Are you agnostic, & if so, why?

Question

I happen to be agnostic. I'm sure there are similar questions out there, but I'm curious myself, and there aren't any that are still open for discussion related to this topic.

I'm agnostic, but I want to be religious. It's just, due to my chosen agnosticism, it's difficult for me to blindly accept what society thrusts into my face. How can we confirm that everything said in the Bible was true? How can we confirm that He is real? Being agnostic, I am NOT confirming and NOT denying His existence. I'm just... "on the fence". I WANT Him to be real, and WANT to believe, but being a true believer has nothing to do with wants or determination. and EVERYTHING to do with faith.
I can't have faith unless I can truly believe He is real; right now... no matter how badly I want Him to be, it's hard to believe. I can say I do, but ultimately, I do NOT say I'm a believer, because I'm not. I just want to be one.
Anyway, here's what I want answered. I know why I'M agnostic, why are you?

Answer 1

We all are. Nobody know for certain what is out there or not out there. As such, we are all pretty much agnostic.

There are those who claim not to be agnostic. You have gnostic theists, who claim that there is definitely no god. A bold statement, but it's relatively rare. Most atheists are agnostic atheists, as they do not believe in a god because nothing jumps out at them as being the correct religion.

You also have gnostic theists. Those are rare, too. Even most theists claim to rely on faith. They don't have knowledge of a god or gods, so they are agnostic theists. Gnostic theists have many claims; in general, they profess a tangible knowledge of a god or gods. Often, when someone claims to know a god so intimately, they are deemed insane.

So, I am one of many agnostic atheists simply because I do not have a compelling reason to believe any of the stories about gods. If I had firsthand experience with a god, then I would go from agnostic atheist to gnostic theist, which means you could lock me up.

Answer 2

I was raised a Christian and it just got to a point that a lot of it didn't make sense to me. A lot of things in Christianity boggle my mind. Like, if god knows everything, then he knew Adam and Eve were going to eat from the tree of knowledge, so it was all a big set up. Or, since he knows everything, why did he create Satan in the first place, since he knew how that was going to happen? And if he's all powerful, when Satan got out of line, why did he give him a whole kingdom, instead of destroying him on the spot? I just can't ignore all this and just have faith.

Or why there is so much suffering he allows. If he had the power to drown the whole world, surely he can prevent suffering, unless creating suffering is all he's good at. And it just saddens me that people have to suffer all because it's his plan.

I've gotten to a point that either he doesn't exist and all the suffering is just the world, or maybe he does exist and is a bit....well... messed up. Just having faith or me existing isn't proof enough that he exists, I need something more. So I'm not sure if he exists or not and if he does exist, he doesn't make sense to me. I can't follow something that makes no sense. So after that long-winded explanation, that's why I'm agnostic.

Answer 3

Maybe you could try re-phrasing your desire to yourself. Instead of saying "I want to be religious" try " I want to be more spiritual".
One cannot confirm that everything in the Bible is is true manly because there are too many things that defy common sense but there are ways to confirm some things. That is by looking at a variety of spiritual teachings including ones that did not come through Rome. With a little research, one can find that the teachings of Jesus really do coincide with the teachings of Eastern religious leaders such as Buddha and Krishna.
The law called the "Golden Rule" is something that permeates most religions.
When one sees those truths coming from a variety of sources then it becomes easier to let them into your own life.
Don't be too concerned about questioning everything, like you are now, it shows you have a brain and are using it.
I am no longer agnostic but "gnostic" It takes time. Follow your heart and mind, Don't be afraid to question authority.

Answer 4

At an early age I started off believing because I was told there was a god. Then I heard some arguments that God did not exist. I didn't particularly buy them, though they were not bad. It was when I heard the theistic rebuttal arguments and I realized that they were just lousy. So at an early age, I found myself no longer believing. Perhaps at first there was a bit of guilt- abandoning what I'd been taught and giving up an all knowing invisible friend who was always with me. Frankly, I felt similar but more guilt abandoning my stuffed animals. I was old enough to realize they didn't really have feelings, but after so many years of believing they did it felt mean of them to leave them behind.

Since then, I've never heard evidence for the existence of any gods that comes anywhere near being convincing. I no longer want to believe either. For one thing, I've gotten to know the Bible stories by reading the Bible itself and I've also read about a number of other gods people believe and used to believe in. When I consider the stories in their entirety, over and over again the gods all seem meanspirited, petty, vindictive, jealous and bullying. If there really were a god who refuses to save burning children but who rewards people who do terrible things but then worship in the right way then we'd be ruled by an immoral or insane being. Not a nice prospect. But If there were sufficient objective, empirical evidence that any god existed then I'd tentatively believe it. The only evidence I've seen is that there are lots of people who believe that a god exists. That's hardly enough.

Answer 5

I choose to be agnostic because I finally admitted to myself after years of going to church that I don't know if god really exists or not, and to pretend that I know either way would make me an idiot. I didn't want to pretend anymore. Yes I would like to think that there's a god and a wonderful afterlife, but where is there evidence of that? There are so many things about life that we can't understand right now, so it's better to just keep your mind open to the possibilities. Plus, religion has seemed to cause much more conflict in this world than it will ever be worth. And for what? We have no scientific evidence of any of it.

Answer 6

I'm an atheist (if you want to know why I'm that and not an agnostic, please refer to http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlnyX6v76orLlOIGZNfZyujsy6IX?qid=20060803122127AA5UXMY )

Anyway, that link should also provide you with a bit of an idea as to why I would be an agnostic, if I were one. Heh. But anyway. I'm really responding here because I want to tell you how much I admire your seemingly simple realization that wanting something to be true does not make it so. SO many people either ignore, don't get, or deny that very fact. Whatever you decide, I trust that you are enough of an intelligent and open-minded person to eventually realize that you've a choice that's right for you. Good luck!

Answer 7

If you want to be agnostic, like i am, you must know and understand that there is high chance, based on rationale, that the theory of "God" can't be proven, or disproven. It seems to me that you are a special type of Christian, which I call borderliners. Borderliners are people who want to belive in God and Jesus and, etc. but at the same time, don't want to believe most of the key assets of Christianity.
On a bit of the same borderline though, I am agnostic because, well, God is a THEORY, or False Hope if you will. My parents, on the other hand, Are firm believers in God and I don't understand why. Oh well, I guess you actually have to be Christian to understand why other one belive in god.
Hope I can help,
The_Q.

Answer 8

Agnosticism refers to knowledge, and everyone is agnostic regarding religion. I disagree with the term "agnostic" being used as a religious affiliation because religion deals with belief, not knowledge. A person who identifies himself as an agnostic is actually a weak atheist. Literally speaking, atheist means "without god" and an atheist lacks belief in god. Only strong atheists believe that no god exists. Anyway, I'm a weak atheist because no theist has succeeded in proving the existence of their god to me, and no strong atheist has succeeded in proving the non-existence of all gods to me. The default position is weak atheism, and only changes when a person becomes convinced that theism or strong atheism are true.

Answer 9

I'm agnostic b/c not anybody provide that god is real to me and i want things saying he is real and then i would started believe and i would believe in god if he is real and if he is real then i would started believe in him but now nobody provied he is real to me so when someone does then i well started to have faith in him but not right now and i have question what if the stuff in the bible didn't happen but was just fiction and was made up?

Answer 10

I accept that if there is an all powerful and perfect GOD, that only GOD would know for sure about anything, least of all the certainty of his own existence. For me to say that I am knowing the same would be comparing myself to GOD. So instead, you could choose to live in the possibility that GOD is real and follow the laws and traditions of GOD's children. That is what I do. My life is to bring about the glory of GOD, even if GOD may not be truly real.