Neither theist nor atheist?

[Deeje]

I am an observer to the atheist/theist debate. From that and discussions with my parents many years ago when I was growing up, I don't see why there can't be a middle 'undecided' option. I don't see why it has to be one or the other.

In discussions with Mom or Dad when I was questioning life, the discussion would often go something like this.

Me: So do you believe in God?
Them: No, but I suppose it's possible.
Me: So you think there is no God?
Them: I suppose that's possible too.

These conversations were rare, because it simply wasn't a topic that was ever discussed unless some inquiring teenager brought it up. So is this officially agnosticism? Or is it just indifference to religion. Certainly to me it's neither atheism nor theism.

Thoughts?

I am always interested in what forms the foundation of any question. So, when asking about whether there is a "God" or not, why do we even need to ask that question?

Why do we need to choose between being an atheist or a theist? Or even between one theistic belief and another? If there is one true God, and he is real, why is his existence not beyond question for every intelligent person? Why isn't the right way to worship then also clearly evident to all?

The answer to that question is outlined in the Bible.....but is it answerable from any other belief system?

From the Christian perspective, there was a rebel spirit whose objective was to steal worshippers away from the true God by acting as a god himself. As his prime MO is deception, he was going to use every kind of falsehood to achieve his aims.

So why didn't God stop him from deceiving people and promoting lies about God's position as Universal Sovereign? Was there a valid reason for why God even permitted this? I believe there was. By allowing each and every one of us to choose our "God" and form of worship for our own reasons, we show the Creator who we really are. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

The false gods offer us something that is appealing to us on an individual basis. By creating many gods and belief systems, the devil siphons worship off for himself because whatever does not go to the true God, goes to him by default. He has a "religion" and 'gods' for every taste and he knows what appeals to humans, so he uses the right bait for all of us.

Only those who see through his deceptions and follow what the Bible says, will end up gaining what God offered the first humans in Eden....everlasting life in paradise conditions on earth. They threw it away thinking that they could do better by making their own decisions.....but here we are all these thousands of years later and we still can't get it right. God has allowed us the benefit of seeing for ourselves that we are hopeless at taking care of ourselves...each other....and the planet. We need his guidance.

There is no fence to sit on in this issue because we are living in a judgment period, just as Noah's generation were in a similar situation back then. Obey God and live.....disobey and die. Those were the conditions in Eden as well. We all have the same decision to make before "the end" comes. (Matthew 24:14; Matthew 24:37-39)

Those are my thoughts.....

 

[Milton Platt]

I am an observer to the atheist/theist debate. From that and discussions with my parents many years ago when I was growing up, I don't see why there can't be a middle 'undecided' option. I don't see why it has to be one or the other.

In discussions with Mom or Dad when I was questioning life, the discussion would often go something like this.

Me: So do you believe in God?
Them: No, but I suppose it's possible.
Me: So you think there is no God?
Them: I suppose that's possible too.

These conversations were rare, because it simply wasn't a topic that was ever discussed unless some inquiring teenager brought it up. So is this officially agnosticism? Or is it just indifference to religion. Certainly to me it's neither atheism nor theism.

Thoughts?

atheism addresses what you believe, not what you know. If you don’t have an active belief if a god, then you are atheist.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Undecided could always mean ''agnostic?'' I don't feel labels are necessary, tbh. It seems we only need them in order to prove something or define ourselves to someone else.

I hate religious labels myself. No matter what, people make assumptions and see what they want when I try to use something like "agnostic," and they completely miss the picture and assume I mean theist or atheist. I'm also not too fond of "undecided," as undecided implies you have sufficient data to make an educated consideration regarding the data. Inconclusive would be more accurate.

 

[crossfire]

I hate religious labels myself. No matter what, people make assumptions and see what they want when I try to use something like "agnostic," and they completely miss the picture and assume I mean theist or atheist. I'm also not too fond of "undecided," as undecided implies you have sufficient data to make an educated consideration regarding the data. Inconclusive would be more accurate.

How about "liberated?"

 

[Shadow Wolf]

How about "liberated?"

That works too. Overall, it seems the more removed we get from a "black and white" view of the world in general, and bring our views in line with the spectrum that is the natural world, the more liberated I feel. Me anyways. In so many areas there are people I wonder if they could even function if their black/white mentality got a minor crack in it.

 

[Willamena]

Nontheism - Wikipedia

"Theism is a deep-seated conviction that there's some hand to hold..."
I like that very much. It's poetic.

 

[Jim]

@Vinayaka I don’t know if this will help answer your question or not, but “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

I can’t make enough sense out the question that people are debating about when they debate about the reality or existence of God, to even start to try to answer the question. Whatever it is, it doesn’t look to me like anything that I need to know, for any of my purposes. In my own mind I don’t put any single fixed label on my lack of interest in those debates. My only interest in labels is to facilitate discussions with people who use them.

Incidentally, I think that calling the Religion of Abraham “monotheism” is missing the whole point of the scripture passages that people are reading that into, and diverting attention from the real issue. In my understanding, those passages are not about how many Gods there are. The God I see in those stories has no number. Not one. Not three. Not many. Not even zero. Not even the square root of minus one. Complex ... complex .., hmm, now there’s a thought ... I’ll be pondering that one. In polar coordinates His/Her/Zir/Their/Its number might be (0/0, 0/0)

 

[Vinayaka]

@Vinayaka

I can’t make enough sense out the question that people are debating about when they debate about the reality or existence of God, to even start to try to answer the question.

Indeed. Since posting the question, I've lost interest. What I've learned is that many folks seem to enjoy the topic. The amount of interest surprised me. The amount of 'my way of looking at it is right' also surprised me. Oh well.