Well I guess you could say I’ve de-converted. I’m not a Christian anymore. But I’m also not an atheist.
I guess that leaves me with the agnostic label?
I absolutely do not believe in the Christian god anymore. But I can’t say without a shadow of a doubt that there’s nothing out there. I still believe in the supernatural somehow. It may just be that I’ve always been fascinated by it, so I want to believe in it. Ghosts, demon possession, etc.
Crazy, right?
The girl who doesn’t believe in god believes in demon possession?
I do realize how ridiculous that sounds.
But I’m okay with that. I don’t want to fit into a box. I don’t want to have a label. Other than the Mandi Kaye label, of course.
But I can’t say without a shadow of a doubt that there’s nothing out there.
But neither can an atheist, and we don’t. Oh sure, there are one or two cocky atheists who say without a doubt there isnt one. But even richard Dawkins isnt so cocky as to say there isn’t any god anywhere. I mean look at the atheist bus signs, nothing declarative. The atheists are the ones who arent so cocky to think they know for sure. But if we are going to live and legislate around the idea that one exists, it really shouldnt be to much to ask that someone prove it first and then prove they have the right one.
But all the evidence points to use being alone here on earth. Knowledge gaps keep getting filled, human actions and reactions cause virtually everything in our society, and statistics and placebo fills up almost everything. So why bother? We are social creatures, there are tons of other constructive ways to socialize.
As for demons, ghosts, UFOs, crop circles, atlantis and whatnot, well, at least you are on your way
. There are tons of Atheists who reject god but accept UFOs or Bigfoot. I can’t imagine why, but they do. I want to believe I have magic powers, but no matter how much Harry Potter I read, Expelliarmus never works for me.
Actually, the statement you made in your earlier post could almost be considered the definition of an atheist:
Personally, I prefer to say “I do not believe in the existence of god(s)”, but that’s from personal experience on how people will interpret the word “believe” based on context.
Being an atheist does not mean that you can’t still believe in ghosts, demons, etc. Atheist just means that you don’t believe in the existence deities, but some of us take it one step further and doubt everything supernatural.
Now, this may open a can of worms, but why believe in things because you “want” to believe in them?
Well, I guess I should be more specific. I don’t believe in the Christian god. I don’t believe in the god of the Bible.
I do think it’s possible there might be something up there or out there somewhere.
Why wouldn’t I do something because I wanted to?
Not sure, lets ask these people who did things because they believed in ghosts and these people who did things because they believed in demons..
Yeah that’s a bit over the top of me, I know. Its not like I’m worried for you that a ghost or a demon will hurt you. I’m just pointing out the distinct and real potential harm of acting on magical thinking.
I too believe there is something out there. I fully believe there are aliens on other planets (I do not believe that they are here on this one, visiting us). Life grew up here, against pretty sparse odds, there is no reason to believe that it didnt happen somewhere else where the same ingredients and environment is available.
@ Amanda:
I agree that it’s possible, but I don’t find it probable. Basically, the world works exactly the same as I would expect it to if there were no deities interfering.
The first reason that comes to mind is repercussions, not only from a belief but also from actions of which belief could be considered a subset.
This is the short answer, because an indepth answer would require a post of its own.
It sounds like you’re wrestling with the same thing that bothered me post-de-conversion. What finally solved it, more or less, was the recognition that lack of belief and lack of knowledge are separate (and not contradictory) issues. The primary hurdle in getting to that point was my very conservative Christianity’s adamant insistence that belief in god could be proven (albeit through circular and scientifically false means), thus blurring the belief/knowledge line when I started disbelieving instead. Once extricated, things clicked into place pretty quickly.