by Billie Meyers

Created on: May 22, 2008

'Seeker' is used synonymously with the word 'agnostic' in this article. For that is what an agnostic is, a seeker. One who seeks the answers to the questions that, to date, no one has definitive answers for such as, Is there a god? What is man's purpose? Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? Etc. If there were empirical evidence that established the answers to these questions, there would be no debate on the subject.

Christianity, Judaism, and other religions offer a canned set of beliefs, or answers, if you will. Those who are raised in these faiths are taught that they must not question what they are being told; they must take it on faith. For that is why they are called 'faiths.' Those desiring proof, or empirical evidence, that the beliefs they are being taught are the correct beliefs, will not get it for it cannot be offered.

What's to be made of the person who is not brought up to believe in a canned set of beliefs? Suppose a person such as this is presented with a book of various belief systems, including atheism and agnosticism, and is told to choose one. He is not offered any tangible evidence that proves the validity of one choice over another. And suppose only one of the choices, agnosticism, acknowledges that there are no difinitive answers to the questions that the other belief systems all claim to have answered in different ways. A person seeking the truth will most likely choose agnosticism. All of the other choices require faith.

Much can be learned by observing those of faith. Do Christians, for instance, live healthier, happier lives than atheists? Sometimes they do, but not always. Are Christians more honest, genuine, and kind? Sometimes they are, but not always. Thus, the results of belief in a particular faith are not consistent.

Most of us have faith that the sun will rise in the East tomorrow morning and the next. We have faith that summer will follow spring, and fall will follow summer. Why? Because it has happened that way all of our lives, so we know from experience that it is true. The East could be called something else, yet it would still rise over there, you know, in the East.

A seeker does not have a problem with faith based on experience and empirical evidence, yet a seeker does not just go along with something just because someone says, "This is the Way, the ONLY way." If you were told to put your hand in a machine that had blades going 'round and 'round in it, would you? Would you try it if someone told you that it was safe? Most reasonable people will want to see someone else do it safely first!

Agnostics are seekers of the truth. They are not willing to plunge their hands into a dangerous looking machine until they know it's safe. They are wise people who know that the truth will only be found if we keep searching for it.

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