From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism :

“Strong agnosticism (also called hard agnosticism, closed agnosticism, strict agnosticism, absolute agnosticism)—the view that the question of the existence or nonexistence of god(s) are unknowable by nature or that human beings are ill-equipped to judge the evidence.

Weak agnosticism (also called soft agnosticism, open agnosticism, empirical agnosticism, temporal agnosticism)—the view that the existence or nonexistence of God(s) is currently unknown but is not necessarily unknowable, therefore one will withhold judgment until/if more evidence is available.

Apathetic agnosticism—the view that there is no proof of either the existence or nonexistence of God(s), but since any God(s) that may exist appear unconcerned for the universe or the welfare of its inhabitants, the question is largely academic anyway.

Non-practicing agnosticism—the view that there is no proof of either existence or nonexistence of God(s), and that it's meaningless to care.

Ignosticism—the view that the concept of God(s) as a being is meaningless because it has no verifiable consequences, therefore it cannot be usefully discussed as having existence or nonexistence. (See scientific method)

Model agnosticism—the view that philosophical and metaphysical questions are not ultimately verifiable but that a model of malleable assumption should be built upon rational thought. This branch of agnosticism does not focus on a deity's existence.

Agnostic theism (also called religious agnosticism)—the view of those who do not claim to know existence of God(s), but still believe in such an existence. (See Knowledge vs. Beliefs)

Agnostic spiritualism—the view that there may or may not be a God(s), while maintaining a general personal belief in a spiritual aspect of reality, particularly without distinct religious basis, or adherence to any established doctrine or dogma.

Relative Agnosticism—This is similar to Agnostic spiritualism, but with the added view that if it was empirically proven that God(s) do or do not exist, it would not affect the beliefs of the Relative Agnostic.

Agnostic atheism—the view of those who do not know of the existence or nonexistence of god(s), and do not believe in god(s).^[2] ”

On a whim, I spent several hours today researching the religions of the world. I read about ancient and new sects of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Paganism. Then I read about more than a dozen “NMR’s.”

NMR’s are New Religious Movements. All of them were started in the last 50 years, and I was surprised by how many of them might as well be cults. In fact, it made me question the qualification of a cult, if these “religions” were indeed not cults.

Cults aside, some of the NMR’s were reconstructions of dead religions (like ancient Celtic paganism), some were strikingly similar to existing religions (think church denominations), and some were just plain silly/fun. Wikipedia actually has a whole section of the “List of Religions” website dedicated to parody or mock religions. Have you ever heard of the Church of the SubGenius? Me neither.

Of all of the religions only two appealed to me: Judaism and Bahá'í. Unfortunately, the Jews are too damned exclusive for me to become one and the Bahá'í faith isn’t easy for me to just believe (though I think their teachings, goals, and execution of goals are very admirable).

So I will continue to identify myself as “agnostic,” from a (which means “not”) and gnostic (which means “knowing”). Yep, I am not-knowing. And existentialist... but I will save that conversation for another day.

But which type of agnostic am I? Strong agnosticism has its appeal. It is just so pure: “We can’t know, so why try?” But non-practicing agnosticism is fun too: “Nothing has convinced me yet, so why care?” It is perfect for lazy and depressed days, those days when you don’t particularly care if a bus hits you or not. Model agnosticism, which does not refer particularly to belief in God, is beautifully scientific. In many ways I approach everything in the world with a truly agnostic viewpoint, so why should I approach belief in God any differently? But, ultimately, agnostic atheism is the most appropriate type of agnosticism for my view on the existence of God: “I don’t know whether there is a god so I don’t believe in god.” And, since I don’t believe in God (or any god), I choose to actively avoid participation in religion. Specifically Christianity with all of its annoyingly bickering sects, but also the Bahá'í Faith.

And that, my friends, is that.

Labels: agnostic, religion