Life as an Agnostic

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

That's the gift of agnosticism.

You get to do you, how you see fit. You get to own your behavior. You to regard your time on earth how you want.

- Doc

Thanks. For me agnosticism is not the the Straight and Narrow easy path, but I am going to have to train my own mind to see it as a gift.

Oh, man. It's totally not the easy path. The easy path is giving yourself over to a strict and easy-to-follow paradigm that removes all responsibility for your life from you. When you're an Agnostic you're 100% responsible for every aspect of your mental, emotional, and physical welfare. Even then you can still be susceptible to utter nonsense regarding psychology, physiology, and lifestyle. You have millions of approaches to living with most of anyone willing to share their philosophy cocksure they've figured it out.

I guess the only issue I see with taking life's red pill is you pretty much end up seeing the human existential experience as not being that different from any other life form's existence. Sure we have wonderful things like cuisine, art, sport, philosophy, and science. At the end of the day it doesn't really absolve us from our existential milieu. Even if we build super awesome civilizations that explore space, colonize planets, or, I dunno, give ourselves superhuman attributes it doesn't spare us from needing to eat, want sex, occupying space, engage in human relations, or whatever else humans do. Perhaps we can transcend ourselves which might give our consciousnesses some relief that our physical minds have to negotiate, but that's not relevant to our immediate here and now.

This is why I've chosen to be a 'nihilist-lite' with an eye toward diet-hedonism, egalitarianism, and a supporter of meritocracies. I've chosen to believe human pragmatism ought to Trump feelings with an eye toward efficiency and long-term species survivablity. See? I've crafted my own philosophy because I was free to do so.

And this is what I'm referring to when I'm saying that Agnosticism is a gift. I've literally crafted out a space in which I live (my home and yard) that's to my liking and I metaphorically crafted an in toto identity that suits who I am. I'm no longer a Mormon. I'm no longer a Democrat. I'm no longer just this or that. I'll say that I'm this or that if I'm trying to get a point across, so I'm relatable, but I'm much more complicated than that just as you are. YOU are a complicated reality and now you get to figure out how to define yourself and your perception of the world.

None of this means you'll be happy, or you'll be at peace. Maybe you'll end up grumpy or perpetua-fussy. I'm salty as “F”. But I also joke around a lot. I'm allowed to experience a range of emotions and express myself how I see fit precisely because nothing matters and everything is pointless, anyway. You do, too. I'd just suggest that if you're feeling down do something that scares you, challenges you, or gets you out of your routine. After all, you get one life, as far as we know (unless we're just in an endless series of simulations then you can just play Roy again) so you might as well make the canvas of your life a work of art.

- Doc

[_Jesse Pinkman]

Okay, it is about a year now that I decided to be an atheist-leaning agnostic. However, I was taught all my life that Families can be eternal. It brings me no happiness to think there is probably no after-life. I now fear death more than ever. I think am a little crazy now. It hurts to think I wasted many years of my life doing a lot sacrifices for the church. I wish I could get my years back.

For me a godless life is not easier, there is so much uncertainty now. I can no longer say "all is well, God is with me". I wish I could go to a secular therapist, but there is none in my area, and I don't think my health insurance would cover one. I sometimes wish I could believe again.

Hopefully someone here has something to share that can help me.

Just because you don't believe in God from an LDS perspective doesn't mean that you have to give up all belief of God. I do feel that there is life after death, and that we will be able to be with our families after we die. There are some personal reasons and revelations I have received that have led me to this belief. You are welcome to PM me if you want more details.

As an agnostic, you can lean toward the fact that there is simply a lot about the afterlife that we just don't know. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

[_Philo Sofee]

I have actually become quite comfortable telling the truth that I actually don't know, and am therefore agnostic more than anything.

[_Jesse Pinkman]

I have actually become quite comfortable telling the truth that I actually don't know, and am therefore agnostic more than anything.

Me too.

[_krose]

in my opinion, it’s the only honest position to take. Nobody knows (or can know) whether any gods exist.

You can believe in a god (theist) or disbelieve (atheist), but if you are honest with yourself and others, you should admit to also being agnostic.

I call myself an atheist agnostic, because while I don’t believe in any gods, of course I can’t say for certain that none exist.

[_deacon blues]

We all contribute to the future, even if only minute contributions. Something good you say or do may ripple out into the cosmos, and make life better for one, or possibly millions. Write a book, and it may help you, or help others to understand you. I believe Jesus is divine, but even if I'm wrong, learning about him has made my life happier, and better.

[_sock puppet]

I have actually become quite comfortable telling the truth that I actually don't know, and am therefore agnostic more than anything.

Do you spend much time anymore pondering the question? It took years, but I no longer trifle time away on an unknowable. Now I consider myself apatheistic.

[_DoubtingThomas]

DoubtingThomas, we've had our disagreements here, but I share your fears. More than you know. I have struggled with it for years. I'm 60 now and just think that I have to do as much as I can with the time I have left. Enjoy every day. It never gets easier, at least not for me it hasn't. I just wake up everyday thankful I'm still here and then try and have a good day. Work on the things important to me. You can't get back the past.

Thanks grindael. Will do.

[_karl61]

Bertrand Russell would be a good source to check out. I just skimmed an article by him a while back, something about living with the unknown takes more courage than having faith in something, or something like that. I would also read the non Mormons who had some experience when they thought they were experiencing death. I always wanted to read the book by the orthopedic surgeon in Wyoming who was trapped under water for an amount of time that should have caused death. . She talks about meeting people who told her it wasn't her time yet and she needed to go back. She also reports that they also told her that her teenage son would die soon. He was killed in a skate boarding accident a while later.