Theism, Atheism, and Agnosticism

A friend of mine once asked me why I’m an atheist. An odd question, especially since I’m agnostic, not atheist. Based on the blank look I got from him in response to this statement, it occurred to me that maybe agnosticism isn’t as well understood by the rest of the world as I’d assumed. So based on no demand whatsoever, here’s the short version of the Jason school of belief.

1. Why I am not a theist. First things first: why don’t I believe in god? The simple answer is that it’s not consistent with my sprawling, rambling, incomplete philosophy. Call it Frey’s Law number…oh, 4: I will not believe anything without having good reason to believe it. The rule goes for anything—political agendas, whether the designated hitter in baseball ought to be outlawed, or what religion, if any, to follow. 

That’s an important point: believing in god doesn’t necessarily correspond to following a particular religion, or any religion at all. Theists believe that there is a god, or gods, responsible for the creation of the world around us. At the root, that’s the only thing that theists have in common. It’s only when you start closing in on the individual systems of belief that the differences become apparent, or important. Christians and Jews and Hindus and ancient Greeks all have one critical thing in common—they’re all theists.

So a decision to reject theism is both more and less than deciding to walk away from a particular religion. It’s looking at the issue at a much more basic level. Not a question of “Do I believe that the world was created in 6 days?” or “Is my soul really passing through a potentially infinite number of incarnations until I achieve enlightenment?” Rather, the question of theism asks, “Do I believe that a deity created the reality I live in?” The answer to this question is based on a number of variables depending on the background of the person asking it, but for me it comes down to a simple issue: I don’t have good reason to believe. My belief requires something objective at the root of it, and I haven’t seen anything to give me a positive reason to believe in any god, whether that god is perfectly benevolent, or petty, or jealous, or indifferent.

Naturally, belief in god is a highly personal question. My criterion includes some objective evidence, but that certainly isn’t the only valid criteria there is. Ask one theist why he or she believes in god, and they might point to a very specific experience that made them believe. A second believer’s explanation may describe a gradual awakening of belief. Ask a third, and it could be something else entirely. There are many people who believe that objective proof of the existence of a deity exists—The Watchmaker analogy is a classic argument to that effect, for instance. I’ve discussed a number of these claims with different people and have yet to find one that I find even marginally compelling unless you have the predisposition to believe in the first place. For me to change my decision to not believe in god, I would have to either find a truly compelling argument or change my criteria for that decision. Until either of these things happens, I will not be a theist.

2. Why I am not an atheist. Simple enough, then. If I don’t believe in god, I must be an atheist, right? Not so fast. The problem with atheism is the same problem you find with theism. That is, it makes a definitive claim about something it can’t deliver on. Atheism says that not only is there no good reason to believe in god, but also that there is a good reason to believe that there ISN’T a god. Where’s the evidence to support that claim? What explanation for the world around us is offered in exchange? There are a number of possibilities, but not one of them can point to anything like objective evidence. Certainly, there’s more than enough evidence to support the theory of evolution (more than enough to convince me of its validity, at least), but that doesn’t explain the existence of life in the first place. Likewise, the Big Bang theory (with or without the eventual Big Crunch addition a few billion years from now) may explain how our galaxy, solar system and planet all got here, but where did the stuff come from?

I haven’t heard an explanation that answers these questions. There’s just as much evidence to support the theory that I’ve dreamed up this whole universe myself and that everyone else is a figment of my imagination, or that you’re the dreamer and I’m a figment of YOUR imagination for that matter.

Atheism is appealing in many ways because it attempts to explain the world using the same criteria I have. But in the end, the explanations all fall short. So what does atheism get me that theism doesn’t? It leaves me asking the same question: “Yeah, but how did it start?” And until I hear an explanation that makes sense, I can’t be an atheist

3. The old standby: “I dunno”. Great, so I don’t believe in god, and I don’t NOT believe in god. Where does that leave me? In doubt, that’s where it leaves me. And happily enough, that’s what agnosticism means. Contrary to somewhat popular belief, being agnostic doesn’t mean that you don’t care about the question of god. Or, rather, it doesn’t necessarily mean that. What it does mean is that you consider it an open question. It’s not always the most pleasant feeling, to have such doubt about an issue like that. In fact, some people feel so uncomfortable with that feeling of doubt that they jump into one of the camps, either theism or atheism, in an effort to relieve the discomfort. Occasionally that seems like a viable option, but it’s not one I choose to pursue. Remember Frey’s Law #3? Here’s the revised version: I will not believe anything without having good reason to believe it, even if it would be easier to do so. And despite the discomfort, I don’t really have a problem with doubt, especially if the alternative is believing something so I don’t have to trouble myself with thinking about it anymore. I’d much rather keep looking for an answer that works for me than throw my lot in with people I don’t truly agree with.

And that, not that anyone asked, is why I am an agnostic.

18 December 2001

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