Well, maybe not the nation, but agnosticism does seem to be sweeping the Internet.
Maud Newton, a leading book blogger, a novelist, and probably something else in her spare time for money, agrees with me that agnosticism has gotten a horrifically bad rap, from atheists and believers alike, and in Book Forum writes a defense. Here's her first entry, from — irony alert! — the Bible:
Eccelsiastes
By far the most heretical book of the Bible, this candid, downbeat, and
gorgeously poetic meditation on the seeming meaninglessness of
existence—“all is vanity and a chasing after wind”—has incited
controversy throughout the approximately twenty-three hundred years of
its existence. The narrator, Qoheleth, advocates acceptance of fate and
an absent, somewhat neglectful creator—“the race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the
learned, nor favor to the skillful: but time and chance happeneth to
them all”—and the simple pleasures and innumerable mysteries of life.
gorgeously poetic meditation on the seeming meaninglessness of
existence—“all is vanity and a chasing after wind”—has incited
controversy throughout the approximately twenty-three hundred years of
its existence. The narrator, Qoheleth, advocates acceptance of fate and
an absent, somewhat neglectful creator—“the race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the
learned, nor favor to the skillful: but time and chance happeneth to
them all”—and the simple pleasures and innumerable mysteries of life.
Newton posts this with a painting from Caravaggio, featuring "Doubting" Thomas. Not sure if Saint Thomas with the risen Savior fits her point, but it's such a great painting I'm going to follow suit:
Kit Stolz 