All this talk about atheists and where the fit in is why we need a new word for the agnostic whose beliefs are similar to mine. I would wager there are more like me than there are atheists.
Say you’re a…let’s say freethinker. I’ll use that word to describe myself and people with beliefs similar to mine, although it’s not perfect and I think with some effort I’ll come up with a better one. You think that the idea of god is ludicrous. You think that the likelihood of god is small enough to be easily and completely dismissed from consideration. But you know that you don’t know enough about the universe to be certain.
If you say you’re an agnostic, people get the wrong idea about you. They think that you think that there’s a decent chance there’s a god, but you’re not sure. And it would be cumbersome and awkward for you, starting from there, to convey just how you feel about the likelihood of god.
If you say you’re an atheist, but you only say it because most people’s idea of where you stand will be way off unless you use that word, then people (thinkers, anyway) will say, (not without merit), “your certainty is as ridiculous as the religious believer.” And they’ll also lump you in with the militant atheists with whom you’d rather not be lumped.
If you say, “I’m a (insert better word than “freethinker” here),” then people would know what you mean. And, more importantly, if the word gains popularity, all the [freethinkers] will identify with it, and identify themselves thusly and, if there are as many of us as I think there are, they will, in my little fantasy here, all come out of the closet and become a force for reason.
I’ve considered this for a while, but I’ve never really put any effort into coining this word. I’m going to start giving it some effort now. Anyone out there have any ideas?
