Most agnostics are just lazy.

Having said that, I realize that some are not. You're just trying to be honest. But so are religious people. We honestly believe what we hold to be true. And we do have evidence besides stripture. As a Christian, I have my own personal experience of the power of God as evidence to the truth of my faith. Granted, that means nothing to you, since its not your experience, but that's where faith comes in. Its wishful thinking to believe that God would reveal Himself undeniably to all if He exists. That's what agnostics put their faith in. They put their trust in the hope that God doesn't expect blind faith. But what if He does?

*update*
As a matter of interest, the word 'agnostic' literally means 'no knowledge.'

nothing, this is nothing, why was this religon made?

agnosticism is the very easy and very direct result of reason. Its unpopularity clearly demonstrates the power of our most primary need for self importance in a vast overwhelming world. As for the claims that agnostics are willfully ignorant people who dont want to take a stand....it is completely untrue.agnostics believe that every religion on earth is untrue. here's why...each of the religions suppose a supreme purpose for mankind in this universe, a rather childish supposition considering the size of the entire cosmos and the variety of species present on this world. it is irrational to believe that osama laden's death is any more significant to the universe than death of a rodent.human beings are not in any way special to have a benevolent or a malevolent diety controlling us nd the universe...if there ever was a god, he'd in all probablity be not concernerned with our values,meanings and chores. but this is too hard to take for most of us. colonel "Its wishful thinking to believe that God would reveal Himself undeniably to all if His existence. That's what agnostics put their faith in.".no thats not where we put our faith in ...coz we have none.

More honest than most "religions".

Great 'in-between' stage when trying to decide whether to claim a 'religion' and god or to claim Atheism. I don't think you can call this a 'religion'. I think it's just an easy way to avoid confrontation. I don't know???? hmmmmmmm

Numbah's right on this one. The whole point of being agnostic is to have no belief in anything. Being counted among religions implies belief in something, so this particular item doesn't meet the basic principle.

Again, is the lack of religion a religion?

You can't call this a religious belief, because its a bunch of fools sitting around saying "I just don't know, so I'll say that everyone is full of it and nothing can be proven about anything."

Ah, the old Liar, Lunatic, or Lord game. The reason it doesn't work is that nobody can be sure that the words attributed to Jesus are words he actually spoke, or whether they were later embellishments intended to help cement Christianity's place among the world's religions. But hey, you have to deal with the True Believers no matter where you go, online and in the real world alike. I'm not one of 'em. I'm with Mark Twain -- faith is believing what you know ain't so. And I've found in my experience that nobody has more faith than True Believers and atheists. One group absolutely knows there's a God, and one group absolutely knows there isn't. They're both just guessing! Now, I have nothing against the moral and ethical teachings attributed to Jesus, and in fact I think this would be a much better world if more people lived by them. But then I can say the same thing for the teachings of the Buddha, Confucius, Gandhi, or any other number of religious and spiritual giants throughout the ages. I suppose that's part of the reason I consider myself an agnostic -- I can't find one religion that (despite their own internal claims to the contrary) holds a monopoly on the truth. That's in part because we'll never get everyone to agree on just what "the truth" is. If you were there at the beginning of all things, maybe you can enlighten me. Until then, I'll choose to say "I don't know" to the great questions that face mankind, because it's the only intellectually honest answer I can give. It's really the only honest answer ANYONE can give. Anything else is just a guess. And it's not an indifferent "I don't know" -- it's an "I don't know" borne out of my own fascination with discovering the answers but remaining humble enough to realize that they are currently beyond my grasp and may always remain so -- but not for lack of trying. The thing is, science can only take us so far, and religion only gives us unverifiable, self-referential stories. Count me among the undecided and open to new information, no matter what direction that information takes me in.

I...just...don't...know !

So how do you prove He exists? How do you disprove it? (yeah folks, these are rhetorical questions...) In my opinion agnostics aren't riding the fence, they just haven't found IT yet - that undeniable knowing inside that he is really there. And that does include me!

All truth is relative.

I believe that there is greater beings than us humans in the Universe. I acknowledge that there may be a being or beings that have some sort of contol of what happens on earth. I even acknowledge the possibility that another life form had a hand in us coming into existance. So essetially I accept the fact that there might be a supreme power over us - a God. What I reject, is that books written by MAN be taken as God's word. Notice how many countries whose predominat religion can be twisted into a form of control embrace it - ie: many Middle Eastern Countries, Medieval Europe, and frighteningly enough the USA. Yet countries who's predominant religions tend to encourage free thought discourage it ie: China, North Korea. Religion has no place in Government. Doing so is to suggest that a country's government has some sort of divine blessing, and has the right to do what it chooses, despite peoples opinions. Scary, scary stuff. I believe that spirituality is a good thing, but sadly, many of the worlds religions have simply been made into tools of control.

Agnostics make for better neighbors.

As I learned in psychology class many years ago, if you dont believe in God and there is one, youre likely in big trouble. However, if you believe in God and theres not one, youve lost nothing. I prefer to hedge my bets, I'll stick with believing in a higher authority.

The universal state experienced by ALL peoples at birth. Agnostics are the best of breed in humanity; they weather the storms of fickle whim and the knee-jerk bleatings of geographic adherents to cast an unflinching eye into the realms of objective reality and shared reason. They do this for the sake of personal honesty, that rapacious beast who refuses to be placated by sentiment or expectation. Through all the tumult, they STILL muster the courage to utter the three most profoundly beautiful words in the lexicon of homo sapiens: I....DON'T....KNOW. I count myself among these intrepid explorers, and will continue to plow headlong into the breach of sanity and logic.

Raises a lot of issues and questions that monotheistic religions answer with cries of hysteria and heresy.

Not bad, but make a decision. This is just riding the fence.

An Agnostic is a person who honestly admits to their self and the world that they Don't Know if there's a God or a Heaven.They aren't saying there isn't ,they're just saying that in their experience,they have not been convinced one way or another. I admire their honesty and open-mindedness.

No one knows if there is a god or not (although I strongly suspect there isn't). All thinking men should be at least partially agnostic.

once again alot of people rate and post without a clear understanding of the issue. an agnostic is not someone who isn't sure about a god, they believe its impossible to know anything about a god. for the most part agnostics do believe in a god, they just know there is no way to prove it and don't care. websters:By definition, an agnostic is a person who believes that the nature of God is unknown, and probably unknowable. -Rev M Baczynski - Atheist Minister

I'm not sure that I believe in agnosticism.

Agnosticism isn't exactly a religion; I think everyone starts out as an agnostic. I probably fall under this category even though I'd love to believe I'm a Christian. For now, I'm just going to hope something convinces me to believe in God, and hopefully whatever it is happens before I die.

Pretty easy religion to defend, all you have to prove is that you don't know.........

A BELIEF THAT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.If you are without knowledge of gods, then do research on Jesus.

Science is the bible of agnostics. And we have probably read only the first few pages of this infinitely long book, with only a hint of how things might have begun. And though organized religion has its faults, I think it teaches and reminds people of many important morals that cannot be broadly conveyed by any other uniform means. Religion checks the wrecklessness of those who live immoral lifestyles. And agnostics are the spectators, idlely questioning why either side would go to such extremes.

ClassicTVFan summed it up for me: Agnosticism allows you to be a good person while supporting abortion, stem cell research, scientific methods, and not believing in hell.

Organized religion is a crutch for weak minded individuals. - Gov. Ventura

I really don't appreciate the attitude towards my agnostic ideals by some of the christians here. I respect you're beliefs, why can't you do the same?

Do you really think this all happened by accident? By chance? Let me dump a box of pencils on the ground and ifr I wait long enough, I guess they will organize and jump back into the box! Ok.

What a wishy washy dead fish concept. A religious beleif is only strong when one feals it with their entire heart. So what if you can neither prove nor disprove the existance of God? Faith is all that one should need to rely on. Ask yourself 2 questions: If I beleive in God and follow his teachings and I am wrong, what could possibly happen to me? and If I ignore God and there truly is a God, how will he punish me. Inversely, if you don't like the fire and brimstone approach, ask instead, If I beleive in God, follow him, and I am correct, how will he reward me? and, If I don't beleive in God and I am correct, will there be any reward? However you look at it, sitting on the fence without taking one side or the other is for those who are unwilling to take a risk. Drop your doubt and pick a side.

Agnostics rock!

What sort of thing does it offer? That when you're dead, that's it. Unfortunately, that's not true!

I went to a Baptist Christian School for 13 years. My experience has left me somewhat cynical of organized religion as a whole. I do not though question the existance of God. The truth of the matter is that there has to be an ordering principle to the universe, that's what God is. Order is righteousness; it's opposite, anarchy is evil. It's not a question of relativity or reality. Things don't happen randomly; there is always a purpose to everything. If this isn't true, then why are we here? Concerning organized religion; there are some people who definitely need to go to church to make them feel spiritually whole. I always respect other people's beliefs, but I've found that organized religion can be a form of mind control. This is the case particularly with the Catholic Church, which relies heavily on elevating human personages above the rest of the people; the so-called practice of sainthood. The reason why people are leaving the church in droves are because they feel like they have invested their lives in this organization, only to end up realizing that their leaders are hypocritical frauds. They are only in it for their own selfish purposes. Placing your absolute faith in human authorities isn't the way to finding God. You have to realize that the clergy is no different than you or me, God didn't come down to bestow upon them special blessings or none of that. Organized religion on the balance only pre-packages the holy experience cookie cutter style. Each of us has to find how we communicate with God individually, after all, we're all different. Organized religion doesn't respect diversity normally; it's our way or the highway and our way is the right way. No wonder why religious wars from the Crusades to the Thirty Years War have been fought in the name of God and religion. Religion itself can lead to some pretty narrow thinking which really only ends up suiting the powerful. History has shown this time and time again. I think that it might be easier to separate God from the concept of humanistic religion. Going to a building every Sunday and confessing your sins to some priest is not what God is all about.

Agnosticism is not a religion but a belief system wherein one acknowledges the possibility of a God, albeit without enthusiasm. Perhaps it's a copout, but atheism is too narrow and dogmatic for me.

Not really a religion, more like wishy-washy fence-sitting. Any right-thinking person should at least have some doubt in their mind, or should at least allow for the possibility that there is no God. Atheists, however, do not need to allow for the possibility that there IS a God. I suppose questioning the existence of God is a step in the right direction, so it gets three stars out of five.

Here you go! A very open "religion" where the person can consider the own possibilities and not have to worry about the Christian goofiness that is hell. A higher power could have indeed set evolution into motion, similar to the "ticking clock" theory proposed by several unitarians. One can still be moral and not believe in god, regardless of the constantly-inbred stereotypes. Also, with this, certain groups aren't hated, abortions when needed are supported, and science can advance with great things such as cloning, stem cell research and other human research that could extend lives!

Belief is the acceptance of certain teachings as fact; it's accepting that Jesus "magically walked on water" without asking yourself "Wait a second, people can't walk on water, was he carried by pixies- I'm sorry, angels- or something?" But to ask yourself such a question if you were a Christian would be a SIN!!! and you would go to HELL, where the "Devil" will poke you with a "Pitchfork" since he doesn't have any hay because it all burned up. It just seems like a religion that doesn't allow you to question such nonsense has GOT to be hiding SOMETHING (Hint: like, the TRUTH!)

Agnosticism is a simple solution to the world's largest mystery. Does god exist? I don't know. Many people rely on religious rituals to provide an ethical framework, to explain mysteries, and to cope with death/afterlife. Agnostics are simply people who do not require, or are unable to accept a traditional religious teaching. Not to be mistaken with Athiests, Agnostic individuals make no claims that there is no creator, they simply do not subscribe to any of the models.

Don't use the "cop out" that you're not sure if there is a God or that you believe in anything. Search, study and meditate. You'll eventually find out that Jesus Christ is Lord. Every knee shall bow to Him.

Believe in nothing. It's all lies!

How is this classified as a religion? I thought it was more of a lack of religion or a question of religion.

this religion/concept/belief/load of crap is just ridiculous. that is why the call it faith, you can't physically prove it but yet you still believe.

Praise the Absolute God.

"The truth is out there" people often say. You know what? I think it is, but we haven't found it yet. There may be a god who created us all in his own image, yet, maybe there was a "big bang" and we all evolved from there. But there isn't any CONCRETE proof to support either, so, I choose not to believe either one UNTIL I'M PRESENTED WITH CONCRETE PROOF! That, my friends, is why I'm agnostic.

"Agnosticism" is not a religion. It is the absence of such. Just get that out of the way. To me, one who believes that religion, not money, is the root of most, if not all, evil, the absence of religion is as close to enlightened, reasoned bliss as the human mind can get. I've argued this point with atheists and religious folk my whole thinking life. The problem with atheists is that they refuse to acknowledge that they are more similar to the religious than they care to admit; namely, they think they KNOW that there is no deity, God, whatever. This is not provable. It is highly unlikely that Jesus Christ is the son of a male bearded "god" that created this planet and all around us inbetween cosmic lightning bolts and quasar construction. HOWEVER, prove to me, atheist, that this IS NOT the case. I'm 99.9999+% sure that that you're right. But you have to grant that 0.00001% of possibility, or you risk the same dogma of those you so vehemently oppose. You can't prove there is no god, and I prefer to be very comfortable in that uncertainty - as opposed to joining the ranks of you who refuse to submit to reason and admit the possible.

Since there IS a God, I can't agree with agnosticism. Study and pray and maybe the Lord will reveal Himself to you.

I am agnostic. There is no way a human being can ascertain whether or not their is a god. I don't go for blind faith, especially in following a religon that discriminates against others, but I can't say for certain that there is NOT a god, either...

Its not a religion. Basically, Agnosticists say that anything is possible. Maybe this, maybe that. What do they believe in? What are these people even trying to preach? Saying that "anything is possible" is not a belief. Unlike Christians, who actually believe in something, these people really don't believe in anything.

I have no problem with someone saying that they don't know whether there is a God. What I don't accept is for someone to say that NOBODY ELSE can know.