SYLLABICATION: ag·nos·tic
PRONUNCIATION: g-nstk
NOUN:
1 a. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God. b. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism. 2. One who is doubtful or noncommittal about something.
ADJECTIVE:
1. Relating to or being an agnostic. 2. Doubtful or noncommittal: “Though I am agnostic on what terms to use, I have no doubt that human infants come with an enormous ‘acquisitiveness’ for discovering patterns” (William H. Calvin, New York Times Book Review August 10, 1997).
ETYMOLOGY: a– + Gnostic.
SYLLABICATION: a·the·ist
PRONUNCIATION: th-st
NOUN:
One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.
SYLLABICATION: the·ism
PRONUNCIATION: thz'm
NOUN:
Belief in the existence of a god or gods, especially belief in a personal God as creator and ruler of the world.
OTHER FORMS:
theist —NOUN
the·istic , the·isti·cal —ADJECTIVE
the·isti·cal·ly —ADVERB
• The above entries are from the
American Heritage Dictionary, courtesy Apple's Sherlock 3.
didnt u look up the meaning of agnostic???
ur STILL agnostic
it means u belive in god but not in organised religions
so if u dont pick a church ect then ur agnostic (Asguard)
By what definition?
Even without a belief in a "personal God", Counsler's position still equals a form of theism. A recognition of the concept of God is often vague, and it is only social or "peer" pressure that lends toward conformity of that concept to dogmatic rules. A belief that God is or the God exists does not require a religion to enforce it. God will represent to Counsler what Counsler chooses to allow it.
People do create gods--the specific ones. But as you move through religions, there exists a greater sense of God--common attributes awarded various deities: eternal life, existence, "supernatural" abilities, and, above all, a Plan.
Generally speaking, theists make the error of assuming that the Plan, or that God can be known. Yet at that base common level, God represents the theoretical answers to questions science cannot answer. Why are we here? What purpose is there to life? Armstrong acknowledges these questions in
A History of God, the vitally important examination of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity that propelled her to the literary forefront, and is also mentioned in the early pages of A.L. Basham's
Classical Hinduism.
Nobody can answer those questions definitively, and while some have no quarrel with the idea of doing things without any real reason, some people do look at all the suffering seemingly inherent to the human condition, and cannot let that stand without scrutiny.
My own hope for Counsler's search is that he bear in mind a form of Sufi principle. God is not a goal or end-point. Christianity, for instance, looks at life as a long struggle between good and evil, the quest of the soul to seek out and find union with God. From Sufism and other philosophies, though, one gets the impression that to attain Godliness is not a goal in itself, but rather a starting point: once you have attained the godly form, you can begin on the truly important work. In that sense, God is kind of like a plumber's degree or certification; having attained the certification merely means that you can start rooting through the sewage. Or a medical degree, for a cleaner, more appetizing analogy. Sure, you may have your degree, but all that means is that the important work of saving lives can begin in full effect.
And such it is with God. Accepting that God exists merely means that a seeker has chosen that path to find the answers to the unanswerable. Theism, without any special, self-centered focus on a personal God, is among the human philosophies most open to progress. Where we criticize religions in general for making God a definitive idea and thus closing avenues of inquiry, discovery, and growth, so, too, do we find that narrowing among the atheist proclamation.
In any argument between atheism and religion, I'll side with atheism; I dare any Christian to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Bible is objectively to be considered the word of God. Islam and the Koran? I would challenge even the witches, but they have no formal doctrines, and the elective relationship with a personal goddess carries no inherent, formal threat.
But when atheism puts itself against the history of the idea of God, the plethora of workable attributes found within various religious determinations, it has the tendency to strike the possibilities of religious thought in advance, based simply on the failure of those possibilities to actualize in the past.
However, if this standard is applied to something so basic and human as God, what can be said of the more complex charades such as rule of law, national boundaries, or even "rights"? What most atheists fail to recognize is that these things are equally as subjective as assertions of God and religion.
Thus I tend to think that a bland theism unattached to any specific construction of God leaves ethical grounds for consistency in the acknowledgment of other human-conduct level assertions intact.
Why is murder wrong? Rape? Because it is. Because we're humans and we
shouldn't be treating each other that way. But when you cut down to the
objective standard demanded by atheism, some people do encounter the internal friction that comes from selectively or even arbitrarily advocating various standards. In this sense, everyone is "religious", though not everyone "theistic".
As such, as an atheist, having rejected God on such practical grounds, I soon found myself, on my integrity, rejecting other mythical constructions. It cost me a lot; my compassion, my communication, my radiant sense of human trust that, thankfully, I've seen affirmative signs of in the last few years. It took me six years to climb back out of the hole I dug by adopting atheism; the philosophy didn't work for me ... so what? At least, standing on level ground again, I can promise myself to not make that mistake again.
And that's why I'm thrilled by Counsler's declaration. It would be wrong to say that I could care less which God he adopts; the truth is that I would rather he officially adopt none. As such, he might find himself in the unique position of building bridges between the atheistic and theistic factions, so that the one might understand the other, and the other the one.
•
This self serves the other self, and that self the one; together, they become one another. (Anonymous Sufi saying)
Objectively speaking, I have found atheism to result in a lack of unity among people. The idea tends to foster division, and because of its smallness, atheism is unable to restrain the passions of its adherents. This has become problematic, as atheism seems just as divisive as, say, Christianity has been noted to be.
My deepest hope is that Counsler feels somehow empowered to contribute to the rightness of people and the world, to harmony and peace, to knowledge and passion--to happiness, in other words.
To happiness--I shall raise my pipe.
Congratulations of a certain order to Counsler, and also my best wishes. Unfortunately, by a self-comparative standard, he has chosen the tougher path. But it is also the path that brings the greatest rewards.
blessed be
in harmony and peace
thrice strengthened
by the wishes of my heart,
Tiassa
