Ietsism

Ietsism

Ietsism (Dutch “ietsisme” - "Somethingism") is an unspecified belief in some higher force. [ [http://richarddawkins.net/userComments,page1,6333 richarddawkins.net - Comments by John A. Michon] ] It is a Dutch language term for a range of beliefs held by people who, on the one hand, inwardly suspect - or indeed believe - that there is “More between Heaven and Earth” than we know about, but on the other hand do not necessarily accept or subscribe to the established belief system, dogma or view of the nature of God offered by any particular religion. The nearest English language equivalent term is Agnostic theism.

Beliefs

Ietsism may roughly be described as a belief in an end-in-itself or similar concept, without further assumption to exactly what object or objects have such a property, like intrinsic aliquidism without further specification. Other aliquidistic lifestances include the acceptance of "there is something - that is, some meaning of life, someting that is an end-in-itself or something more to existence - and it is...", assuming various objects or "truths", while ietsism, on the other hand simply accepts "there is something", without further assumption to it.

In contrast to traditional agnostics who often hold a skeptical view about gods or other metaphysical entities (i.e. “We can't or don't know for sure that there is a God"), “ietsists” take a viewpoint along the lines of, “And yet it "feels" like there is something out there...." It is a form of religious liberalism or non-denominationalism. It may also be described as the minimal counterpart of nihilism, since it accept that there is something, but yet, assumes as little further as possible without any more substantial evidence.

Ietsism also shares many attributes with similar viewpoints such as Deism and the so-called 'God of the Gaps', whose origins lie more in questions about the nature and origin of the physical universe. It could be said that Ietsism is 'Deism for the spiritually-inclined'.

An opinion poll conducted by the Dutch daily newspaper “Trouw” in October 2004 indicated that some 40% of its readership felt broadly this way.

As the ietsist will not have found any of the 'pre-packaged' Gods offered by traditional religions satisfactory, each ietsist's conception of God will be different. This can range from the Judeo/Christian/Islamic concept of God as a force / intelligence that exists outside the world, to a position similar to the Buddhist "world view" with collective spiritual power existing within the world. Other ietsists will dare to take a truly agnostic viewpoint - that the actual nature of God is totally unknown.

Etymology

The name derives from the Dutch equivalent of the question: "Do you believe in the conventional 'Christian' God?", a typical 'ietsist' answer being "No, but there must be something!".

The term became known in the Netherlands after the atheist political columnist Ronald Plasterk (who has since become the Minister of Education, Culture and Science) used it in a feature for the television programme “Buitenhof” ("outer court"). But the term possibly existed already. [ [http://taal.web-log.nl/taaladviesdienst/2007/02/ronald_plasterk.html On the origin of the Dutch word "Ietsisme"] nl icon]

In October 2005, the word “ietsisme” was included in the 14th edition of the Dutch Language Dictionary 'Dikke Van Dale', but has also recently begun to circulate among English-speakers as a loanword.

ee also

*Agnostic theism
*Deism
*Unknown god

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Intrinsic value (ethics) — For intrinsic value of animals, see Intrinsic value (animal ethics). Intrinsic value is an ethical and philosophic property. It is the ethical or philosophic value that an object has in itself or for its own sake , as an intrinsic property. An… …   Wikipedia

  • Teísmo agnóstico — El Teísmo agnóstico es el punto de vista filosófico que compagina el teísmo (creencia en un dios personal y providente, creador y conservador del mundo[1] ) con el agnosticismo (actitud filosófica que declara inaccesible al entendimiento humano… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Agnosticism — Certainty series Agnosticism Belief Certainty Doubt Determinism Epistemology Estimation Fallibilism …   Wikipedia

  • Deism — For other uses, see Deism (disambiguation). Part of a series on God General c …   Wikipedia

  • List of English words of Dutch origin — This is a list of words of Dutch language origin. However, note that this list does also include some words of which the etymology is uncertain, and that some may have been derived from Middle Low German equivalents instead or as well. Some of… …   Wikipedia

  • Agnostic theism — is the philosophical view that encompasses both theism and agnosticism. Per theism, an agnostic theist believes that the proposition at least one deity exists is true, but, per agnosticism, believes that the existence of gods are unknown or… …   Wikipedia

  • Deism (disambiguation) — Deism is the theosophical doctrine in which it is understood that God can be found only through the exercise of reason, and does not intervene in the Universe. Deism may also refer to: Ceremonial deism, a doctrine created by the Supreme Court of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”