A week of spiritual expressions: This is the fifth in a series of columns on various belief systems for the week. For Technician’s introduction to the series, visit “Introducing a week of spiritual beliefs.”
That’s correct, I am not an atheist. I am an agnostic. For those who may be reading this and don’t have the slightest clue as to what an agnostic is, I am here to inform you and make it crystal clear I am far from an atheist. I’m not implying there is anything wrong with such beliefs; however, an atheist and an agnostic are completely different.
A person who defines themselves as agnostic does not follow a set religion, and he or she is somewhat skeptical of the idea of an actual God or the idea that an afterlife exists. We do not incorporate faith in different saints, as with the Catholic faith, believe in Jesus or have any set practice. More than anything, agnostics are part of a spiritual group following individual morals and personal values and beliefs.
The literal meaning of agnostic is, “I don’t know,” so to ask an agnostic if he or she truly believed in God would be a waste of time, because we cannot say one way or another that we simply do not know, as we have no physical evidence or proof one way or another. This is where most people who are not agnostic get thoroughly confused, because they think you either know or you don’t know, and therefore equate agnosticism to atheism. But in reality, we just have doubt, whereas an atheist fully believes in the nonexistence of God or a higher power.
Becoming agnostic was more of a choice for me than most people who grow up in a very strong religious background. For instance, those who grow up Christian, Muslim, Catholic and so on tend to carry their traditions and religion throughout their lives and into the next generation. But for me, even though my parents would drag me to church, I never had to read the Bible or go to Sunday school. If I wanted to become a hard-core Christian, then by all means I could, but if I wanted to see what else was out there, my parents were not going to hold me back.
I chose to become agnostic when I started realizing just how much tension is created in our world because of religion. I know those who believe in a God and believe in a religion believe simply because it brings a form of comfort into their lives, knowing the good things and bad things happening to them are because a much higher power has decided their fate. That’s fine.
But my biggest problem with this idea of religion is the belief God likes one thing but hates something else. How are we honestly to say what God likes and dislikes? I’m pretty sure none of us have had a conversation with any God. It is completely absurd to me when we use religion and God to bring down those who do not believe in the same God as we do or have the same religious beliefs. Religion divides our world, and completely stops us from being willing to just experience each other’s culture, because we are taught our way is the best way and all other ways are wrong. I’ve always thought the whole idea of God and religion was to be loving to all, no matter who they are or what they practice.
