Ask the Patriarch 228
Identifying with a religious community
from: Ilias
A discussion has been opened on this question and answer. To contribute your own thoughts to this exchange, please use the Contact form.
I was wondering is it was at all possible to identify my self with any particular religious community without betraying my core apathetic agnosticism?
The Patriarch replies:
Dear Ilias:
The first apathetic agnostic answer to this is: "Why bother? Why care?"
The second apathetic agnostic reply to this is: "To the extent that The Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic is indeed a religious community, then you can safely join it without betraying your core apathetic agnosticism."
But let us suppose the intent of your question is that you want to identify with a more recognized religious community than UCTAA so that you have an easy reply to acquaintances who ask "what religion are you." Then I recommend Buddhism. And some of our members are indeed Buddhists. Some, but not all forms of Buddhism are quite compatible with apathetic agnosticism.
It's fairly simple to fake it. Pick up a handful of books on Buddhism from a used book store to put in your bookcase, buy a cheap statue of Buddha at a novelty store which you put on top of your bookcase, and buy some incense to burn in front of the Buddha. For a $25 expenditure you have all you need to show your friends that you are a practicing Buddhist. You might even find the books interesting and useful guidance for achieving an advanced state of not caring.