Let me start off by saying that I once went to church every Sunday with my family. That was about eight or so years ago. I was a Catholic by inheritance. However, I had some unanswered questions that couldnt be answered by any members of my church and, in fact, those same church members verbally attacked me for asking such questions. I was already thinking about my departure from the church to do some studying of my own, and those verbal attacks ended up being the final shove out of the door. Fair enough, I suppose. Im sure not all churches are like that, as I have seen a few that were quite open-minded, but right now I dont feel my time in any church will amount to anything but another pile of questions that I would want answered before I professed my faith in God.
No, Im not an Atheist. Im Agnostic. And for those of you who cannot see the difference, allow me to draw the lines for you: Atheists, along with Theists, both take extreme points of view where the belief in God (or lack thereof) is dependent on faith. As much as some Atheists are reluctant to admit, saying that "No God exists" is no more testable than those who make the statement that "God must exist." It requires a certain amount of faith to declare something just as awesome. While that might be fine with some of you, it isnt an answer for me. So rather than take a solid faith-based stance (Atheist or Theist) on the views of God, I would much rather continue to live my life without going to an extreme. I dont think He doesnt exist, but inversely I do not think He exists. It makes more sense to me to wait for some more believable evidence. At least I would rather wait for something worth believing in.
"Why is this guy here at a Christian forum?" you might be asking. Well, Im a Philosophy / Religion major in my second year of college, and its to my advantage to find out as many opinions on as many religions as I can. In that sense, you help me. In return, Ill also try and answer as many questions as you have to ask me. That will be somewhat difficult with my time schedule, since I wont be posting as much as Id like to, but I will try. School takes up the good percentage of my time while my friends and family take up the remainder. Im sure many of you can understand that.
Oh, and in case some of you were wondering, I didnt just make up my name I have here. In fact, its the Greek word for "mirror." Theres a reason I picked that name over the plethora of other names I could have chosen. Hopefully, from my time here, many of you will take a look at this Agnostic and see a great deal of your own selves in me. Aside from my belief in God, Im not much different. Please dont read that Im not a Christian and immediately judge me to be some pathetic soul that needs to be saved. Thats not the case at all. From the tone and the sheer quantity of those responses over time, it only serves to degrade my integrity and character. You dont have to pray for me. I ask that you do not, or at the very least do so without mentioning. I have direction. I have morals. I can stay within the imaginary bounds of morality without the dotted line of religion guiding my way. Im as much of a good person as any of you, and I hope that people can make a better judgment on my character than just a spiritually-deep one. Many people don't do that, unfortunately, and miss a great opportunity for learning about other ways of thinking. Im taking that leap... why cant others?
In closing, I would only like to say one thing: We may be on different paths, but we are walking in the same direction.
EDIT: crazy HTML tags... can some knowledgable and able moderator fix that?
EDIT2: 4 attempts and no luck. Argh.
EDIT3: It's about time. I had to retype it in the reply window, rather than copy/paste from Word. Crazy stuff.
No, Im not an Atheist. Im Agnostic. And for those of you who cannot see the difference, allow me to draw the lines for you: Atheists, along with Theists, both take extreme points of view where the belief in God (or lack thereof) is dependent on faith. As much as some Atheists are reluctant to admit, saying that "No God exists" is no more testable than those who make the statement that "God must exist." It requires a certain amount of faith to declare something just as awesome. While that might be fine with some of you, it isnt an answer for me. So rather than take a solid faith-based stance (Atheist or Theist) on the views of God, I would much rather continue to live my life without going to an extreme. I dont think He doesnt exist, but inversely I do not think He exists. It makes more sense to me to wait for some more believable evidence. At least I would rather wait for something worth believing in.
"Why is this guy here at a Christian forum?" you might be asking. Well, Im a Philosophy / Religion major in my second year of college, and its to my advantage to find out as many opinions on as many religions as I can. In that sense, you help me. In return, Ill also try and answer as many questions as you have to ask me. That will be somewhat difficult with my time schedule, since I wont be posting as much as Id like to, but I will try. School takes up the good percentage of my time while my friends and family take up the remainder. Im sure many of you can understand that.
Oh, and in case some of you were wondering, I didnt just make up my name I have here. In fact, its the Greek word for "mirror." Theres a reason I picked that name over the plethora of other names I could have chosen. Hopefully, from my time here, many of you will take a look at this Agnostic and see a great deal of your own selves in me. Aside from my belief in God, Im not much different. Please dont read that Im not a Christian and immediately judge me to be some pathetic soul that needs to be saved. Thats not the case at all. From the tone and the sheer quantity of those responses over time, it only serves to degrade my integrity and character. You dont have to pray for me. I ask that you do not, or at the very least do so without mentioning. I have direction. I have morals. I can stay within the imaginary bounds of morality without the dotted line of religion guiding my way. Im as much of a good person as any of you, and I hope that people can make a better judgment on my character than just a spiritually-deep one. Many people don't do that, unfortunately, and miss a great opportunity for learning about other ways of thinking. Im taking that leap... why cant others?
In closing, I would only like to say one thing: We may be on different paths, but we are walking in the same direction.
EDIT: crazy HTML tags... can some knowledgable and able moderator fix that?
EDIT2: 4 attempts and no luck. Argh.
EDIT3: It's about time. I had to retype it in the reply window, rather than copy/paste from Word. Crazy stuff.
I hope you enjoy it here 
