Ignosticism

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Ignosticism, or igtheism is a theological position. If followed to its logical end, it concludes that the entire question about God's existence is a non-question and that taking a yes, no, or even ambivalent position is absurd. It can be summarized as "We have no clear concept of anything labeled 'God' and/or how to test a clear concept of God." In fact, there is no evidence that anyone has a clear idea of God or how to test for its existence either. Ignosticism is based on a broader ontological/epistemological view that expects all questions and theories to be of clear and sound arguments. The arguments ought to have well-defined terms and the possibility of critical and rational analysis. Answers to proving the existence of something such as "because I feel it" or "how else could we explain it" or "because I simply know" are completely unacceptable (as such an explanation would be if one claimed just about anything else). Ignosticism is responding to God claims (and possibly all supernatural claims) through this particular approach to knowledge. The answer is invariably that "does God exist" is a non-question not worth taking seriously until someone, some day, comes along with a clear, non-outlandish, and falsifiable concept.

Clear definitions, coherent arguments, and testability

Defining terms clearly is important for all rational debate. The subject of any argument should be coherently defined. If one offers a clear definition of an entity which is claimed to have certain properties (and clear definitions of those properties), then it is one step closer to being taken seriously. However, the claim must also be testable and/or falsifiable. That is, there is a rational and logical method by which one can test that a subject has the qualities that have been claimed. Experience shows that theists often propose God exists yet rarely offer a clear definition of God. Definitions such as "God is a concept we all hold in our hearts" are incomprehensible nonsense and non-definitions. Those few occasions when God and his qualities are actually coherently defined, they are usually outlandish, such as "God is an all knowing and all powerful loving being that exists everywhere and in everything". It is difficult or impossible to test these claims, as one has no reliable access to God, nor any means to test how an entity is all loving and exists absolutely everywhere. In rare cases, believers offer a definition of God and his qualities that can be tested. For example, "God is a shepherd who always saves believers from grave harm". If we find one case of a believer being subject to grave harm, it is enough to falsify the argument. In general, those rare times when falsifiable definitions of God are given, they are easily falsified. Experience shows that for the majority of God debates, the conversations are pointless and time-wasting.

Ignosticism takes a different approach to the God question than agnosticism or atheism. An agnostic may state that "one can't really know either way" regarding the existence or non-existence of God. An atheist may take a position on a spectrum of answers from "I have no good reason to believe in God" to the bolder position of "I am certain there is no God". An ignostic points out that "One cannot even clearly define that which one claims is true." The term was coined by Sherwin Wine, founder of the Society for Humanistic Judaism. The practical differences between plain-old atheism, strong agnosticism, and ignosticism are somewhat trivial, but an atheist or ignostic still takes notably different approaches to dealing with God claims (or supernatural claims in general).

Theological non-cognitivism

Ignosticism is sometimes considered synonymous with a closely-related concept known as "theological non-cognitivism," which states that talking about "god" is cognitively meaningless. It is slightly distinct in that ignostics would be happy to jump off the fence if a decent enough definition of "God" was put forward. Some theological non-cognitivists reject anthropomorphic gods as false but maintain that non-anthropomorphic gods are meaningless. That is, if something that is not like a human is involved, we can't really talk to it or it can't comprehend us well enough to set rules for us.

Other gods

Gods from polytheistic religions don't fare any better than the singular God does. Where ignostics stand on partly anthropomorphic gods like Ganesh or Thoth or Horus with animal heads depends on how they are discussed. When treated existentially, an igtheist can point out the lack of clear terms and arguments and lack of testability. If they are discussed in a cultural, sociological, and metaphorical sense, then the rules of the game are different and taking a position on such entities depends entirely on one's approach to knowledge and interpretation. This is especially possible in some Eastern religions, where supernatural myths can be easily disconnected from the subject matter in question, such as Buddhism or Taoism.^{[citation needed]}

Parody religion

See the main article on this topic: Parody religion

Many who profess to be Pastafarian or worship a clearly fictional god like Cthulhu or ancient obscure ones like Kek play with the ignostic approach to knowledge of the supernatural by defining their ridiculous and insane God in a confusing and meaningless way to demonstrate how simple it is to develop elusive explanations. Others, however, play the opposite extreme by clearly defining their farcical God with qualities that are easily falsified, demonstrating how vulnerable one's worldview can be after giving supernatural entities qualities that others can critique and falsify.^{[citation needed]}

Jokes

How many ignostics does it take to change a magic lightbulb?

What exactly is a magic lightbulb?

See also

• Apatheism – which is a matter of not caring rather than not knowing.

External links

• What is Ignosticism? (archived)