Day 9 – the impracticality of agnosticism
The conclusion we reach in our reflection on this question [Does God exist?] has the most momentous consequences in the orientation of our thinking and of our daily living. –EDWARD SILLEM
If neither theists nor atheists can absolutely defend their positions, shouldn't we accept this and resign ourselves to agnosticism? Shouldn't we begin to live as if it's impossible to know if God exists? Wouldn't that be the most practical solution? My answer is "no," and let me try to explain why.
Intellectually, I have to agree that there is some truth to this line of thinking. If I am honest, I must admit as a theist that I have fallen short of proving God exists. I may be 90% sure intellectually, but that leaves 10% doubt. The honest atheist would admit the same, that there lurks in his or her mind a degree of uncertainty unreachable by logical arguments. I guess you could say, intellectually speaking, that both the theist and the atheist have a little bit of the agnostic in them and will always have.
That would be the end of the whole matter if we lived in a world strictly intellectual, one confined to our thoughts alone. This, of course, is not the case. Our existence consists of action as well as thought, and this very activity makes it impossible to embrace agnosticism as a practical alternative. It would be maddening, in fact, to conduct my life consistent with my intellectual dichotomy. I would be inconsistent at best if I determined to spend 90% of my waking hours as if God existed and 10% as if He didn't. The atheist would have the same problem if 10% of his or her actions turned out to be religious. Such an existence would be unacceptable to all and would be decried as the height of hypocrisy.
My point here is that agnosticism, although in some respects the only intellectual alternative, cannot be lived in practice. In fact, it amounts to practical nonsense. The sensible thing for the agnostic would be to weigh his or her doubts in the balance, pick the most likely intellectual position, and then live as if that position were 100% correct. It would be best if he or she would become a practicing theist or atheist. But then, on a practical level, he or she would cease to be an agnostic altogether.
Such is the problem with agnosticism. It is intellectually acceptable but pragmatically infeasible. It is a mental exercise with little or no practical value.
Daily Quotation
Edward Sillem, Ways of Thinking About God (London: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 1961), 1.
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