Dragaera

Agnostic definition... or not.

Wed Nov 27 13:12:52 PST 2002

Rick Castello wrote:
> Scott Raun said:
>> On Wed, Nov 27, 2002 at 12:05:36PM -0500, Peter H. Granzeau wrote:
>>> I went hunting once for a word to describe lack of belief in any
>>> Deity  (including active non-belief in a Deith) and failed
>>> miserably.  I always  wondered if "infidel" fit?  It's got a lot of
>>> baggage, unfortunately.  We  need something that not only says
>>> "there is no God", but says, "and I don't  care if there is one or
>>> not".
>>
>> How about agnostic?
>>
>> Trimming from the www.dictionary.com definition:
>>
>>> One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a : God.
>>>
>>> One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not
>>> profess : true atheism.
>>
>> My favorite definition of agnostic is 'I don't know and I don't
>> care'.
>
>      These are two different meanings, and do not track.
>
>      One is a merely logical statement:
>        I do not and cannot with existing evidence know if there is
>        a being matching current agreed-upon definitions of God.
>
>      The other is making a value judgement:
>        If there were a being matching God, I would not care about it.
>
>      Not the same, and though the second may be an opinion of SOME
>      agnostics, it is NOT part of the definition of agnostic.
>
>
>      I am agnostic, but I'll tell you now that if the available
>      evidence DID change, and it could be PROVEN that there is a
>      being matching one of the many descriptions of God, I would
>      be VERY interested to learn more about it, and ask a hell of
>      a lot of questions.
>
>      I might get squashed for my impudence, but I'd certainly TRY
>      to get some answers to some interesting questions.  :)
>
>      I don't know many well-balanced atheists that wouldn't swallow
>      their pride and assess new evidence, not to mention at least
>      be curious about such a being... even if only to attempt to
>      disprove it.
>
>      To not care, in my opinion, is something I'd call childish,
>      but that'd be incorrect.  Even a child would be curious.
>
>      -Rick

I think the word imprudent fits.