Hi everyone! I am new to Bnet and also to being Agnostic. I have just recently (within the past month) started researching the basis of my former religion (Southern Baptist) and found some things that I really did not agree with. I was also enlighted to learn that there are so many alternatives to believe in God, even if your not sure that he even exist. I am agnostic but in my agnostic beliefs I feel that there is a bigger possibility that a God does exist, just not necessarily the one that is portrayed in the bible. I am looking for new friends to have some great discussions with and that may not have the same beliefs that I do but accept me for who I am even if the do or don't agree with me. I am a very open minded individual and love to learn more about religions and what they have to offer. I would love to answer any questions about myself and have some new friends.

Nov 10, 2007 -- 5:13PM, grampawombat wrote:

But I digress. The point that I would like to emphasize about agnostics is that for most of them (at least as I have observed) the emphasis in on the philosophical position that such things as the existence of a deity or deities is not something susceptible to proof. And in particular it is not a question of being able to make up ones mind. So most of the snide comments directed toward agnostics are completely irrelevant and inappropriate.

And why should I, an acknowledged theist, defend the integrity of their position? Because I think there is great wisdom in it. I take a different tack in that I conceive of a "deity" (and perhaps that word is not even appropriate in my case) that, if discovered, will be a great dissappointment to most folks of a theistic bent. So my position may not be too far from theirs.

I feel there should be a new group of words in the repertoire of words that describe atheists and agnostics.  I have a few in mind for starters, but will keep them to myself until the slog fully settles.  Words instead of atheist (being without the big G), or agnostic (being without the big K).  G for God, K for Knowledge.  These are both terms derived from, or should I say reflective? of religious centrism, and that's all they are. 

Religionists *think* they know what all this *stuff* is and that it has a supreme ruler, but if they ever grow out of their adopted complacency they will...continue to grow.  This is not to say that religionists are not growing emotionally, mentally and spiritually, but they grow at a slower pace.  (Judgmental, I know.) 

However, when one begins to worship the unknown, they immediately side-step their responsibility to what? to be a functional, self-directive, organized human being and to exactly perform the tasks that seem unequivocally absent in their lives, but present in this God's life they pray to.

I've been kind of on the fences for a while but seeing things like this really make me lean towards non belief. I mean, I'm pretty bad, but if those who think they're better than me are also bad..... then where can i go? www.christianpost.com/news/christianity-...

they're attacking each other with porn peddlers? I know people who dont believe who are above things like that. 

-confused 

Agnostics possess the conviction that they don't know whether God exists and some additionally believe it is impossible to prove or disprove whether God exists. Like any stance it is their convictions that define them as something other than being merely ignorant, confused, or uncertain. A newborn infant might not know if God exists, but what distinguishes agnostics is they know they don't know and, therefore, hold the conviction they don't know. The insistence of many atheists and believers that agnosticism be defined as mere ignorance, confusion, or uncertainty (50/50 probability) is an attempt to deny the convictions of agnostics and deny that agnosticism presents a viable alternative.

            This is common in ideological disputes where one or both sides will go to extreme lengths to deny any sort of neutrality is feasible because its existence can harm their cause. It is the aggressive group mindset of you are either with us, against us, or undecided and ideologues will sometimes stop at nothing to discourage others from establishing a viable neutral alternative. The implied threat from both believers and disbelievers alike is one reason agnostics are not more often outspoken.