I'm a strict, strict agnostic. It's very different from a casual, 'I don't know.' It's that you cannot present as knowledge something that is not knowledge. You can present it as faith, you can present it as belief, but you can't present it as fact.
Interpretation
An agnostic firmly believes that certain knowledge, particularly about the divine, cannot be claimed as fact.
Margaret Atwood emphasizes the distinction between knowledge and belief in her quote. She advocates for a strict form of agnosticism, arguing that while faith and belief may hold significance, they should not be confused with factual knowledge, which is fundamentally different. This perspective calls for a recognition of the limits of what can be known and encourages honesty in the presentation of one’s beliefs.
In practice
In a debate on religion, to clarify your stance on knowledge regarding the divine.
If I am good enough and quiet enough, perhaps after all they will let me go; but it’s not easy being quiet and good, it’s like hanging on to the edge of a bridge when you’ve already fallen over; you don’t seem to be moving, just dangling there, and yet it is taking all your strength.
I would like to believe this is a story I’m telling. I need to believe it. I must believe it. Those who can believe that such stories are only stories have a better chance. If it’s a story I’m telling, then I have control over the ending. Then there will be an ending, to the story, and real life will come after it. I can pick up where I left off.
What else can I do? Once you've gone this far you aren't fit for anything else. Something happens to your mind. You're overqualified, overspecialized, and everybody knows it. Nobody in any other game would be crazy enough to hire me. I wouldn't even make a good ditch-digger, I'd start tearing apart the sewer-system, trying to pick-axe and unearth all those chthonic symbols - pipes, valves, cloacal conduits... No, no. I'll have to be a slave in the paper-mines for all time.
We love each other, that’s true whatever it means, but we aren’t good at it; for some it’s a talent, for others only an addiction.
I've learned quite a lot, over the years, by avoiding what I was supposed to be learning.
Knowing too much about other people puts you in their power, they have a claim on you, you are forced to understand their reasons for doing things and then you are weakened.
The future is always present, as a promise, a lure and a temptation.
Being democratic is not enough, a majority cannot turn what is wrong into right. In order to be considered truly free, countries must also have a deep love of liberty and an abiding respect for the rule of law.
Familiarity confounds all traits of distinction; interest and prejudice take away the power of judging.
Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a Gift from God.
Man, as a physical being, is like other bodies governed by invariable laws.
To have and not to give is often worse than to steal.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.