The Pot Calling the China Black

Author's Note:  This is a pre-review draft.  I would appreciate ANY feedback.  Not just on the content, but on the style and technique as well. This is as much an exercise in writing as it is a way of expressing myself.  Alternatively, you can feel free to just tell me "good job".

                                       

                                            Pot Calling the China Black


I am an Agnostic. I'm also an atheist; i.e. someone who fails to believe in a God. But, there are numerous reasons I don't like using the term Atheist to describe myself.  The most common stereotype of non-believers like myself is arrogance.  It always amazes me how completely backwards that is.

With a few exceptions, people don't believe in religion as a general concept; they believe in a specific religion. If you're a Christian (Muslim, Jew, Hindu, etc.) then you believe very specific things about your God.  I've read many beautiful essays on why the author chooses to believe in God; but none justify why the author is sure that their particular God exists.

Being a Christian (M,J,H,etc.) requires faith. You can claim you believe in the Bible or other relevant text, but it's still faith powering your belief in that book.  But, faith is the act of insisting that what you've chosen to believe is true regardless of any evidence for or against.  If faith were a reliable means of discerning truth, then we wouldn't have the myriad of religions we have in the world.  What it all boils down to is that, with a faith-based belief system, what you ultimately believe in is simply yourself.

As an Agnostic I admit I don't know what, if any, God exists. There simply is no objective evidence that could lead me to a certain conclusion.  I certainly don't reject the possibility of a spiritual force, I just don't think that any human can say that they know the nature of God and his intentions for us.

As for Atheists, most reject the notion of God due to lack of evidence.  I've heard it argued over and over again that it's pure hubris for an Atheist to trust human logic and evidence.  Seriously?!?  In what other possible context would someone argue this?  In all other aspects of their lives, the religious trust logic and evidence to make solid decisions.

Now then, let's get something straight, when you try to proselytize me and I reject your claims: it's not your God I'm rejecting, it's you.  I'm rejecting the proposition that you've successfully uncovered the nature of the divine while the billions of others who disagree with you have failed.  Even if you're a Christian, the majority of those who call themselves Christians believe in a substantially different version of God than you do.  So, I'm simply playing the odds that are overwhelmingly in favor of you being wrong.

Believe what you want, but be honest; faith is anything but humble.  And, while it's convenient to dismiss non-believers as simply being too arrogant to believe in a power greater than themselves, that doesn't mean that it's true.