| I recently received a mailing from an Iowa atheists organization. I've previously posted things about my lack of religion on here before, which, much to my frustration, is usually incorrectly categorized as atheism. The fact that an organization that I've previously been completely disassociated with would assume me as a member of their club was disturbing to me. After all, to me, atheism is just as much a religion as any theistic religion. It requires just as much of a leap of faith to believe that God doesn't exist as it does to believe that He does. I kinda doubt anyone really cares what I think on the subject, but I also didn't like what that mailing represented, which was a gross misunderstanding about my lack of faith. So, I felt like I should get this out in the open, to explain my lack of religious beliefs. I wouldn't consider myself to be Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, or a member or any traditional religion. I would equally scoff at the notion of being called an atheist. This basically leaves me with agnosticism. Princeton defines "agnostic" as "a person who claims that they cannot have true knowledge about the existence of God (but does not deny that God might exist)." That fits me perfectly. For me, it's the one true logical answer. If you do your best to strip away any preconceived notions about God and look at the subject objectively (which I fully realize is a virtually impossible task), you have to concede that there is no observable, irrefutable, scientific proof that He exists. You also have to concede that the lack of concrete proof is not in of itself proof of His non-existence. Therefore, no one can truly be, 100%, completely sure, right? I know it's not that easy. I once had an atheist ask me why people got so upset when he poked fun at their faith. I answered him by saying that, even though I was not a person of faith, it seemed to me that faith was a lot like love. I could explain to you why I love my wife and my kids. I could tell you how I got there, the steps in our lives that drew us closer together over time, but I would never be successful at conveying that feeling. You would never share it and you could never take that feeling away from me. I would be very offended if you questioned that love, just like how people get upset when you question their faith. With that in mind, I've always made an effort not to pass judgement on someone because of their faith. We all come to different answers to things every day, both big and small. I certainly won't agree with every solution you have and I would never expect you to agree with all of mine. But, "agnostic" gives me a title for my religion, or lack thereof. There are definitely certain aspects of religion that, frankly, have pushed (and continue to push) me away, but I do by-and-large envy those that find comfort in it. |
