Two Rabbis argued late into the night about the existence of God, and, using strong arguments from the scriptures, ended up indisputably disproving His existence. The next day, one Rabbi was surprised to see the other walking into the shul for morning services.
"I thought we had agreed there was no God," he said.
"Yes, what does that have to do with it?" replied the other.
"I thought we had agreed there was no God," he said.
"Yes, what does that have to do with it?" replied the other.
Is there a sense or way in which agnostics are generally or usually "closer to god" than either atheists or theists? If so, what is that sense or way?
It is an assumption -- especially in the West, I think -- that having the right, proper, or true beliefs about god brings you in some sense or way "closer to god".
So, for instance, some theists dedicate years to studying and cultivating what they consider right, proper, or true beliefs about god in the anticipation that doing so will deepen and enrich their religiosity or spirituality, and thus bring them closer to god. But even many theists who do not put tremendous effort into cultivating true beliefs, tend to assume that true beliefs will bring them closer to god than false beliefs.
But is that assumption warranted? Is it really the case that true beliefs are generally or usually effective or even efficacious in bringing us closer to god?
I would submit that the assumption can be legitimately doubted. Moreover, I think it is even -- not merely possible -- but actually probable that both false and true beliefs can usually -- but perhaps not always -- hinder or prevent one from becoming closer to god in a certain, specific way.
Of course, the key here is to recognize that the issue crucially depends on what one means by "closer to god".
If one means "closer to god" in an everyday, normal, non-mystical sense, then perhaps one does become closer to god via belief -- and closer via true beliefs than via false beliefs. Moreover, there may be more than one way in which one can potentially become closer to go in a normal, non-mystical sense.
For instance, one might be convince that ones belief in god as X is true. The firmness of ones conviction could then translate directly into an emotional feeling of closeness, and in that sense, ones belief might bring one closer to god.
Or, it could be that adopting certain moral beliefs and acting on them might in some sense bring you closer to god. We might call this "righteousness" in the sense of "being in the right relationship to deity".
But however ones beliefs might bring you closer to god in normal, everyday ways is not at issue here.
What is at issue -- what I wish to discuss -- is whether or not beliefs are effective in bringing about the mystical experience -- which is so often identified as an experience of god.
The mystical experience is here defined as the kind of experiencing that comes about when normal, everyday consciousness (i.e. subject/object perception) abruptly ends while some form of experiencing continues.
In this context, the notion of "becoming closer to god" refers to having that sort of mystical experience.
I have hinted at my position on this, but I will reserve a fuller disclosure of it for later on in this thread.
Comments? Observations? Rants? Irrelevant Digressions? Angst Induced Confessions of Spiritual Yearning?