121023 Agnostic Advent: Myth #10: "Agnostic = Atheist = Humanist"

I think the best way for me to use labels like agnostic, atheist or humanist, is to follow them up with how I relate to them, not just how Wikipedia defines them. 

Agnostic- I have no certain knowledge of how the cosmos started. All I have is what others have passed along to me.  I understand there are other people that have had and still have access to more knowledge about the cosmos.  Maybe what they "know" makes sense to me.  But it is still not something I know, it will only be something I can accept… as a belief.  

Belief is what I do because I don't know.  On it's own as a label, it only defines something that I don't have… a specific kind or amount of knowledge.  

Atheist: Gods ( whether Greek, Roman. Hindu or deities any of the three major monotheistic religions) are man made ideas that were birthed in the creative minds of people a long time ago who needed an answer to the reason for their existence.  Gods require worship, sacrifice and blind obedience. There may be a good psychological reason that early humans fashioned their Gods to be domineering slave masters. Maybe it was low self esteem. I'm not sure. 

If the cosmos was started by something or someone, I can’t imagine it as small as characters in the ancient mythology stories we have. Definitely I also can’t imagine it as juvenile as the "God" portrayed in the Bible. With access to timeless creativity and imagination, couldn’t we have done better? 

I don't believe in, substantiate, give credence to, find life in … manmade gods.  A-Theism…a lack of belief or life found in a god or gods.   Like I mentioned in my last post… it does not mean that I can't find possibility in something that began everything.  I just have a very different idea of what that something might be.   

Humanist: I am challenged with this label. I understand that it gives a better lens to look through. Our world is very human focused. But does this label allow for a place of all of nature to have a voice even though we can’t understand its words? How can I call myself a humanist when I see value in all expressions of life? I would hope that the disposal of the gods isn’t followed by making gods out of humans. Oh… that's already happened.  

I am not yet ready to label myself a humanist.  To me, the label doesn't embrace the whole.  So I leave to call myself agnostic-atheist at this moment of my journey.  Someone who doesn't know how the cosmos started, doesn't find life in the ancient man-made gods, but still now tries to find love and beauty in the life I have with the people and nature around me. 

(written December 10, 2023)