Thoughts on an argument about the Big Question

Posted on July 28, 2009 in Agnosticism Hypocrites

The argument went like this: as an agnostic, I am “without belief in a God”. Therefore, I am an atheist. The trouble is that I am also without a disbelief in God. Those who know me observe that I will happily quote sacred texts as well as nonsacred texts when they have pragmatic application. But even this is missing the real point.

A [[Sufi]] holy woman named [[Rabia al-Adawiyya]] made it her habit to pray thusly: Dear God, if I love you because I don’t want to burn in hell, then I should burn in hell for all eternity. If I love you because I want to get into heaven, then I should be denied heaven.

For me, the whole question of whether there is a God or not interferes in my relationship with the Universe and my quest to be a good person. Both atheists and believers can get caught up in myth-wars with one another, the one claiming that the other is hypocritical or evil or just unable to do good, the other returning the favor. They often feel it highly necessary to engage in argument with those who do not see the world as they do. They call agnostics cowards for not taking a position.

I assure you that to publically refuse to answer the Big Question invites all kinds of abuse as it did last night ((After refusing to be defined into atheism, I was told that I was trying to tell atheists what atheism was all about! When I laughed this off, I was called a grumpy old man and a paranoid. Believers are no strangers to this, but they usually leave us agnostics alone.)) . I know that and I still preserve my focus on being a good person. I know both atheists and believers who are good people despite the protestations of the others. I have friends in both camps. My relationship with the Universe (the existence of which I am certain) and other people can be distorted by capitulating to camp cries for a decision on an issue which is unimportant. Identifying with either bivouac denies me the prize of serenity.