by Harry Lamer

Created on: October 15, 2008   Last Updated: November 28, 2009

What is he who is not theist? Guess he must be atheist.

It is easy to label one an atheist. Indeed, almost anyone who does not believe in religion (ie. theism) would have thought himself/herself an atheist at one time. Then one fine day, our hero comes across the term "agnosticism". And all of a sudden, pardon the pun, he/she is converted.

So what is all the fuss about, between atheism and agnosticism? And while we are at it, perhaps we can throw religion (theism) into the mix as well? What is the BIG deal?

Oh, the divinity! Indeed, the DEFINITY! It is all in the definition baby.

And before we launch ourselves into all that legalistic, bureaucratic bull crap, let us get one thing straight. The reality of life is that definitions, interpretations, points of view etc. etc. all change from time to time, person to person. You see things your way, I see them mine. That is the way life is, no point arguing about it.

The good news though is that in any discussion or discourse, there must be a common basis or loosely agreed definition of the points discussed. Communication cannot take place otherwise.

So in general, atheism refers to a disbelief in the existence of a supreme being or god; religion (or theism) au contraire, refers to the belief in a supreme being or god; while agnosticism refers to the idea that one has no clue either way.

Ok, now we have the basic idea, we can throw those definitions out the window.

It seems straightforward enough. On the face of it, you might call an agnostic fickle, but the agnostic is simply taking a stand that one cannot be certain of anything. Considering that humans cannot possibly be perfect (God says so too), then by extension, one can never be absolutely certain if there is a supreme being or god. Because, who says God exists? HUMANS.

Now, no one can deny the fact that one can never be absolutely certain of anything. So if you think about it, agnosticism does seem to have the best deal out of the three. Anyone who is not sure is an agnostic. Have a religion but beginning to have doubts? Agnostic. Believe in science but cannot discount the possibility of a higher power? Agnostic. Believe in God but cannot explain why, and therefore forced to accept there is a teeny weeny chance of being wrong? AGNOSTIC!

Duh.

But not quite. The beauty about religion is that it is never about facts or figures. It is a matter of FAITH. No need for evidence, thank you very much. I just believe. I just KNOW. Yeah there is no certainty, but why think

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