Agnostics R Us

So, unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years or so, you've heard all the buzz surrounding Dan Brown's DaVinci Code - both the book and the movie.

I remember watching news footage of enraged Christians (Catholics?) who were so offended at the idea that Jesus had married and fathered children that they initiated a book burning of Brown's novel. I mean, WTF?

While it can be argued that a married Jesus has never been "official" church doctrine (it's getting harder and hard to pin down exactly what is and what is not church doctrine anyway), some Mormons are perfectly willing to accept the possibility that Jesus had a wife and kids, and some LDS leaders have even taught the principle from the pulpit (Apostle Orson Hyde being one of them.)

My father is one of those people who's happy to entertain the idea.

Recently, while visiting my half-brother and his family just outside of Sin City, Nevada, my father (yes, we're on speaking terms again) looked at a small, framed print of the famous last supper painting (you know, the one by DaVinci!) and he said "we look at that painting differently now, don't we?"

I knew he was referring to the speculation that the figure to the right of Jesus was Mary, his wife.

In response, I said "I look at all of that stuff differently now."

He didn't press the issue and let the matter drop - which is huge, because my dad is the type of person who never stops talking, dominates every conversation, and usually has to have the last word.

I considered it a minor victory.

I continue to try to learn about all things religious though. I watch some Christian programs on TBN...I read numerous blogs written by people of different faiths...I even read the Ensign when it arrives monthly to our doorstep. But I no longer just accept everything that's being fed to me. I QUESTION EVERYTHING.

I recently watched the documentary The God Who Wasn't There which was produced by one of those guys responsible for the Blasphemy Challenge and a member of the atheist group, the Rational Response Squad.

Some people are bold enough to outright deny the existence of God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost.

I won't do that. After all, you can't prove a negative.

Since abandoning the LDS belief-system, I've considered myself to be an agnostic, but now I'm willing to theorize (if that's the right word to use) that EVERYONE is agnostic.

In simplest terms, the word agnostic means "without knowledge". I declare that NO ONE has a perfect knowledge of who or what God is (or isn't). People can believe whatever the hell they want to believe, but to present something unprovable as absolute fact is arrogant and downright irresponsible.

You can tell me you BELIEVE in God and Jesus and all that jazz, but don't tell me you KNOW it be true. You don't. You can't. If God was real, it could be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. That has yet to be done.

But on the other hand, you can't state with absolute certainty that God DOESN'T exist either.

This battle has raged for centuries. It's a no-win situation. What saddens me is that we, as a human race, are willing to KILL ourselves over a difference in religious beliefs. We need to wake up, open our damn eyes, and stop trying to prove who's God is bigger, better and more real.

If God was real...we would all know it.

Wouldn't we?

I'm willing to hear any and all opinions. I'm not claiming to have ultimate knowledge here and I'm really hoping that no one else does.

We're all born agnostics and I think we all still are.