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I’m a golftheist. I believe in a glimmer of a higher power whenever I play inexplicably well. But that vanishes once I’m back to my old hacker self.
I have a hard time believing that anyone is authentically 'apatheistic', or apathetic about the question of whether a god exists. People may claim to be, or they may no longer devote as much thought to the topic as they once did. If one subscribes to one conception of agnosticism, that it's ultimately unknowable whether a god exists, then why bother devoting any thought to the topic? But as for that equating to an actual lack of interest, well, I don't really buy it, as it's too ingrained in humanity to wonder about where this universe ultimately originated, and also about the ultimate fate of one's own self/people significant to one's own self. You'd have to be living an incredibly superficial life to be able to legitimately claim apatheism. I think it's basically shorthand for atheists to say 'Yeah, even if a god did exist, it wouldn't matter to me'...which I don't buy. If a god somehow did exist, everyone would have interest in that god, if only for purposes of uh metaphysical self-preservation or something, hah.
I have a hard time believing that anyone is authentically 'apatheistic', or apathetic about the question of whether a god exists. People may claim to be, or they may no longer devote as much thought to the topic as they once did. If one subscribes to one conception of agnosticism, that it's ultimately unknowable whether a god exists, then why bother devoting any thought to the topic? But as for that equating to an actual lack of interest, well, I don't really buy it, as it's too ingrained in humanity to wonder about where this universe ultimately originated, and also about the ultimate fate of one's own self/people significant to one's own self. You'd have to be living an incredibly superficial life to be able to legitimately claim apatheism. I think it's basically shorthand for atheists to say 'Yeah, even if a god did exist, it wouldn't matter to me'...which I don't buy. If a god somehow did exist, everyone would have interest in that god, if only for purposes of uh metaphysical self-preservation or something, hah.
Your post makes a lot pf sense. Except that I've seen a person that I have to describe as apatheistic. I knew him for many years; even decades. Any time a subject like a church, or a TV minister came up, he just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't even care enough to say "Who cares?" When he died, nobody knew if they should ask a minister to conduct his funeral. Looking back on it many years later, I still have no idea if he had any opinions about deities or religion.
Your post makes a lot pf sense. Except that I've seen a person that I have to describe as apatheistic. I knew him for many years; even decades. Any time a subject like a church, or a TV minister came up, he just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't even care enough to say "Who cares?" When he died, nobody knew if they should ask a minister to conduct his funeral. Looking back on it many years later, I still have no idea if he had any opinions about deities or religion.
Your post makes a lot pf sense. Except that I've seen a person that I have to describe as apatheistic. I knew him for many years; even decades. Any time a subject like a church, or a TV minister came up, he just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't even care enough to say "Who cares?" When he died, nobody knew if they should ask a minister to conduct his funeral. Looking back on it many years later, I still have no idea if he had any opinions about deities or religion.
Yes, apatheism exists.
Which may beg the question of who comes closer to Apatheism, an Atheist, or Agnostic?
I propose the Agnostic would come closer due to their ASSUMPTION that God does not exist, yet they leave the door open if evidence ever presents itself that a God or religion does actually exist. They simply go about their lives not really thinking of religion one way or the other given this stance.
An Atheist, on the other hand, takes more of a definitive stance that they believe (or know) that God does not exist. So their polar position may make them think about or consider God and religion more presently and actively (the Agnostic being more passive), and would therefore be less "apathetic" by the very nature of their belief/stance.
Which may beg the question of who comes closer to Apatheism, an Atheist, or Agnostic?
I propose the Agnostic would come closer due to their ASSUMPTION that God does not exist, yet they leave the door open if evidence ever presents itself that a God or religion does actually exist. They simply go about their lives not really thinking of religion one way or the other given this stance.
An Atheist, on the other hand, takes more of a definitive stance that they believe (or know) that God does not exist. So their polar position may make them think about or consider God and religion more presently and actively (the Agnostic being more passive), and would therefore be less "apathetic" by the very nature of their belief/stance.
It's the wrong question, since my knowledge position about god and my belief position about god vary independently, though they do influence each other. I consider myself both agnostic (cannot know if there is a god or not, inherently) and atheistic (do not have any beliefs in any gods).
I think even the rare "strong" atheist could find the topic of god utterly uninteresting, especially if they never were theist / religious.
I am not apathetic in the way meant by "apatheist" because religion is such a big part of the human condition, whether I wish it weren't or not. Plus I have had personal experience with its harms. But I can understand that someone with little religious past finding it baffling or silly. My wife is rather like that; she was occasionally dragged to a Unitarian church as a child, but that hardly counts. She is blissfully unaware of religious dynamics but quickly checks out whenever anyone actually discusses the topic. I don't think she's actively averse or disinterested but she certainly finds such topics vacuous.
It's the wrong question, since my knowledge position about god and my belief position about god vary independently, though they do influence each other. I consider myself both agnostic (cannot know if there is a god or not, inherently) and atheistic (do not have any beliefs in any gods).
I think even the rare "strong" atheist could find the topic of god utterly uninteresting, especially if they never were theist / religious.
Someone once posted here that EVERYONE is Agnostic by default, regardless of how polarized they may be towards Theism or Atheism because, simply put, no one truly knows.
If we consider how many times a person considers the subject of God or Religion, or it "comes up on their radar" so to speak, wouldn't a Militant Atheist have more occurrences than a very passive and inactive Agnostic?
So then if you had to gauge which of the two was more apathetic or indifferent to God and Religion, which person would you choose?
Someone once posted here that EVERYONE is Agnostic by default, regardless of how polarized they may be towards Theism or Atheism because, simply put, no one truly knows.
If we consider how many times a person considers the subject of God or Religion, or it "comes up on their radar" so to speak, wouldn't a Militant Atheist have more occurrences than a very passive and inactive Agnostic?
So then if you had to gauge which of the two was more apathetic or indifferent to God and Religion, which person would you choose?
"Hard" atheists aren't necessarily more militant. That just refers to them being willing to state it as fact that god doesn't exist, when (IMO) the more intellectually honest statement is the gods are so ill-defined (and incoherently defined) that who could know.
I have met a couple of hard atheists and they can be completely ignorant and indifferent to religion. It is therefore possible for "hard" atheism to be a less considered position than the more pervasive "soft" atheism.
I did once meet (online) a hard atheist who came to that position by just getting tired of all the nuanced waffling and said, to heck with it, god doesn't exist -- deal with it. But even he wasn't really more anti-religion than any other atheist from what I could tell.
As to whether a truly "militant" atheist would have more considered views ... or encounter the question more ... I suppose so. Having a strong view is not the same as expressing it though. I have pretty strong views but don't lead with them because frankly hardly anyone cares in practice. If it happens to come up, I play it down ... how I discuss things here, where people specifically come for discussion on this topic supposedly, is very different from how I live my everyday life.
Your post makes a lot pf sense. Except that I've seen a person that I have to describe as apatheistic. I knew him for many years; even decades. Any time a subject like a church, or a TV minister came up, he just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't even care enough to say "Who cares?" When he died, nobody knew if they should ask a minister to conduct his funeral. Looking back on it many years later, I still have no idea if he had any opinions about deities or religion.
Yes, apatheism exists.
Fair, but who knows what he was actually thinking as those shoulders were shrugging. I'm sure his mind wasn't completely blank, unless he'd suffered some traumatic brain injury along the way there. By neglecting to even muster a 'who cares', he may have been doing that out of tact rather than apathy
I’m a golftheist. I believe in a glimmer of a higher power whenever I play inexplicably well. But that vanishes once I’m back to my old hacker self.
I used to be a golf theist.
Until , as Billy Graham was quoted as saying, ( I paraphrase)
God never answers my prayers on the golf course.
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