From Mindspillage

Things written about religion.

Identity

I identify as an agnostic atheist: strong agnostic, weak atheist, which is to say I think it is impossible to know if gods exist, but I don't believe in any.

I was born Catholic, but I recovered.

Evidence

Quotations are excerpts from an email I was responding to:

"I don't anticipate being killed by a polar bear, either, but I don't leave it to chance."

Well, I have a tiny peephole, suitable to see what sort of tract-bearing evangelist or school-aged fundraiser wants my attention when I get an unexpected knock, but I don't look through it every time I leave; experience and observation teach me that it is generally not necessary.

If someone knocks or otherwise disturbs the area, I do look, because there could be harmful things outside the door other than polar bears. In fact, every single time I have ever left the house and had something harm me, I never discovered it to be a polar bear. Sometimes I never found out the cause and will never know it, but I still don't believe it was a polar bear, because there are much better explanations that don't stretch the very limits of plausibility. If you ask me if a polar bear stole my phone, I will tell you "no"—even though I don't know who took it—and if pressed say that I do not actually know but don't think that possibility to be one worth considering.

"What would you choose to do if some entity provided convincing proof of great power?"

I don't think I could have too much respect for a god demanding adulation, myself; I would think a truly superior being wouldn't even want the worship. What's the point of creating beings that can act independently (assumed) if you don't want them to go and do things rather than spending all their time on you? Boring; you can gaze into your own divine navel. Any god worth its salt should slap its forehead at the idea of monks. (If you really need the continuous attention, don't bother creating anything but puppies.) If a god were proven to exist I suppose I would go about my business, acting as though it didn't exist; it seems the rational choice to make faced with an omnipotent and omniscient being.