Do you think there are a lot of Christians who are actually Apatheists who put their religion on the shelf and go out and do what they want and don’t really weigh in on it?
An apatheist is someone who is not interested in accepting or rejecting any claims that gods exist or do not exist. The existence of a god or gods is not rejected, but may be designated irrelevant.[6] One of the first recorded apatheists was arguably Denis Diderot (1713 - 1784), who wrote: “It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all. Scientist and philosopher Ian von Hegner has argued that apatheism is an alternative to positions such as theism, atheism, and agnosticism”
Like the definition implies. Apatheism is an “attitude” not a 'belief." It says nothing at all about “belief.” If I ask a person, “Do you believe in a God?” and their response is, “I’m an Apatheist.” they are evading the question. They are evading the question in the exact same way the DWEEBS who respond, “I’m Agnostic.” try to escape a direct response.
There are two prongs to the god dilemma. Either god exists or god does not exist. We can only respond to one prong of the dilemma at a time. If the assertion is made, “God exists!” you either believe the claim or you do not believe the claim. No one asked if you were apathetic or if you had any knowledge. What is your position on the claim. Do you believe? Yes? or No?
Saying “I do not believe the claim.” is NOT the same thing as saying a god does not exist. We have not addressed that claim yet. I do not believe the claim that a god exists. The claim is unfalsifiable. That qualifies me as an atheist.
So, I am asked, “Do you believe a god does not exist.” Well, frankly all the evidence points to that claim being true and in some situations I will accept that position, the position of the antithest; however, depending on the definition of the god in question my response will vary. It’s been my experience to begin with, “I have no reason to believe the claim that God does not exist.” “Oh, so you believe god exists,” shouts the theist." “NO!” “We are not discussing existence.
We are discussing non-existence. And, unless you are willing to clearly identify the characteristics of your god and how you know all those characteristics, I can’t tell you if I believe in it or not. I can say that I have never met a god that I did believe existed. But as far as I can tell, the claim that a god does not exist is nonfalsifiable.” (Unless of course you say something stupid.)
So, being an apatheist does not address the question of belief. “Do you believe a god exists?” It does not matter if you care or not. (Like the Agnostic, no one has asked you if you know or not.) The Apatheist is responding to the wrong fucking question and in my opinion, DOING SO BECAUSE THEY ARE A FUCKING COWARD! SO, Dig down deep and answer the fucking question. Stop trying to evade. The spot light is on and there is no escape. ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION BEING ASKED!
No. whether or not they weigh in on it is not necessarily indicative of their belief. Anyone who identifies as a Christian is not an apatheist by definition. If it did not matter or was irrelevant to them, then they would hesitate to self-identify as Christian. As to whether or not it is of such import as to warrant “weighing in”, there are a number of factors which could affect the motivation to do so.
That makes a lot of sense. It’s just an evasive maneuver to get out from under the question itself. Just today I got into an argument with this guy I know. He brought up religion and said, “I know you’re an Atheist…BUT…” and then he goes on to talking about his beliefs. I brought up a few things to counter his comments and after a few times of him saying the “First Council of Nicaea” was bullshit. I ended it with a solution. I said “I have one thing that I’d like to ask you” and I got his attention with that comment. Then I went on to ask “What objective evidence do you have that you can use to demonstrate for the existence any deity?” and then I went on to say after that, if you can provide evidence, fine, I will give you the benefit of the doubt. But if you can’t demonstrate with objective evidence for the existence of a “god’, we’re not going to talk about it anymore because that’s the only way you’re gonna convince me. Either you give evidence for your claim or don’t bring it up anymore.” and he shut right up after that. I felt pretty proud.
This is Mr. Sheldon’s tactic when he does engage with the theists. You will see it in his posts over and over again. Straight in for the kill. “Where is the evidence for your claim?”
When I first had to join this forum (in the old days when we were in black and white)… this question was asked.
No third “choice”.
Do you believe in god? Theist or atheist.
I absolutely hated this direct question at the time. Up until then, I considered myself agnostic. I didn’t know BUT never really thought about what I believed.
So, I pondered this question for 2 days before I signed up.
I had “wanted” there to be a god of my liking (way off in my mind…someone who cared and protected me from the invisible realm) BUT then again there’s a lot of things I “want” that reality ain’t giving (lol)….
SO in the end, did I believe? No. I didn’t. I really don’t. Can’t say there “isn’t” but sure in fuck don’t believe there “is” or live my life as though there is one.
BUT never really thought about what I believed.