Whats in a name?

“Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.” – Andre Gide

So why am I an agnostic and not an atheist? Why, when I have no evidence that there is a god, that there is anything magical in this world, do I still hold out a little part of my mind for the existence of a god? Because the moment the concept of a god was given to me, I could not be an atheist. To me, being an atheist is almost the same as believing in god. Indeed you find almost the same arrogance in atheists as you do in religious folk sometimes, and both can be very preachy. There is very little difference between KNOWING that there is a god and KNOWING that there isn’t. How can one be so sure? It is almost unfair, this concept of god. If no one ever said anything about it, I know I wouldn’t believe in it, wouldn’t search it out. But since I know about this concept of god, how can I be sure it isn’t true. This is also why the flying spaghetti monster idea works. How can you be so sure the world wasn’t created by a giant spaghetti monster with its noodly appendage?

Truth be told, just labeling myself as an agnostic is bullshit. If it weren’t for religion, I wouldn’t need this label. It wouldn’t exist. But because there are others in the world that define themselves and others by religion, I am given a label to describe my position on something that should be a non issue. One could go about making all sorts of labels to describe someone that are completely arbitrary. If they got popular enough everyone else would have to define themselves with respect to this made up label. “Are you a whatzit, anti-whatzit, pro-whatzit….” I try to live with as little labels as I can. The fewer labels in the world, the less people will try to make up differences among us to justify the labels. Now, I am not some idealistic prick who thinks that if we get rid of all the labels the whole world will be peachy keen. I just don’t like the affect labels have on people.

Introduction

So I wanted to start this blog as a way to discuss and put out my views on religion today. These views are mine alone, and in no way am I trying to convince anyone to believe what I believe. Religion should be a personal choice. I have made mine. It’s not for me, I just don’t agree with it. The last thing I want to do is preach to others and force my beliefs on them. Take what I write and reflect on it. Choose what you want. I hate it when people approach me and try to convince me to subscribe to their belief system. We can sit down and have a discussion, but if I get the sense that you’re trying to “save” me, the conversation is over.

Just a little about me. I was born in the Southern California, and raised in a non-religious family. My mother still holds some of the traditions of Islam, though she doesn’t consider herself religious. She doesn’t pray, and doesn’t read the Koran. It is just part of the society she grew up in. My father is an atheist, and has much harsher views on religion than me. I didn’t really know he was atheist until I was in my teens. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t think that his views had any influence on mine. He let me make up my own mind about religion and made an effort not to influence me too often. However, he did teach me to question everything. Anything that didn’t seem right was to be questioned. Try your hardest to not accept anything just because. Everything should have a reason. This is probably the best advice he has ever given me.
I grew up pretty normal. My neighborhood was prominently white, with me being one of the only middle-eastern kids in the area. Luckily I never really experienced any discrimination, not any I noticed anyway. My parents believe that as I grew up, the kids were starting to show signs of it, but I wouldn’t have noticed. I was too young. Instead of being an adverse experience, being different from everyone else taught me to appreciate other cultures.

Since we moved, my life has been filled with living with different kinds of people and trying to absorb as much culture as I can. During my college years, I really began to explore what my stance on religion was. Most of my friends either come from a Jewish or Muslim background (which sets up some interesting conversations). You will hear all about how I feel about religion in my writings. They won’t be formal, they won’t be polished. They will just be what comes off the top of my head. Looking forward to some interesting comments.