When it comes to “political religion”
Today, there are 2.1 billion Christians in the world, including 1.15 billion Catholics, 1.3 billion Muslims, there are also representatives of other religions. Overall, 5.5 billion believers, while 1.1 billion is not a follower of any religion. But interestingly, the atheist three times less among non-believers than those who call themselves “agnostic”. There are many such people especially in Europe and the United States. To say briefly who they are, we can state that the question of God’s existence is still open for these people.
The term was first used by Charles Darwin’s pupil, Thomas Henry Huxley, who was describing as an agnostic people who did not deny the divine foundations of this world, they cannot perceive it by their own experience, and therefore, they cannot argue whether these foundations are available or not. If you believe only those things that can be proven, then you have a greater chance of being agnostic. In short, the atheist rejects, whereas the agnostic – doubts.
Among the causes of such agnostic outlook, the experts mention the mistrust in the church as an institution, development of the so-called “political correctness”, high level of education, globalization, and the access to be introduced to all religious teachings. Sociologists urge also that worse the living conditions are, stronger people’s religious feelings are. Whereas, more prosperous people nurse less hope with God.
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Personally, I do not have any doubt about the existence of God. Suppose, the Armenian letters of the alphabet are somewhere in a bulk. Can all by chance, without any earmarked will, a meaningful text come out of it? It is excluded even by the theory of probability. The existence of the universe is already enough evidence for me that it could not emerge from accidental “explosions”. If there is a “creation”, then there is a “creator”.
I am able to understand the agnostics who doubt, but I less understand the atheists who deny. Because denial is also something like a religion, it is dogma of dogmas, with which people who do not have faith are guided. Dogmatism, thus, is rather unbelievers’ than believers’ attribute. Under the conditions of such dogmas dictate, we’ve already lived for 70 years. “Communism does not act against the religion, – wrote British philosopher Bertrand Russell in mid of last century, – it acts against Christianity, like Islam. Communism, at least in the form that is proclaimed by the Soviet government and the Communist Party, is a new system of dogmas, moreover, more dangerous and cruel. Therefore, every true agnostic should act against it.”
The system of party dogmas is typical not only to communists. By inertia, it continues to exist also in post-Soviet countries, by moving to other parties. Well, here, some “agnosticism” would not be extra for our society. In particular, it is worth suspecting that any party “leader” disposes the secrets of the universe, and all of his thoughts are more valuable than the Delphi oracle’s wisdoms.
And those doubts are entirely consistent with Biblical truth. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.”
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
