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May 20, 2005 I'm an atheist, not an agnostic, and proudly so. Agnosticism seems more dishonest to me. Yes, I know the obvious – we can't disprove God, so how can I claim that atheism is more honest? Well, I could simply say that I strongly suspect that there is no God – this is my belief – and leave it at that. That would satisfy the definitions in play. Wouldn't this make atheism a religion then? No, it wouldn't. I also strongly suspect that unicorns don't exist. Can I be sure? Of course not – proving a negative is nearly impossible. What about gnomes? Hey, they recently discovered some hominid bones that were basically short human-like creatures – Hobbits they called them. So, while I strongly suspect that there are no gnomes, maybe, just maybe, in some isolated jungle somewhere ... well, you know where I'm going with this, I think; I do not adhere to a “unicorns-don't-exist-religion” just because I don't believe in them without knowing for sure that they don't exist. The inability to prove a negative doesn't a religion make, after all, there are a infinite number of negatives we can come up – we can sit around all day and say to each other, “you can't prove giant blue clams don't exist, therefore you belong to the 'anti-giant-blue-clams religion'”, “You can't prove that super tiny Darth Vaders don't exist, therefore, you belong to the 'anti-super-tiny-Darth-Vaders religion'”, and on and on and on. Atheism isn't a religion, it's a lack of belief in gods. The normal definitions of atheism, deism, theism and agnosticism, etc., are not really adequate. In actuality, a close examination of what I believe translates into “weak-atheism”, you can look it up if interested. It's basically about statistics for me. I think that there is a chance, yes, that there is some higher force. Of course, we can't know either way because there is no evidence either way - in that sense, I guess I'm an agnostic. However, I suspect that there is not such a force, I certainly don't need there to be one – I'm happy without their being one – in that sense, I guess I'm an atheist after all. I do not think that there is any chance, at all, that one of the gods we find described in our holy books exist. If they are to exist as stated in the texts, then I would submit that we do actually have evidence against their existence. The world is not 10,000 years old, and so forth. Now, we can take an enlightened view and say that those texts are merely metaphor. So be it, many these days do – that, however, relegates that specific god to the “god force” I was talking about a moment ago, at least for me. So to sum that bit up and make it relevant, there is a zero chance that the Christian God exists as described in the Bible – unless he is purposely trying to hide his own existence. I think atheism is more honest, therefore, because agnostics fail to name their own beliefs – they stick to a “safe” middle ground – a position seemingly defensible from all sides – a position that seems, at first glance, to appear more intellectual. In my personal and humble opinion, this is often lazy at worst and insincere at best. Ok, that's a bit rough – many agnostics are sincere folks who are just trying to figure out life like anyone else, but there are those that plaster on their badge of agnosticism, as if to say, “I am impervious to attack from either “side”, I have found the prefect position, just try and challenge me!” Hey, we need not be dogmatic about these things! Most of the universe is unknown to us! Any half-way intelligent atheist understands this, of course, and this explains the shape of the American Atheists logo – it's an atom, with part of the bottom missing. That bottom represents what's not yet known. If God reveals himself to us all tomorrow, there is no shame for having believed him to be non-real. Further, I rather think he would congratulate those that came to this conclusion, using the brain he himself gave us. If no god reveals itself, I will likely continue to honestly disbelieve. Honestly in one's beliefs isn't always pleasant – what can I say, I didn't make the universe complex, I just live here. Blame God, if you like – everything is, after all, his fault. ------------ About the author Frederick Smith: I enjoy writing about the positive virtues of humanism - humanists are the good guys. Email: dahlek65@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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