Originally posted in Athiest Unders Ur Bed’s diary.
“Hi! My online name is Lady Joss. I was a Christian, but am now agnostic.
“I took up this challenge, as I had never really put into words why I am agnostic before.
“I thought I would start this with a definition. This is from dictionary.com: agnosticAg*nos”tic, n. One who professes ignorance, or denies that we have any knowledge, save of phenomena; one who supports agnosticism, neither affirming nor denying the existence of a personal Deity, a future life, etc.’
“I was (as I have already said) a Christian. I was an officer in the Boys Brigade after being a boy in the Brigade. I am a member of a church where I was also a member of the Congregational Board. I was in a Christian youth organisation.
“But I was not a conventional Christian. I smoke. I drink. I have pre-marital sex. I am very open minded.
“Then one day I decided not to pigeon hole myself. So I decided to find out more about other religions. This is when I stopped becoming Christian.
“I believe in things like the Native American belief that all animals have a purpose on Earth. This ties in with the Buddhist tenant of not hurting animals. (I am not, however, a vegetarian. To quote Dennis Leary, Not eating animals is a choice, eating animals is an instinct’.)
“I have in my wallet a list of quotes that inspire me or that I just plain like. One of these is from a poster I bought recently. It goes: ‘When you begin the study of Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters. After a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters no longer waters. After enlightenment mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters.’
“After reading this, I am borrowing a book from a friend about Zen Buddhism.
“Don’t think I don’t believe in some sort of deity. I do. I’m just not letting myself be committed to one particular God. I intend to read and study as much as I can. So that when I do make a final decision, I can live with myself, in the words of Alyssa Jones in Chasing Amy: cause I got here on my own terms, and I have no question there was some place I didn’t look. And for me that makes all the difference.’
“I am not against anyone who has nailed their colours to the mast of a particular religion. Jewish, Christian, Muslim, whatever. It’s your choice. It does not matter to me and I do not judge you because of it. I am agnostic. That’s my choice. Do not judge me for that. Let me live as I see fit, I’ll let you live your life as you see fit. Everyone is happy.”
Will
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