Agnostic
From AtheistWiki
Agnostics hold that:
- It is not possible to have absolute or certain knowledge of the existence of God or gods
or
- While individual certainty may be possible, they personally have no knowledge.
In both cases Agnosticism implies a level of skepticism about the existence of God or gods.
Many people who regard themselves as agnostics hold a position more-or-less identical to that of Weak atheism or Implicit atheism. They would hold that although it is possible that a god exists the actual probability that such a being exists is so low that it can be ignored.
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The "God Computer" Example
An person who is agnostic may explain why they would not simply discount the existence of God entirely using this example: what if God were a computer programmer/engineer and the universe was a computer that God created and programmed?
If the computer were ever turned off, the universe would suddenly end, quickly, painlessly, and without warning. If the computer were designed to "save" the state of the universe before being turned off, then the universe would continue to exist as soon as God turned the computer back on again, and no one in the universe would have even known that the universe had ever stopped moving.
God may be able to "copy and paste" objects in the universe, for example a human, or an idea in the mind of a human, and then control the behavior of that human, or the nature of that idea. This could be used to explain the prophets of the Abrahamic religions and how they could have been influenced by divine entities, or the birth of Jesus, if indeed God did impregnate Mary.
It may be possible that the God programmer created Earth humanity for the purpose of simulation, perhaps to better understand his own universe. It is possible that God does perform miracles in order to change certain conditions of this simulation. It is possible that God answers prayers, in order to study the nature of the humans he created. It is possible that 2000 years on our Earth in our universe is only a few seconds for God's computer simulation, and after he set the initial conditions using Jesus, let the universe run of it's own accord, answering prayers as often as necessary to ensure the simulation runs within the limits of certain parameters.
Problems With the "God Computer" Example
It is Only A Conjecture: The "God Computer" example is a hypothesis, which is only the first step of the scientific method. This hypothesis cannot be tested, because we have no way of controlling variables to determine when, how, and why God will change the nature of the universe, or when, how or why God will answer prayers.
It Does Not Verify Religious Belief: Even if it were the case that God were the programmer of the universe, it does not prove that believing in God according to a given religious practice will guarantee any eternal reward, or even that eternal reward or punishment does exist.
It Does Not Verify Mythology: Myths, like Jesus walking on water, or Mohammad's escape from persecution are stories told by humans, and humans have the tendency to exaggerate the truth, and exaggerations compound into larger and more spectacular myths over the generations, especially if the story being told is about a great hero, or a person that was much loved by the people who tell the stories. Examples of this myth-making are prevalent in every culture across the world and there are even modern day examples of myth-making. Since myth-making is an understood, observable, natural human process, it is more likely that the mythology of a given religion (e.g. miracles of Jesus) is not an actual fact, even though it is possible that God did indeed make it happen.
That God causes miracles and answers prayers is possible but not plausible, however, that these ancient stories are myths is both possible and plausible.
The Agnostic Conclusion
Since it is possible that God might exist given the example above, but it is both possible and plausible that God does not exist, the agnostic conclusion is that it is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of God, but it is most likely that religious belief is unnecessary.
Whether or not religious belief is a good thing, or serves a useful function in society is a topic of debate amongst agnostics. Some Agnostics consider religion to be a source of evil in the world, whereas other consider religion to be an essential tool of reasoning for ethics and ethical pedagogy (teaching children to be good people). Still others believe that religion evolves, and that science is the most recent step in the evolution of religion.
