Atheist rant.
I call myself an Atheist, and some people object to that, preferring me to use the term 'Agnostic' which indicates that I don't know whether there is a God. Okay, so any God worth his salt has been designed precisely so that they are impossible to disprove, but there are very very many things I cannot disprove. Do I have to specify that I do not believe in all things that are impossible to disprove?
If I call myself agnostic, couldn't I equally call myself 'jargnostic' to indicate that I do not believe that I am not a brain-in-a-jar? That concept is just as impossible to disprove as the idea that there is a God as presented by most religions. Perhaps "Russell's Teapot-gnostic" would serve, to illustrate my point better, but 'Jargnostic' rolls off the tongue better.
The word "Atheist" is taken to mean 'anti-religion' when it does not mean that. Why people would think that in other 'A.*' words, the 'A' means 'not' (ie: 'Atypical' does not mean 'anti-typical'. 'Asymmetrical' does not mean 'anti-symmetrical'.) I see the fact that so many people take the 'A' in the word "Atheist" to mean 'Anti' indicates that many people feel challenged and offended by people who do not share their capacity for unsubstantiated hope.
I'm reminded of primary school, actually. Kids would approach me, demanding (and I mean DEMANDING) that I reveal which foot ball team I supported. I was not into footy, my parents were not into footy, I had little knowledge and less interest in footy. But the other kids could not accept that I did not follow a team in the footy. They were outraged. Affronted. Offended. Bewildered. There was just no option in their footy-following world for a person to exist who did not follow the footy. Even less could they comprehend that I did not think that footy was stupid and wrong. If it's what they were into, good for them. But there was no "live and let live" capacity in the school yard, and the footy followers gave me a hard, hard time.
I'd like to think that in the world of adults, being an Atheist does not imply that I deny your right to spirituality, just that I don't share it. It does not register for me, but good for you. Maybe I'm a tiny bit envious of people with good, stable, constructive spiritual faith, but I don't have it.
If I call myself agnostic, couldn't I equally call myself 'jargnostic' to indicate that I do not believe that I am not a brain-in-a-jar? That concept is just as impossible to disprove as the idea that there is a God as presented by most religions. Perhaps "Russell's Teapot-gnostic" would serve, to illustrate my point better, but 'Jargnostic' rolls off the tongue better.
The word "Atheist" is taken to mean 'anti-religion' when it does not mean that. Why people would think that in other 'A.*' words, the 'A' means 'not' (ie: 'Atypical' does not mean 'anti-typical'. 'Asymmetrical' does not mean 'anti-symmetrical'.) I see the fact that so many people take the 'A' in the word "Atheist" to mean 'Anti' indicates that many people feel challenged and offended by people who do not share their capacity for unsubstantiated hope.
I'm reminded of primary school, actually. Kids would approach me, demanding (and I mean DEMANDING) that I reveal which foot ball team I supported. I was not into footy, my parents were not into footy, I had little knowledge and less interest in footy. But the other kids could not accept that I did not follow a team in the footy. They were outraged. Affronted. Offended. Bewildered. There was just no option in their footy-following world for a person to exist who did not follow the footy. Even less could they comprehend that I did not think that footy was stupid and wrong. If it's what they were into, good for them. But there was no "live and let live" capacity in the school yard, and the footy followers gave me a hard, hard time.
I'd like to think that in the world of adults, being an Atheist does not imply that I deny your right to spirituality, just that I don't share it. It does not register for me, but good for you. Maybe I'm a tiny bit envious of people with good, stable, constructive spiritual faith, but I don't have it.
posted by Jac | 10:05 am
|
0 comments
