Why An Agnostic Approach…
I decided to start An Agnostic Approach because I wanted to offer another way of viewing Agnosticism, which is not often considered. I recall one occasion when I told someone that I identify as a devout agnostic, and the reaction I received was one of laughter and skepticism. The person I was with thought I was joking. And I admit the two words “devout” and “Agnostic” seem antithetical to each other. I mean, what does an agnostic believe in? Isn’t it nothing?
In general, an agnostic is viewed as someone undecided on questions related to God and religion. And that is pretty close to the definition of an Agnostic, which is generally defined as someone who believes that we humans cannot possibly know the nature of God, and so, an Agnostic claims neither faith nor disbelief in God. I also feel that many perceive someone who claims to be an agnostic as someone who doesn’t want to think about these complex topics and is taking the easy way out by not choosing a “side” on the subject. And perhaps many do use the term agnostic as a way of opting out of hard conversations or because they do not want to grapple with these big questions when there are more immediate, pragmatic concerns to deal with. And I think this is also completely understandable, given that there are more pertinent concerns in most people’s lives.
So then, what do I mean when I say I am Devout Agnostic? To me, how I define my fundamental belief is that I believe An Agnostic view or Approach should be applied to all aspects of our existence. Not just to God and religion but to other aspects of this existence, such as society, morality, life, and the universe at large. So, what I’ll be doing in this blog is explore subjects and topics that interest me and attempt to apply an Agnostic approach to the discussion.
Why did I call this blog “An Agnostic Approach” and not “The Agnostic Approach”. Because as an Agnostic, to claim an absolute truth implied by the word “the” would be antithetical to my belief that given our individual narrow scopes it would be really challenging to have a complete or full understanding of any one event, subject or topic. So, what I am offering is my individual perspective. And while I’ll be drawing as much as possible from scientific research, I want to be clear that this is only my narrow perspective and should absolutely be questioned. Because after all, what I really think agnosticism in action is doing is leaving possibilities open and questioning the extent of our claimed knowledge.
So please join me on this undertaking as I do my best to explore different aspects of this existence. And please feel free to send me messages on any thoughts you’d like to share or topics you would like me to explore.
Saro Varjabedian
Writer
