Sort of an introduction

Hi All
From time to time I come by and see what's going on at this forum. It appears to be one of just two agnostic forums on the web. I'm a moderator on the other forum.-After playing on this other agnostic forum for three years, one of the conclusions I have come to is that agnostics as a species are an apathetic lot. Anyway there is a move afoot to create an international agnostic organization - Agnostics International (.net) - the tentative launch date is in January. -So I was wondering if it were OK to make a more formal sales pitch and call for volunteers? The eventual aim would be to have individual national organizations.-Anyway I'm a displaced Brummie living in Canada. I look forward to my copy of New Scientist every week, albeit it's always four weeks late.-I apologize if I have broken any forum rules; if so please reprimand me appropriately.-rom

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Hi romansh. Thanks for dropping by. No need for apologies or reprimands ... it's good to know that there are kindred spirits / brain cells out there, and you are welcome to pop in any time.-I don't know if you'll get volunteers to set up a national organization ... we are a very small, very mixed site ... but do please let us have an address, and keep us updated.-Sorry to hear that your New Scientist comes so late. At least you can use the Internet to follow the fortunes of Birmingham City (Aston Villa?) and get the latest score from Edgbaston. That was the sort of thing I missed most when I lived abroad ... though they say nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

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Hi romansh. Thanks for dropping by. No need for apologies or reprimands ... it's good to know that there are kindred spirits / brain cells out there, and you are welcome to pop in any time.
> 
> I don't know if you'll get volunteers to set up a national organization ... we are a very small, very mixed site ... but do please let us have an address, and keep us updated.-
Welcome romanch. I love the picture of the dinosaur footprints. Found you at AgnosticForums.com, thanks to Google.

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Found you at AgnosticForums.com, thanks to Google.-I followed up the hint and joined the Agnostic Forums, though I'm finding it a bit confusing to navigate. I'm not an agnostic myself, with respect to ideas about gods, but only in the more general scientific sense of keeping an open mind until the evidence comes in. But I like a good argument.

--
GPJ

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Following David and George's intrepid example (I'm a bit of a technophobe), I have also managed to locate romansh's very impressive forum, and even to navigate my way into the discussions. Inevitably, we're covering lots of similar territory, but I was delighted to see that there too, the general tone is polite and rational. I can see, romansh, why you call yourself the moderator. I also greatly appreciate your taking the time to contact us and even to join in our own discussions. I hope we can keep this contact going, because I agree with you and Matt that agnosticism is a force for tolerance in a world that is becoming increasingly polarized.

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Polite and rational - well there could be room improvement.-But thanks ... I'll be away for a few days so I have not left just yet.

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It's because we're doubters by nature...

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"

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It's because we're doubters by nature...-Ahh xeno, you don't have to doubt alone.
Anyway once the site is up and running I'll let you know.-Dave and dhw thanks for the welcome.-Yeah the dino footprints were a kind of a special moment. Went all spiritual for a minute or two, but then again it was at 5000 metres in the Peruvian Andes.-And it's the Villa I'm afraid - poor old Hammers last Saturday. Edgbaston was about a 30 min walk - never watched Warwickshire though. Shame though, Brum's no longer in Warwicks. -I remember being in a room with about 15 people in the room, all of them were non believers in one form or another, except for a vague deist. It was a nice feeling. Talked to one of them (a secular Quaker if I remember correctly) who attended a humanist gathering most Sundays. He described it as a bunch of old geezers getting together in a pub. I suppose it's OK.-Anyway I'd like to think agnosticism could make more of difference. 
So I'll encourage you from time to time.-all the best
rom

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It's because we're doubters by nature...
> 
> Ahh xeno, you don't have to doubt alone.
> Anyway once the site is up and running I'll let you know.
> 
> Dave and dhw thanks for the welcome.
> 
> Yeah the dino footprints were a kind of a special moment. Went all spiritual for a minute or two, but then again it was at 5000 metres in the Peruvian Andes.-
Can't avoid the question. Do you speak Romansh?

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lol no my middle name is Romans-But am reasonably fluent in Latvian-take care

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Romansh
> Anyway I'd like to think agnosticism could make more of difference. 
> So I'll encourage you from time to time.
> -I agree with this. To me, I think the most dangerous thing we've seen in human history is fanatic devotion to an idea. The destruction caused by crusaders, facists, and dialectical materialists (Leninism) all arise from the same pattern. I largely moved from atheism to agnosticism largely due to my combination of distrust, fear, and hatred for fanatical devotion. If nothing else, we can hope to be the calm eye in the center of the storm, asking "Why not?" or "Why?" whenever a question seems settled. I don't know if it's the same for you, but for me the quest for knowledge never ceases. I view the power of doubt, the power of accepting a question as unknowable if even for "right now" to be a position of strength when everyone else seeks quick answers. -
--Matt

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I don't know if it's the same for you, but for me the quest for knowledge never ceases. I view the power of doubt, the power of accepting a question as unknowable if even for "right now" to be a position of strength when everyone else seeks quick answers. 
> 
> --Matt-Thanks Matt-Knowledge is one of those strange words for me - I think I know what it means but I'm not so sure any more. The spectrum of to know, to think, to believe, to have faith. Is there a scale of grey here?-One of my favourite quotes is from Clarence Darrow:
> Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat tails.

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I don't know if it's the same for you, but for me the quest for knowledge never ceases. I view the power of doubt, the power of accepting a question as unknowable if even for "right now" to be a position of strength when everyone else seeks quick answers. 
> > 
> > --Matt
> 
> Thanks Matt
> 
> Knowledge is one of those strange words for me - I think I know what it means but I'm not so sure any more. The spectrum of to know, to think, to believe, to have faith. Is there a scale of grey here?
> -Knowledge will always have a normative basis: One cannot but HAVE a normative method for establishing/validating truth claims. That is why one should be as conservative as possible. If you read dhw's overall treatise here, you would probably note that I'm what he might consider a "weak" agnostic. I recognize that the only methods we have to verify claims are necessarily materialistic. So in my case, I default to those explanations when possible. -> One of my favourite quotes is from Clarence Darrow:
> > Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat tails.-Knowledge is a dance, but only by dancing with many different partners do you truly know the dance...

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Sort of an introduction (Agnosticism)