we use before we can post, this means that it is now possible to have a space where people are free to make a genuinely independent decision about which faith to join, or if they do not want to join any at all. In the long-run this may create a more conducive environment for those who are "seeking" to find their religion.
- As the recent poll shows "Atheist/Agnostic/Irreligious" group make up almost 50% of the respondents to the poll, and therefore likely to represent the active members of the forum. This give them a significant ability to determine the content of the forum and is not necessarily healthy in the long-run. In so far as the forum is a marketplace of ideas, it is within the rights of staff members to promote competition between belief systems to ensure diversity of beliefs as part of RF's culture and protect minority belief systems from the intentional or unintentional power of a larger group to dictate the terms of debate or the culture of the forums.
Any thoughts?