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Mark Sebring

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My Religious Position
by Mark Sebring   
Rated "G" by the Author.
     
Last edited: Thursday, March 19, 2026
Posted: Monday, October 15, 2018

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An explanation of my religious position.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
While participating in a discussion on agnosticism on Facebook (The Omaha Atheists Group) I was introduced to the idea that the terms "theist" and "atheist" have to do with belief while the terms "gnostic" and "agnostic" have to do with knowledge (or certainty), and that the two distinctions are independent of each other. This leads to the conclusion that there are four separate categories:

Agnostic Atheist: Does not believe that a god exists.  Does not claim to be certain that no god exists.
Gnostic Atheist:   Does not believe that a god exists.  Claims to be certain that no god exists.
Agnostic Theist:  Believes that a god exists.  Does not claim to be certain that a god exists.
Gnostic Theist:    Believes that a god exists.  Claims to be certain that a god exists.

Using this particular taxonomy, I am an Agnostic Atheist.


I am going to try to explain my position on God as clearly as I can.

I am a gnostic atheist with regard to anthropomorphic gods such as the Greco/Roman gods and the Judeo/Christian God. (Gods whose behavior resembles and was obviously patterned after human behavior. Gods who wish to be worshipped and want human beings to be aware of their existence.)

Why?
1. Stories of such gods exist in many cultures, and they're generally the same. All such stories were obviously made up by primitive people, and it's easy to explain why they made them up. (They wanted to explain things they didn't understand, and they wanted to give their lives meaning and hope.) And none of those stories really make sense when they're closely and honestly examined. They're all equally incredible.

2. Premise 1:  IF such a god actually existed
                       THEN it would be possible to prove its existence.
   Premise 2:  There is no valid proof that such a god exists.
   Conclusion: Such a god does not exist.
(The conclusions of valid deductive arguments are as certain as their premises.)


I am an agnostic atheist with regard to the deist concept of god. (An intelligent creator who is far beyond human beings, who does not interfere with its creation, who is not concerned with human behavior and probably doesn't consider human beings to be any more important than other animals, and who makes no attempt to reveal its existence to us.)

Why?
1. I doubt that human beings are capable of recognizing the existence of such a god, i.e. I don't think we'd ever be able to tell the difference between the existence of that type of god and the non-existence of a god. As a result, I don't believe we could ever prove or disprove that such a god exists.
 
2. I don't believe that there is any evidence that proves, or any argument that adequately supports the idea that any particular god necessarily exists. However, I believe that the "argument from design" is the best argument for proving that some god might exist, and that it is sufficient for suggesting the possibility that some sort of god could exist (though it does nothing to reveal the nature of that god other than it is an intelligent and powerful creator). Because of the possibility of a god which I believe is suggested by the argument from design, because of the problems with anthropomorphic god myths which I've already explained, and because I believe it's impossible for us to disprove the existence of the type of god that deists believe in, I believe the existence of a deist type of god to be the second most likely possibility after the possibility that no god exists at all. (I don't believe that the argument from design is sufficient to suggest that the existence of a god is the most likely possibility.)
 


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Reviewed on May 15, 2021
Well, as for a living God you are probably an agnostic atheist for envy. Are you? Are you not? I mean envious, because I am the one who moves Earth with all it contains, therefore your country entire, your ass and so on, and besides I am not asking you to do it, you will do anyway, take a bow to your Creator, because He or I will not make an effort for the resurrection of yours. You know, may father detests and abhorres all human beings not sincere with themselves even when they have seen Him and He prefers not to give them life again. Eat up that! Bye Bye.

Reviewed by Mark Sebring
Reviewed on November 11, 2020
Summarization / Clarification (Revised)

I estimate that there is:
At least a 90% chance that no god exists at all.
Less than a 10% chance that a deist type of god (a god who does not interfere with its creation) exists.
(I find it extremely difficult to estimate that percentage.)
And very close to a 0% chance that an anthropomorphic god (like the Greco/Roman gods or the
Judeo/Christian God) exists. (I have logical arguments that disprove the existence of such a god,
and I'm reasonably but not absolutely certain of those arguments.)

Because I believe there is a slight chance that a deist type of god might exist, I call myself an agnostic
atheist - one who does not believe in a god but does not claim to be certain that no god exists.


A comment I posted on a YouTube video discussing arguments for the existence of God:
1. The argument from design is not sufficient to prove the existence of a god, but it is sufficient
to suggest the possibility of one. (abductive vs. deductive reasoning)

2. All anthropomorphic god myths contain flaws that make it obvious that they were made up by
primitive cultures. Even those who believe in an anthropomorphic god dismiss other god myths
than the one they've accepted, as incredible and ridiculous. They simply don't recognize that the
one they have accepted is no different. What kind of god wants to be worshipped by its creation?
The kind of god that was made up by primitive people. (People who still believe in the existence
of that type of god are also primitive people. See "Three Days In The Belly Of A Fish".)

"I am a jealous god"
should be enough to clue you in
to the fact that this "God"
was created by men.

3. The existence of an anthropomorphic god can be logically disproven. Such proofs may not be
absolutely certain but they may be reasonably certain. (We can only be reasonably certain of
almost everything we know.)

4. Because a deist type of god makes no attempt to reveal itself to its creation, I do not believe
that human beings are capable of telling the difference between the existence of such a god
and no god at all. When theists insist that it is impossible to prove that a god does not exist,
I believe that is only true with regard to a deist type of god.

5. Because I grant the slight possibility that a deist type of god might exist, I consider myself
to be an agnostic atheist: one who does not believe in a god but does not claim to be certain
that no god exists.

6. Because a deist type of god is not concerned with human behavior (any more than it is
concerned with the behavior of other animals), whether or not a deist type of god actually
exists is not that important to us. In either case, human morality is strictly a human concern.

The primary reason for studying philosophy is to study ethics.
We debate metaphysics in order to answer ethical questions.
We debate epistemology in order to answer metaphysical questions.


The Child way:
(The Id is our Child side, and acts
according to the Pleasure Principle.)
To be happy is to be happy in the present moment.
We should believe what makes us feel good to believe.

The Adult way:
(The Ego is our Adult side, and acts
according to the Reality Principle.)
To be happy is to be happy in the long run.
We must learn to cope with reality, and to accomplish this
we must try to discover what is actually true.
(Truth is that which corresponds to the facts of reality.)

When I was young I was told that men had one less rib than women do. And I believed it.
It made sense considering that one of Adam's Ribs was removed to create Eve.
I mentioned it to a junior high science teacher once and he gave me a funny look.
When you're young, it's easy to be convinced that such things are actually true.

"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put away childish things."
1 Corinthians 13:11


I am not absolutely certain but I've come to the conclusion that if the God the Christians believe in
actually existed, I would already be aware of His existence. If He is omnipotent and wants me to be
aware of His existence, then He could and He would make me aware. And if He is omniscient, then
He would be aware of my sincere desire to know the truth.

The Christians I come in contact with make excuses, deny my sincerity, claim I have ulterior motives
and wish to believe that He doesn't exist. They are not omniscient, and I believe it is their desire to
know the truth that is insincere. Their beliefs are so important to them that they are unable to doubt
them. They are addicted to those beliefs because of the comfort and hope they derive from them,
and it is exactly the same as being addicted to alcohol or drugs.

If the Christian God truly exists, I believe that He will eventually let me know.
I will not be fooled by hypocritical Christians and their irrational arguments.
All of the Christians I know fail at Ethos and Logos.
All they have is Pathos and that will not convince me.


I am feeling greatly troubled. Most of my siblings who call themselves Christians, like many
American Evangelicals today, have forsaken the teachings of the Biblical Jesus and have
become part of a brainwashing cult that follows a false prophet. (I find it somewhat odd that
though I'm no longer a Christian I am more able to recognize a false prophet than they are:
Matthew 7:15-20.)

I mentioned in the commentary of my "Never Never Land" article that for a long time after
my conversion to atheism I still had a lot of respect for Christianity and the Christians I knew,
but since American Christianity has changed so drastically in recent years, I have almost no
respect for it now. I don't know why it bothers me so much but I would find it quite refreshing
to find one True Christian; someone who I could respect despite the fact that I disagree with
what they believe; one who has wisdom, integrity, and kindness; one who sincerely believes
what they say they believe and actually follows the teachings of the one they call their Lord.

I have had a lot of negative encounters with people who call themselves Christian lately,
and as a result, my respect for Christianity has reached an all-time low.
My own experiences and things I see in the news have led me to the following conclusions:
At least 95% of American Christians today are stupid, incapable of logic and critical thinking,
and either unwilling or unable to question the things they believe.
At least 90% of them are brainwashed cultists.
And at least 90% are Christians In Name Only: hypocrites who do not really follow the teachings
of the one they call their Lord and Savior. (The mob who stormed our nation's Capitol in 2021
wore and carried Christian symbols, but there was nothing Christ-like about them.)

America is pretty messed up these days.
Many atheists I know are more Christ-like than most of the Christians I know.
If Christ were to come today, those who call themselves Christian
would be the ones to crucify him.

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians,
who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
Brennan Manning

"God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." - Romans 2:24


Additional discussion of these subjects may be found in the commentaries
for my articles "Religion and Politics" and "Never Never Land",
and my poem "Buscadors de el Tesoro Escondido".

🌎 MUNDUS SINE CAESARIBUS 👑

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