When people ask me what religion I follow I like to reply with "I'm not religious." I think that this describes how I feel more than the pre-described categories of the varying levels of religion. People like to classify everything though, and if I had to throw myself in one of the categories I would probably be agnostic, though I teeter on the edge of atheism. I don't believe in God, or gods, or any greater being that is all powerful and mighty. There is just no hard evidence (or that much logic) behind the majority of religious claims, especially when you look at all the contradictory elements of religion as it has spread out into different sects throughout the ages.
Yet, I also don't see any evidence that eliminates any possibility of a god-like figure, some being that isn't human and possess vast, unknown abilities that are incomprehensible to even our smartest scientists. I know that we simply just don't understand enough about the universe yet to know with any certainty how the whole thing came about.
It is theorized that the universe started from an explosion, the Big Bang, and all matter came from that one instantaneous moment. But what was before that? Nothing? That hardly seems possible either. Because what is "nothing?" There's another concept that I don't think the human race can comprehend. I certainly can't. Nothing is the absence of anything, which means it's impossible to picture it even because nothing would have no color, neither black, white, or anything in between. It's very confusing to think about.
But what I'm trying to get at is that the Big Bang theory is just that: a theory, which in effect is exactly what religion is: a bunch of different theories. The problem is that religions are very outdated, and unlike scientific theories of today, they were made with a limited understanding of the world and the universe at large.
Nobody knows exactly how the universe came about, or what reason there is for all of us to exist on this planet. There are many who say they know without a shadow of a doubt, but there really isn't any evidence to back up their claims. I won't tell you I have any idea, because I honestly have no idea, and I don't think anybody truly does. That's why I don't flat out reject anyone's ideas, even though I know that many are pretty ridiculous. Because who knows, any idea just might turn out to be the right one.
I like to call myself a "syncretic agnostic". Every religion out there has something admirable within it, something that I'd like to use in my day-to-day life. But I'm not sure any of them have nailed it quite on the head, yet.
ReplyDeleteThere's definitely something bigger than myself out here. Whether it's "god" or what, I have no idea. And, really, at this point in my life, I don't care. when I was younger, I used to get in trouble for posing the idea that Christian!God created evolution and the big bang theory...
I prefer the Native American views on religion. I like the idea of everything and everyone being connected in some way. A circle of life type thing. I know there's something out there, not sure what. Who's to say who created the universe or if evolution is true or not? The only I know is you just have to have faith.
ReplyDeleteI think you're what's called an agnostic atheist. Despite common misconception, agnosticism isn't a third choice, but a modifier (or it should be, according to the laws of language). Theism, whether mono or poly, is belief in a god. Anything less than that, whether it's active disbelief, uncertainty, or just plain not caring, is atheism, or a lack of belief. The agnostic part means a lack of knowledge; basically, that while you lack a belief in god, you are open to the possibility of one. Compare gnostic atheism, which is the sort of militant "there is 0% chance of a god no exceptions" stance that gives atheists a bad name.
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