"Blasphemy. Blasph-you. Blasph-everyone in the room..." (Agnosticism)

Member Name: dididave

Product:	Agnosticism
Date:	19/01/09 (128 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free to decide which religion you want to go for

Disadvantages: It is all a bit wishy washy this agnosticism innit?

Agnosticism? Is that not the oh so common prejudice against agnostics which is so prevalent in society today? Apparently not. There was me thinking this was my excuse for a rant against people who treat all us agnostici gnoramuses who cannot be arsed making an informed decision. Too lazy to be atheists and too scared to be religious we are thought of as the perennial fence sitters hedging our bets in a half-hearted attempt to get into a glorious afterlife in a sneaky back door fashion. As if any God would be so stupid and forgiving as to let an agnostic in on a technicality. Hmmm or maybe they would that is the joy of agnosticism.

"There's nothing an agnostic can't do if he doesn't know whether he believes in anything or not"
MONTY PYTHON

My agnosticism is perhaps the result of an apathetic religious upbringing. Growing up in a typical tea and biscuits Church of England household religious teachings were very much on an ad-hoc basis filtered down via the odd episode of "Highway" and a picture book of Bible Stories at Christmas. This watered down Christianity gave me no strong religious feelings and I entered adolescence with a feeling of apathy towards religion in general. After all Church of England is not really a religion now is it?

"I shall call it the Psychotic Bastard Religion (err how about Church of England)."
EDDIE IZZARD

High School opened my eyes to religion I took a genuine interest in all faiths. I debated often in class with teachers and students alike and was surprised at how fervently some were anti-abortion, divorce and gay. Despite being in a multi-faith school I had rarely encountered this and found it a little disturbing. Religion seemed to me to be a reason for people to be ignorant and bigoted, certainly in the case of Christianity and I found myself drawn to alternative religions particularly Hinduism. The idea of good and bad Ka (or karma) contributing to your potential re-incarnation appeals to me and has a sense of justice to it. Far more so than the forgiving God who I heard so much of in assembly. I found it increasingly unfeasible that a God would forgive murderers but potentially send homosexuals to hell! These feelings led me to proudly proclaim myself to be an atheist through college much to the shock of many around me. I have to admit some of this was to annoy people as nothing is more satisfying than saying "prove it" to the devout. Did I truly believe there was nothing out there? Possibly not but at that time I found it more comforting than the concept of the judgmental figure found in organised religion.

"Gods like to see an atheist around. Gives them something to aim at."
TERRY PRATCHETT

Despite taking an active interest in religion and religious debate for many years I still remain largely uncertain. So many religions yet only one true God in nearly all of them. All these similarities yet all the various faiths deny each other. With the contradictions of organised religion so obvious it would seem that agnosticism is perhaps the only way any logical person can go. Perhaps this is my problem. Religion is all about having faith and as yet no one religion has given me any. Have I prayed? Of course I have. Have I received any answer? Never. I hate to be a skeptic but religion seems to be the support system for those indoctrinated by it and is mainly a way of keeping order and providing comfort to the dying. I have no problem with this. My wife and kids are Catholic and it provides them with comfort and a sense of community I can never share. Whether I believe in their God is however, a different matter.

My view as an agnostic is not that of some. Wikipedia again refers to a strong agnostic who might say:

"I cannot know whether a God exists or not, and neither can you."

I would not fall into this camp. I would say I cannot know whether there is a God, you believe whatever makes you happy and we will see what happens when I kick the bucket. Your belief may be right but at this time and in this place I do not share it. This seems like a very all encompassing point of view but if their was an "each to their own" religion I would be it's leader!

Agnosticism is so often seen as an option for the weak-willed and indecisive but I disagree. We long to be proved wrong but their is no real argument one way or another. Atheists simply say "prove it" and religions say "have faith". Neither have a conclusive answer which is why I suspect, I will be a fence sitter until the day I die. I look forward to getting a "I told you" so speech in Heaven or Hell.

Summary: Huh? Did any of this make sense.