An Agnostic looks at religion in modern times.

Agnostic (a-, without + gnōsis, knowledge) This is a literal translation of the word.

I am agnostic. There are several different meanings to the term but I am, what would most aptly be called, a pragmatic agnostic. It is "the view that there is no proof of either the existence or nonexistence of any deity, but since any deity that may exist appears unconcerned for the universe or the welfare of its inhabitants, the question is largely academic". I will say that I find very little in the way of "divinity" in everyday life apart from the overall randomness of it. Life's ability to be completely random but at the same time rigidly ordered never ceases to amaze me. I still believe that if Einstein had lived long enough, he would have boiled down the mysteries of life to one unifying and beautiful mathematical equation.

In simple terms, there may in fact be a God in the traditional sense of the word however, I think he views the Earth and it's inhabitants in much the same way that I view an anthill and it's inhabitants. While I may not have bestowed life on the anthill, I can certainly take it away with very little effort. What most religious people call miracles, I call the wonder and splendor of nature. Conversely, what is typically termed evil seems no more than the deviant behavior of just another animal with a diminished ability to reason. I believe in the theory of evolution but have not completely discounted the concept of intelligent design. I think the two can exist as equals and could, in all actuality, work together to further enhance the splendor of life. Could not God, in his infinite wisdom, have come up with evolution as a way to allow nature to decide which of his creations would survive and which would not? It seems plausible to me but I make no proclamations as to my theological knowledge.

If God exists, He gave me the intellect to question his very existence as a way for growth as a human. If He does not exist, then intellect and reasoning are simply evolutionary constructs. I do not claim to have the answers but I do admit that even as an agnostic, I have my own occasional crises of faith.

It's a common misconception that agnostics and/or atheists have no faith. Nothing could be further from the truth. Although I cannot speak for atheists, I can say that agnosticism requires faith of a different sort. Whereas Christians place faith in God and His son, I place faith in myself and those around me. I tend to see divinity in the people around me through philanthropy, charity and their own personal beliefs regarding religion. If believing in God makes you a decent human with compassion for your fellow man, I say more power to you. Keep on believing. I am somewhat comforted by the knowledge that many of those around me live their lives by religious tenets. On the other hand, I see evil in the horrific acts of men every day. I tend to attribute the brutality of man to the obvious weaknesses that all humans possess. Deviant behavior in modern times is no longer thought of as being influenced by Satan or some dark force preying on the weak of spirit but rather, it's now chalked up to chemical imbalances, brain defects or other genetic weirdness. It all comes down to the simple principle of free will.

If I choose to, I can buy a gun, load it and go shoot someone. Satan does not tempt me to do this nor does God prevent me from doing it. It is my own free will and my ability to reason (that killing is wrong) that prevents me from murdering someone. Free will is the closest thing to divinity that I see on a daily basis. It is, in my own opinion, the greatest of all the human attributes. The opposable thumb is nice and being able to harness fire is certainly handy when grilling out but without free will, we are all simply automatons with no chance of avoiding the inevitable "sameness" of life.

Having said all that, too much as I am beginning to suspect, I find the ever increasing crescendo of "separation of church and state" from many on the left to be a growing symptom of what is truly wrong with our country as it exists today. We have cut God from the public square as if He were a cancer to be excised. Christmas vacation is now called "winter break" in most schools. Books have been written by college professors that sought to downplay the role that religion played in the founding of this great nation. Removing the Ten Commandments from a courtroom is vastly different from attempting to remove Him from our history. I tend to place the latter in the "great crimes in history" category.

Let me clarify a point or two from that last paragraph before I continue. The current trend of removing God from the public square in all actuality is really removing Christianity. The progressive left has tolerance for nearly every religion on Earth apart from Christianity. The ACLU may well sue to have morning prayers in public schools stopped in a misguided effort to "defend the constitution" but will turn a blind eye towards Christian children adopting Muslim names as an exercise in "diversity". The nativity may not be displayed in the confines of any building that gets even a nickel from the federal government but a menorah is perfectly acceptable. I am uncertain if this behavior is the result of malice or guilt. Whatever the case may be, it must be stopped. Removing God from public view in these modern times is akin to the Romans driving Christianity underground after Jesus' crucifixion.

Our founding fathers were deeply religious men who felt called by God to change what they saw as a monarchy that sought to supplant His divinity with it's own. To believe that George Washington or Thomas Jefferson were atheists or "Deists" as as is more commonly associated with them, is to deny our own history. To deny it is to forget it and to forget it will allow yet another despot to trample on the liberties that those hallowed men fought and died to secure for us.

I believe there will be a "push back" from the Christian community as a whole that will rival the civil rights movement in it's ferocity and it's justification. Just as the Jews were persecuted for thousands of years, so too is Christianity suffering it's own modern persecution at the hands of "secular humanists" who seem hell bent on removing all things "Christian" from view.

Pun fully intended.