Faith - Agnosticism Is The Answer?

 My friend DM sent me the link to John Horgan's What God, Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness Have in Common. I converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity 12 years a go this coming May 12. It has been the subject of several conversations I have had with a variety of freinds about my decision to rejoin a church and religion in general and, also, specifically Orthodoxy. This article is  part of one fo those conversations.

I think Mr. Horgan makes a good argument for agnosticism, with one caveat.

People I admire fault me for being too skeptical. One is the late religious philosopher Huston Smith, who called me “convictionally impaired.” Another is megapundit Robert Wright, an old friend, with whom I’ve often argued about evolutionary psychology and Buddhism. Wright once asked me in exasperation, “Don’t you believe anything?” Actually, I believe lots of things, for example, that war is bad and should be abolished.

But when it comes to theories about ultimate reality, I’m with Voltaire. “Doubt is not a pleasant condition,” Voltaire said, “but certainty is an absurd one.” Doubt protects us from dogmatism, which can easily morph into fanaticism and what William James calls a “premature closing of our accounts with reality.” Below I defend agnosticism as a stance toward the existence of God, interpretations of quantum mechanics and theories of consciousness. When considering alleged answers to these three riddles, we should be as picky as my old friend Gallagher.

(links omitted.)

 Mr. Horgan does not attack religion or faith, he explicitly says he respects the faithful. Do not read his article thinking otherwise.

I was put through a catechism class, but before that I decided that I liked how Orthodox Chrisitianity operated and that its practice was to emphasize the virtues as the means of living. I had come to the conclusion that every way I had lived my life before had been wrong and I needed to strike out in a different way. I put my faith in a system that presented a positive way of living. There was both an exercise of reason and the irrational in reaching this decision. Reason told me that the feeling of positivity was a good thing, so pursue it.

It is that there is no good evidence for how humanity acquired its consciousness or how the world came into being. There may come better evidence, then I may face a revaluation of my faith. I can say with certainty, even if there comes proof of creation and consciousness without God, that I will continue to have faith in this: Christianity presents the best means for human beings to co-exist. 

I write that knowing and acknowledging the faults of the Church. Which is another point in favor of Orthodoxy, they are not shy in admitting the Church is composed of human beings which are falliable.

In closing, do not underestimate the need and the efficacy of faith. I leave it to Brother Lou to explain that more fully:

sch 12/19