What is Agnosticism?
Agnosticism is a concept, not a full religion. It
is a belief related to the existence or non-existence of God. However, many people have started with Agnosticism, and have added a moral code, rituals and other items to create a belief system with many of the attributes of a
religion.
When asked what their religion is, many Agnostics will reply "Agnostic." Since so many Agnostics regard this as their religion, we have a policy of capitalizing the term out of respect, as we do for all religions. Agnosticism implies uncertainty about the existence of God. The basic problem here is that there are many answers to the question "Does God exists?" However there is only this one term available to cover all of the meanings. Some of today's possible overlapping answers to the question are: I don't personally know. I don't know but will lead my life in the assumption that no God exists. I don't know but will lead my life assuming that God does exist. I cannot give an opinion because there is no way that we can prove the existence or non-existence of God given currently available knowledge. I cannot give an opinion because there is no way to know, with certainty, anything about God, now and in the future. Yes, God exists. But we do not know anything about God at this time. Yes, God exists. But we have no possibility of knowing anything about God, now or in the future.
Ultimately, the term "Agnostic" is something like "Christianity." Both refer to a wide diversity of belief systems, but in many cases, an individual asserts that their particular definition is the only fully valid one. The one principle linking all meanings of "Agnostic" is that God's existence can neither be proved nor disproved, on the basis of current evidence. Agnostics note that some theologians and philosophers have tried to prove, for millennia, that God exists. Others have attempted to prove that God does not exist. Agnostics feel that neither side has convincingly succeeded at their task.
Moreover, agnostics are not Theists. Agnostics do not believe in a God, or a Goddess, or in multiple Gods or multiple Goddesses or in a pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. However, some Agnostics consider themselves to be Atheists. That is because the term "Atheist" has two slightly different meanings: Firstly, a person who positively believes that no God(s) or Goddess (es) exists and secondly, aperson who has no belief in a God or Goddess. Just as a newborn has no concept of a deity, some adults also have no such belief. The term "Atheist" is derived from the Greek words "a" which means "without" and "Theos" which means "God." A person can be a non-Theist by simply lacking a belief in God without actively denying God's existence. This is the definition of Atheism used by many Atheists. They use the term "strong Atheist" to refer to a person who denies the existence of one or more deities.
In due course, a lack of clear, unambiguous definitions for religious terms is responsible for a great deal of confusion and hatred. It makes dialog among Agnostics, Theists, and Atheists very difficult. In fact, when such a dialogue is attempted, it should be preceded with a long session to resolve definitions. As currently defined, an agnostic usually holds the question of the existence of God open, pending the arrival of more evidence. They are willing to change their belief if some solid evidence or logical proof is found in the future.