I wanted to re-post (from another thread) an explanation Ive had for years about Theism/Atheism/Agnosticism, and my own relationship to them. I identify, I suppose, to most people, as Atheist. But --- thats not really the most accurate description of my philosophy. There is a 4th way, which is my *actual* position, and Im not sure it has a name. Perhaps it relates to the non-Theistic philosophies of the East like Taoism, which I surely relate to in terms of the simplicity and beauty of Nature, in a non-anthropromorphized form. But its more than that, because its also a statement about my relationship to Monism, the idea that reality is non-dualistic. Its also related to semantics, the meanings of words. Does the word God really have a distinct and useful meaning? Its an important distinction, so I want to use an analogy to illustrate it. The analogy I like to use is: imagine there is a question about whether there is gold inside a locked trunk. The trunk has never been directly seen, and even less well-defined. A theist says I believe there is gold in the trunk, furthermore, you will go to hell if you dont think like I do. An atheist says: I believe there isnt any gold. Nothing will happen to me for that belief, BTW. An agnostic says: I dont know if theres gold, since the trunk is locked. Nothing will happen to me for that belief, BTW. My position is: what trunk?
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 15:41:48 +0000
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