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Agnostics - Do you feel as if you don't know where you belong?

endlessvoid2018

endlessvoid2018

Member
So about four months ago, after years of doubting Christianity and never really having good "faith,"
I basically decided I didn't believe in religion anymore, and started learning about Deism and became interested in that for a short period of time.
However, that quickly unraveled as well. I came to the assumption basically that I don't know what I believe anymore.
Therefor, the most neutral and best viewpoint that I could take was being agnostic, since I don't have any knowledge of whether any kind of higher power exists
in the universe, and I see good viewpoints on both sides of the aisle in terms of both belief and disbelief.
However, sometimes I feel I lean more towards atheism, and then other times I feel I lean towards something else.
The Deist concept of god or "higher power," Pantheism, and Pandeism, honestly make the most sense to me. However, for all intents and purposes,
It seems these are basically atheism dressed up nicely, at least in practice.
Ietsism is also a very interesting concept to me. I might be an agnostic/ietsist/atheist.

Anybody have any thoughts?
 
Twilight Hue

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Even when I was an agnostic , I still don't see any possibility of anything that could point toward a god, so that was easy enough for me to return to an atheist state where one without God's remains factual and unchallenged.

I saw this as coming home to where I was when I was born , and have been comfortable with it since.
 
Stevicus

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
endlessvoid2018 said:
So about four months ago, after years of doubting Christianity and never really having good "faith,"
I basically decided I didn't believe in religion anymore, and started learning about Deism and became interested in that for a short period of time.
However, that quickly unraveled as well. I came to the assumption basically that I don't know what I believe anymore.
Therefor, the most neutral and best viewpoint that I could take was being agnostic, since I don't have any knowledge of whether any kind of higher power exists
in the universe, and I see good viewpoints on both sides of the aisle in terms of both belief and disbelief.
However, sometimes I feel I lean more towards atheism, and then other times I feel I lean towards something else.
The Deist concept of god or "higher power," Pantheism, and Pandeism, honestly make the most sense to me. However, for all intents and purposes,
It seems these are basically atheism dressed up nicely, at least in practice.
Ietsism is also a very interesting concept to me. I might be an agnostic/ietsist/atheist.

Anybody have any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I never really worried about "where I belong." As an agnostic, I recognize that I'm here, in this place - but I make no further assumptions beyond that. I don't really care if I "belong" or not. I'm here, so everyone else is stuck with me.
 
endlessvoid2018

endlessvoid2018

Member
Yes, the more and more I think about it however, the notion of there being an all powerful being who created everything in the universe, seems a bit far fetched. I don't think I really believe that any longer. I especially do not believe in the god of the bible. However, I'm not one of the ones who claims to know anything, as I don't think it is possible to prove that any such power exists in the universe. I don't think it's really possible to disprove either though.
I feel it's safe to say though that I do believe there many be something beyond our material universe that will never be known however.
I guess I would be an agnostic leaning towards atheism. There is such a negative reaction with atheism though.
 
Heyo

Heyo

Veteran Member
endlessvoid2018 said:
So about four months ago, after years of doubting Christianity and never really having good "faith,"
I basically decided I didn't believe in religion anymore, and started learning about Deism and became interested in that for a short period of time.
However, that quickly unraveled as well. I came to the assumption basically that I don't know what I believe anymore.
Therefor, the most neutral and best viewpoint that I could take was being agnostic, since I don't have any knowledge of whether any kind of higher power exists
in the universe, and I see good viewpoints on both sides of the aisle in terms of both belief and disbelief.
However, sometimes I feel I lean more towards atheism, and then other times I feel I lean towards something else.
The Deist concept of god or "higher power," Pantheism, and Pandeism, honestly make the most sense to me. However, for all intents and purposes,
It seems these are basically atheism dressed up nicely, at least in practice.
Ietsism is also a very interesting concept to me. I might be an agnostic/ietsist/atheist.

Anybody have any thoughts?
Click to expand...
To answer the title question first: as I've never been a believer, I have never felt "lost". I always felt OK in my skin even when there was no "tribe" to belong to. And I've always been the odd one out in any group that allowed to have me in it, on all levels not only philosophically.
Even within the agnostic group, that is small enough, I'm an outsider as I'm a philosophical Agnostic, not merely a colloquial one. On RF we are a group of two. There's at least one additional Agnostic but he identifies as an Ignostic.
 
K

Kfox

Well-Known Member
Heyo said:
To answer the title question first: as I've never been a believer, I have never felt "lost". I always felt OK in my skin even when there was no "tribe" to belong to. And I've always been the odd one out in any group that allowed to have me in it, on all levels not only philosophically.
Even within the agnostic group, that is small enough, I'm an outsider as I'm a philosophical Agnostic, not merely a colloquial one. On RF we are a group of two. There's at least one additional Agnostic but he identifies as an Ignostic.
Click to expand...
When I was religious, I felt like I didn't belong because the religious types I associated with were the type to claim they experience God, have a relationship with him, and communicate with him on a regular basis; and I believed them. I knew I didn't have such experiences with God but was afraid to tell because I learned early on they blame YOU if you can't experience God; not God. When I lost my faith and learned all of those around me were either lying, mistaken, or experiencing something different than they thought they were experiencing, it was such a burden lifted off my shoulders. Now that I am no longer a believer, I really don't refer to myself as atheist, I consider myself a skeptic; but because my skepticism is applied to religion as well, everybody refers to me as an atheist; and I really don't mind the label. When I was religious, my religion meant everything to me, it was a major part of my life, my culture, my celebrations, failures, accomplishments, goals, problems, solutions; but now that I've let go theistic beliefs, it is such a relief to be able to go through life without having to view, judge, rationalize everything through the Lense of theism, I feel more like I can just be myself now rather than pretending to be something I am not.
 
Heyo

Heyo

Veteran Member
Kfox said:
When I was religious, I felt like I didn't belong because the religious types I associated with were the type to claim they experience God, have a relationship with him, and communicate with him on a regular basis; and I believed them. I knew I didn't have such experiences with God but was afraid to tell because I learned early on they blame YOU if you can't experience God; not God.
Click to expand...
In my circles, even among the religious, if you'd said that you hear voices, you'd have had an appointment with a psychologist very quick.
 
Mock Turtle

Mock Turtle

Oh my, did I say that!
Premium Member

Agnostics - Do you feel as if you don't know where you belong?​

Nah, what I considered a good enough look at the various religious beliefs (as a youth and later) didn't seem to entice me into any one of them, and particularly so for the monotheistic ones, with Buddhism being the main one that meant something to me. Fortunately I didn't have any particular religious teaching in the family (to oppose perhaps) but I did get the default standard Christian education at school, and the teacher of such - apparently being fond of girlies (caught in the act) - hardly made me respect him or what he promoted. But that was a minor point.

For me it was mainly accepting that the edifice, as to which many religions rely on so as to project their power, might be nothing more than something rooted in sand rather than rock - given that we had and have no reliable independent verification of their origins. And the fact that they tended to be much the same, but often locally biased, probably borrowed from previous beliefs, and mostly caused as much conflict as any other religious belief. The fact that some also tended to dismiss so much of what science has shown us also hardly helped.

I still have the unknown in mind, as to how the universe came into existence for example, and hence why I regard myself as an agnostic, but even with such I think humans can have meaning in their lives and for all humans in general, so I hardly feel lost - just a bit mystified as to how we might endure as a species, given all that tends to tear us apart. And as to such, many religions are doing a grand job. :eek:
 
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K

Kfox

Well-Known Member
Heyo said:
In my circles, even among the religious, if you'd said that you hear voices, you'd have had an appointment with a psychologist very quick.
Click to expand...
Perhaps if my circle was more like your circle, things wouldn’t have been so difficult for me in
 
K

Kfox

Well-Known Member
Sand Dancer said:
I like feeling like being a part of something bigger. I had a built in community as a Christian.
Click to expand...
The Christians I know are involved in much more in life than religion. Yeah; religion is a major part of their lives, but there are other things they are involved in as well. Because of this, the vast majority of the people of my community are Christian even though I don't share their religious views.
 
Sand Dancer

Sand Dancer

Crazy Cat Lady
Kfox said:
The Christians I know are involved in much more in life than religion. Yeah; religion is a major part of their lives, but there are other things they are involved in as well. Because of this, the vast majority of the people of my community are Christian even though I don't share their religious views.
Click to expand...
I don't know. I am just restless somehow, and I hate it.
 
Subduction Zone

Subduction Zone

Veteran Member
Heyo said:
In my circles, even among the religious, if you'd said that you hear voices, you'd have had an appointment with a psychologist very quick.
Click to expand...
I would, but the voices quite calmly tell me that is not necessary.

Oh, and they say that I should answer the OP too.

Most atheists here are also agnostics. It is not an either or proposition. Most atheists are agnostics. In fact many atheists will claim that almost all agnostics are atheists as well. And though I agree if someone wants to be referred to as an agnostic I have no problem doing so.

Atheism is about what one believes, or in this case does not believe. Atheism is commonly defined as a lack of belief in a god or gods. That is a a literal etymology of the word "A" without "theism" a belief in God. I cannot say that I am sure that there are no gods. There could be. I just do not see a good reason to believe in any of them. Not even the loud shouty ones that talk about burning in hell forever. I laugh at them as much as they laugh at the threat of an eternity of skunky beer and strippers with STD's.
 
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