Honest-ism

Somewhat Reluctant Agnostic
Mar 30, 2022
26
18
Southeastern USA
Hi, I'm new here. I live in the US "Bible Belt" and it's hard to totally relax with friends when you're pretty sure they'd like you less if they found out you were agnostic. So I'd like for there to be a few people here I could just "shoot the breeze" with. I think this is the only part of this website where general talk, non-debate, is encouraged. Right?

My position is that I just plain don't know about powerful, invisible beings. Except COVID-19 viruses! But you know what I mean.

I've tried religions, but I just can't feel sure enough about what they're saying, even the most basic things, to not feel like I'm faking it. Honesty is one of the best things about me, and it's valued in the major religions, so maybe if there is a God He would appreciate my honesty more than my faking. I don't reject God or religion; it's just beyond my ability to honestly believe it.

I've read the major religions' claims to have proof, or at least good evidence, but each says the other's evidence is fake, so I can't get anywhere that way. I'm still reading though. It's an important matter to me. But why oh why do the two with the largest following have to each say that the other is dangerously wrong? How are we supposed to make our way through that???

Maybe I can start a new religion called "Honest-ism." Actually I don't think I have the charisma to gather a group. But the religion would read scriptures from the major religions, and maybe the minor ones, then say a prayer admitting that we don't know and asking God, if He's there, to step in and tell us somehow. Then we'd have lunch and talk about our lawns and pets and stuff. And we'd feel pretty good about having done all we could, and wait for enlightenment.
 
I think this is the only part of this website where general talk, non-debate, is encouraged. Right?
Correct!

Maybe I can start a new religion called "Honest-ism." Actually I don't think I have the charisma to gather a group. But the religion would read scriptures from the major religions, and maybe the minor ones, then say a prayer admitting that we don't know and asking God, if He's there, to step in and tell us somehow. Then we'd have lunch and talk about our lawns and pets and stuff. And we'd feel pretty good about having done all we could, and wait for enlightenment.
I see where you're headed. Forming a group was one thing that I wanted when I created this site but covid-19 and other life obstacles delayed that push. Then again, we need many more members here, as well or even reach beyond just this site.

Ideally, I wanted to form a group for agnostics and other like minded people. But I also think we'd have to establish some guiding principles when it comes to intellectual aspects (for instance, being for open-mindedness, etc) and for some other key areas, as well. I think we could incorporate your idea into that larger picture and that would definitely help with the social aspects. My worry is that if we don't have any solid platform (for ideas, principles, etc) then there won't be much to unify us, which is probably why agnostics tend to be scattered all over the place or why there aren't any major well known groups made up of just agnostics.

Look at even in politics. Independents, which I consider the agnostics of politics (since they don't commit to either Democrat or Republican), are the majority in the American electorate. Yet, they don't have a voice and they're scattered all over the place. The reason for that is not only is there a lack of groups for Independents, but also because they have nothing spelled out to unify around - there's no concrete platform, no guiding principles, etc. The Democrats and Republicans have all this so they're voices are stronger than Independents. That needs to change!
 
Just another observation... If agnostics were to unite to form a group, then just being stuck on "I don't know" is not going to cut it. People will look to us for answers and guidance on a lot of matters, but you can't take any course of action on "I don't know". We'll need to progress beyond that or at least have something practical to offer.

I think we have to at least use some of what we're known and take it as far as we can even if we can't be certain on an issue. For instance, borrowing from Thomas Huxley's principles on agnosticism, we can come up with solutions or views that embody open-mindedness, freethinking (and other agnostic traits) and come up with solutions that are seen as tentative (esp. in cases where we can't be certain due to lack of evidence or outside of the scope of science). Compare that to what we have now in politics, where a lot of views are formed without using reason as far as you can take it, but instead reason is only used up to the point that it supports a pre-existing ideology, and then these views are taken as if they are some unquestionable absolute truth.
 
Convincing agnostics to agree on anything will be like herding cats. :)

Anything resembling a dogma is likely to be widely resisted. Reason, not so much, but I think reason takes us back to "I don't know."

Admission: I didn't read your post thoroughly and I may have missed something. I'm in somewhat of a hurry right now, but if I'm any good as a person, I'll read it more thoughtfully later.
 
I finally reread your posts, AgnosticBoy. I like that you thought about what I said, but don't have much to say. I'm in kind of a "phooey with philosophy, I'm going to read my book/get a snack/look at LOLcats" phase.