It has been pointed out to me (thank you, Ms. Griffin) that someone reading my posts on subjects like religion, philosophy, etc, could get the impression that I think I have all the answers and am unbending in my beliefs.  Let me assure you, that is not the case at all.

I am agnostic precisely because I don’t have the answers .  It may seem to me that God is unlikely to exist, but I certainly don’t know that for a fact — otherwise I’d be an atheist.  And I’m not dead set on being agnostic.  I am always willing to reconsider my beliefs when presented with new information, new arguments, etc.  That includes reconsidering my agnosticism, or my views on anything else.

That was part of the point of my last point, at least that was one of the points I had hoped to make.  It is very valuable for people to share their views on topics like abortion, veganism, religion, politics, etc, provided they are willing to keep an open mind during the discussion.  The reason I enjoy engaging in such discussions is because I hope to learn from them.  They help me define and refine my views.  They can introduce me to new ways of thinking about something, or they can bring new evidence to my attention, or they can show me a flaw in my logic, etc.  This is also why I find such discussions to be tiring and pointless if nobody is keeping an open mind and actually listening.  I don’t find discussions to be fun just for their own sake — I want to learn from them, and I kind of hope the other person feels the same way.  Even if the discussion doesn’t lead me to learn anything new about my own beliefs, then at least it may help me learn about another point of view on the subject.  How can I truly say I have an informed opinion on a topic if I don’t actively solicit other points of view on it?  I’m not so arrogant as to think that I can possibly think of all possible angles from which to examine a subject, and I realize that my experiences and observations will necessarily be different from someone else’s.

Anyway, I don’t mean to belabor this point.  Suffice it to say that I always want to take in new information, so if you disagree with something I’ve written, or simply have a different take on things, then please let me know your thoughts on the subject!