At the Washington Post I saw a story on the We Are Atheism campaign. Caught my attention.
The questions of theism, agnosticism, nontheism & atheism are rich, no doubt, exploring the currents of our human heart and our willingness to weigh evidence into our world view. Pretty important, I think.
If asked, and if the conversation is passing, I usually opt for nontheist, as I find it less freighted with emotions I don’t generally identify with that color the term atheism in ordinary conversation.
I have no belief in a deity that has some kind of human like consciousness and intervenes in history, nothing in my experience supports the claim.
Still, and for me there is a still, the descriptions one can find of God in the writings of various mystical traditions of theistic religions ranging from Judaism, to Christianity, to Islam, to Hinduism, what are called apophatic, do resonate with my experience.
Rather more I find pointers in some of the traditionally non-theistic faiths, Taoism, and particularly Buddhism, and most of all Zen Buddhism.
And, of course, there’s Spinoza’s God, which works for me just fine…
And, I’m eternally grateful for having a spiritual home within Unitarian Universalism, which is open to all the above. (With just enough challenge to every stance to add spice to the matter, to keep one on her toes, to push one to his depths…)
So, when given a bit more time I’d say my faith stance is agnosticism, leaning hard toward atheism. Perhaps even more important, I believe, is how agnosticism is also a spiritual stance, a spiritual path…
In the meantime, an interesting campaign for those rowing against the stream…
Gotta love ’em…
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In