Everyone has an agenda. There is no such thing as truly neutral ground. We would all be better off and better informed if those who claimed to be neutral admitted they are not. For simple proof of this concept just look at three supposedly "neutral" disciplines: science, economics and politics. These are some of the most emotionally heated battlegrounds in society today, because opinions are held by people, facts are interpreted by people, and the foundational framework of beliefs you hold will affect what you think and what you do in every way. Answered or not, internal response to the big questions has a trickle down effect. Whether you have a defined opinion or not, whether you voice your beliefs or not, what you believe deep down (or don't believe deep down) will lend color and substance to everything you say and do.
Logical positivists are my favorite group of dopes. They say that nonfalsifiable claims are a waste of time. "If it can't be proven or disproven here and now, it's not worth discussing." What a stupid, stupid criteria for what to pay attention to! That's like saying "if I can't figure out that theorem with my $5 radio shack calculator, I'll arbitrarily decide it's not a theorem worth pursuing- in fact I'll declare the question itself invalid." The science worshipers declare anything that cannot be quantified as nonsense, and thus become the ultimate ostrich contingent. "If I can't solve it I can't see it, so it's not there." Do not trust PhD's, do not trust high IQ's, do not trust fancy words. The world is filled with idiots and not all of them are stupid, some are very smart or so it seems.
Reality is not easy, reality is not cut and dried. You have to really use your mind and listen to your heart as well, you have to put your bogus conceptions and your hopes and wishes aside. I don't believe what I WANT to believe, I believe what I HAVE to believe because the evidence compels me to it. Like the tesla song sez, 'it ain't what it's not, but what it is.'
Rs7 I didn't mean to hijack your post and turn it into a spiritual thing, I just speak what's on my mind and follow the rabbit trails where they go. Hope I didn't offend.
p.s. Stu, if you really aren't faster in disguise than I apologize. I just saw some pretty amazing coincidences in timing, subject matter and writing style (that I am still pondering)