Being agnostic is a higher form of faith

Unconditional faith is stronger than conditional faith.

Being agnostic - which is admitting that you don't know whether any sort of god or higher power exists, is objectively a higher, stronger form of faith than being devoutly religious.

Faith is defined as:

1. complete trust or confidence in someone or something; or

2. strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

Out of the two definitions, number one is arguably the stronger form of faith, because it is complete trust. It is unconditional.

If you are attempting to figure out or guess who God is and what they want, it demonstrates a lack of unconditional faith. True unconditional faith implies trusting completely without trying to understand or predict every aspect of a higher power. Religion tries to do just that.

Definition number two, with respect to belief in a religion, no matter how strongly held, is not complete trust or faith. You have to choose a religion, and that religion comes with a set of beliefs about God and expectations of God.

Putting your faith in a higher power, but not a religion, is unconditional because you are not developing expectations about them - you are giving them your complete trust.

An agnostic admits that they don't know whether god exists or not. Most probably lean towards not, but they hold out the possibility of the existence of some form of higher power. Most probably hold out very little chance that any traditional religion is credible.

Agnostics don't try to guess what the answer is. Not trying to guess about the existence of a higher power or the existence of an afterlife is an expression of complete trust and confidence. You accept, rather than expect.

If a god does exist, you are putting your complete, unconditional trust and confidence in their designs and plans for you - if any. You are not asking for anything. You have no expectations of an afterlife or anything else. You accept that the answer is out of your control. Whatever the answer is, you're ok with it. You can't 'believe' the truth into existence. It is what it is.

If god doesn't exist, you are ok with that too - you pretty much have to be, right?

If you believe in a religion - Christianity for example - no matter how deep or complete your belief may be, it's conditional. You are not just saying that you believe in a higher power. You are saying that you believe in a particular god, who wants you to act in this manner, who did these things in the past, who intervenes in our lives in this way, answers these prayers, and will admit you to heaven if you do these things, but send you to hell if you do or don't do these other things. And oh by the way, the god of Christianity also wants you to try to make other people believe in Christianity so you can save them from going to hell.

That hardly sounds like complete trust and confidence. That's more like sitting on Santa Claus's lap and telling him what you want.

A devoutly religious person has a huge laundry list of things they expect to be true. The more detailed their belief, the more conditional - and weaker it becomes. Within Christianity alone, there are so many different beliefs and interpretations. Expand that out further to all the different religions, and the variances in beliefs within those religions. So many different, detailed beliefs. What are the odds that anyone's religious belief is remotely true?

Belief in the existence of a higher power based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof is one thing - it's a wondrous belief in the unknown. If you put your complete trust in a higher power and accept their designs without expectation, then it is a healthy, unconditional faith.

When you put your faith in the God of a particular religion, then your faith becomes conditional - it is dependent on the doctrines of that religion. Underlying all that, you are putting your faith in yourself to pick the right religion, and the right church, religious leaders, the correct interpretations of texts and teachings, etc.

Christianity (as with most other major religions) is extremely fractured and divided, with no uniform beliefs or moral guidance. The bible has many verses that are harmful, ambiguous, implausible or just plain nonsensical.

Christianity is not belief in the unknown, it's belief in something that you should know better to believe in.

Although many agnostics probably don't even consider themselves to be spiritual, they unquestionably have a stronger and higher form of faith than the most devoutly religious believers.

You'll never find the truth if you believe in a lie. There is a tremendous amount of peace and comfort that can be had by acknowledging that the truth is out of your control … and by not trying to guess what it is.

Just say: "I don't know, and I don't care."

'I don't know' is the only true thing anyone can say with regard to god or religion. There is nothing better or stronger than the truth.

'I don't care' represents true faith, trust and confidence in a higher power - if one exists at all. Think of the serenity prayer - have the strength to accept what can't be changed, the courage to change what can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

You can't change whether or not there is a god or what their nature is. They're not going to change just for you or your religion.

As the great western theologian Jimmy Buffett once said: "It's good to know it's out of my control."