No, the question is NOT begged. Begging the question is a logical fallacy in which the conclusion is assumed in order to prove the argument.
It is not a “people are people” question, either. Nothing is lower, imo, than clergy who do not believe in God. Notice, my argument is not for a sinless clergy - if it was, your comment would be on point.
No, the question is NOT begged. Begging the question is a logical fallacy in which the conclusion is assumed in order to prove the argument.Wow! You must be a ton of fun at parties. My sincere apologies that I did not parse the meaning properly of "begging the question."
I assume the clergy in the 20% or so of agnostics fall into that thinking much like others do -- where they have a series of terrible experiences with people who purport to be Christians, but who do not love the way God loves them. They then begin to entertain agnostic arguments, and over time stop looking for or considering the evidence of God's enormous love for them, and they lose their faith.
The arc for this is probably the same for most people. I have no proof nor data to support it, just my two cents. Not looking to argue about it, if that makes sense to you, great. If it doesn't, no big deal.