In the Beginning...

Let me explain a bit about myself.

I'm probably what you'd call an Agnostic. Most people believe that Agnosticism is equivalent to being unsure about God's existence but, actually, Agnosticism isn't quite that. Agnosticism is a belief that there is an unknowable; something more to this universe than the physics and chemistry and biology that make it up, but that the unknowable is precisely that: unknowable.

To put it simply:

Gnosis: Knowledge (Greek)

Agnosis: Without Knowledge (Greek... probably...).

So I am both an atheist and an agnostic (the two are not mutually exclusive). Now, my conversion to atheism (from apathy, I'll add) has come about quite recently. Whether or not it's because I'm having a mid-twenties crisis (unlikely..) or because I'm searching for answers (more likely...) or because I'm simply rekindling my passion for the important things in life (most likely...) I cannot say. I was brought up in an incredibly relaxed but nevertheless religious family (certainly on my Mother's side, less so on my Father's) and attended Sunday School at a Christian (more specifically, Methodist) Church. I would say I was, for most of my childhood, the ultimate passive believer. I believed in God in the same way I believed my Mother's cooking was the best (alas it's not, but it's damn good). I believed because I didn't question.

To cut a long story short (my plethora of future posts will more than make up for my brief introduction) let me explain what this blog will be about. My fundamental belief is that open, peaceful debate, analysis, research and the continual challenging of beliefs is the most important thing we humans have. The major progress our species has made since developing (or, let me lay my cards on the table early, evolving) a conscious and intelligence has come about from questioning, experimenting and communicating. These are the fundamentals of civilization and I have no doubt that every scholar and thinker: be they secular or religious, scientist or philosopher, the geniuses of this world or the "average Joe" that so many of us are, all of us who add something to this world do so through these principles.

So, my blog is about questioning. In it I'll be linking to articles, films, YouTube videos and whatever else (literally, whatever else) causes me to have a response, or that I think is worth debate or analysis. This is not a virtual sermon (of the atheist kind), where I try and prove my beliefs. My beliefs are constantly being tested, and I'd like everybody who reads this blog to test both myself and each other. I hope that as we move into the future this blog can become a useful and meaningful debate on the biggest of questions: who we are, where we came from, and why it is this way.

I will be posting more tomororow, but I want to leave you with nice little quotes (one of which I have taken the name for my blog from, more than anything because I'm not good enough to come up with a name of my own):

"I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence" - Doug McLeod.

"Skepticism is the beginning of faith" - Oscar Wilde.

I'm very excited about what I may learn and even, perhaps, what I may teach on this blog. I look forward to what the future holds.

Yours, Mah Jong.