Journal IrresponsibleUseOfFr's Journal: Why I'm Agnostic...
I was encouraged to write this by the following link: Aethists Are People, Too. While I'm not an aethist, people frequently confuse the two, and lump them together to a group of anti-christian people.
I would like to state that I'm not anti-christian. I'm actually a fan of Jesus Christ, I think that he gives a lot of good advice about how we should act and how we should conduct our lives. I however don't believe in an afterlife. I also don't believe Jesus was a messiah, son of God, Lord and savior, etc. Nor do I think Jesus and the Bible are necessarily the final say when thinking about morality.
There are many reasons to be Christian. However, I choose to live my life according to reason. There are many facts about the world that I'm more sure of than the veracity of the Bible because I experience them, I see them, I understand where they come from and can understand their reasoning. The Bible on the otherhand purports to be a book of truth, that must be accepted on faith even if evidence directly contradicts it. As a stupid example, in order for story of creation to mesh with the fact that we have skeletal remains of dinosaurs many wild and strange arguments have to be made. Such as, maybe God didn't mean 7 days, He meant 7 God days which could be thousands of years. Which I can only reply, if God is a perfect being, wouldn't he have thought of that and been a little bit more explicit. Perhaps, not calling them days in the first place. Another reconciliation is that the story should not be taken literally, which seems to directly contradict the claim that the book should be taken as the one and only truth. I mean, should have God prefaced it by: this should not be taken literally, or this does not match up with things that you'll later dig out of the ground. Or worse, God or Satan chose to place dinosaur bones in the ground to trick us and test our faith. Of which, you'd have to make this claim any time facts did not match up with the Bible (which happens frequently). And it isn't clear why God would want this to happen or why He is so mysterious especially since He will send you to eternal damnation or heaven by his side as a result. I find all of these to be a very tall order. I choose to accept the fact that the Bible was written by human beings trying to explain what they felt their relationship with God was. In the end, that is just an opinion, not truth. I can have no conviction behind that, and I am most displeased when others try to cover up other, better explainations because it doesn't match up with their opinion which has no basis in fact or truth.
The biggest problem I have with religion is that it always requires faith. Or to put it another way you have to be biased. You to come in from the perspective that the Bible, Koran, etc. is right and everything else is wrong. Well, how do you know that? Tracing it back, it comes down to your parents. Babies born in isolation wouldn't spontaneously become Christians, Muslims, Hindus or Buddists. The bias of what you believe comes from your parents and how you are raised. I don't consider that a sound ground for truth. I want to believe in a morality that is true for all people, not one based solely on how I was raised or who my parents were. So, I reject religion in favor of reason and facts. From facts and reason I try to derive ways of living my life such that I consider everyone my equal (reciprocity) and I leave no one worse off. I also try to help people when I can, but that is a virtue, not a strict requirement of being moral.
So, where does that leave me with God? I don't know. God might be out their watching, but He is not a personal God. Not a God that I know. I don't believe He is embodied in any religion or requires any faith, but I could be wrong. There is much in this world that I can't explain. Where do the rules that govern the universe come from? I don't know. I don't have the capacity or the will to find reason for it all. I exist, I have a will, and this is what I believe. If God intended for me to live my life another way then it was His mistake, for I have a will and I have a choice and this is the decision that I have made. It is the gift that He gave me. If others say that I am going to hell because of the choice I made, so be it. I accept my punishment. Since the ability to choose freely and to do what I know is right in this life is more valuable to me than an eternity in heaven and more than a worthy exchange for an eternal punishment in hell.
Why I'm Agnostic... More Login
Why I'm Agnostic...
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