"isms" I Hadn't Heard Of
"Agnosticism" is pretty well known, I believe, as the stance that there is not enough evidence to argue for or against the existence of a deity. I just found a few new (to me) "isms" that I think are interesting.
- "Ignosticism" or "igtheism" is the idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless because the word "God" has no coherent and unambiguous definition. (Wikipedia)
- "Ietsism" is defined by Wikipedia as "an unspecified belief in an undetermined transcendent reality. It is a Dutch term for a range of beliefs held by people who, on the one hand, inwardly suspect – or indeed believe – that "there must be something undefined beyond the mundane and that which can be known or can be proven", but on the other hand do not accept or subscribe to the established belief system, dogma or view of the nature of a deity offered by any particular religion." Sounds like un-thought-out agnosticism to me, but whatever.
- "Pandiesm" is the idea that God became the universe after creating it, and no longer exists as a separate entity.
- "Transtheism" attempts to be beyond both theism and atheism. Most of what I read about it were theological word salads that were more obscurative than claritive, in my opinion, but apparently, it’s a thing.
- One last "ism" that I thought fun is "apatheism" where you don't really care one way or the other.
With the 2024 elections looming over us, I believe that the majority of voters want a candidate who believes in God. The scary question is, if that's their only litmus test, does that mean they'd vote for a person proposing disastrous policies just because they believe in God, and NOT vote for someone who, by all other evaluations is acceptable? I still find it amazing that evangelicals (not all) tolerate or like Donald Trump. And this is why discussions of politics and religion can get so heated.
How do you define yourself and why? Have any other “isms?” I'd love to read some comments.
I was just pondering that, in English anyway, the major religions of the world are "isms": Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Taoism even Islamism. Why no Christism? Instead we have Christianity. I guess Christism, if there were such a word, might lean toward a faith based on the teaching of Jesus, rather than a religion all about Jesus' story. According to Merriam Webster dictionary, the term Christianity appeared in (Middle) English the 14th Century. I wonder what it was called before that? Thanks for the array of isms.