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Apatheism is a portmanteau (a haplology combining apathy with either atheist or theist) for the position that God may exist but is of no real importance to one's daily life. It was used by columnist Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic Monthly in 2003. There is also a satiric web page with the title "The Church of Apatheism". There are also instances of the term being used on message boards and other Internet venues as early as July 2000.
Apatheism is not precisely synonymous to atheism, but rather holds that the question of whether or not God exists may be meaningfully asked, but is not worth asking.
A different source for Apatheism is given at this web site, Apatheism, Allognosticism, and the American Religious Landscape. Combining apathy with theism is more in line with the way Rauch uses the neologism. Early on he characterize himself, an atheist, as also being an apatheist. Later in Let It Be he writes, "And agnostics? True, most of them are apatheists, but most apatheists are not agnostics. Because -- and this is an essential point -- many apatheists are believers." Paraphrasing Mr. Rauch, this also support his statement that Apatheism is not about what you believe, but about how.
A longer quote from "Let it be", which supports and extends the above definition:
To be in the grip of religious zeal is the natural state of human beings, or at least of a great many human beings; that is how much of the species seems to be wired. Apatheism, therefore, should not be assumed to represent a lazy recumbency, like my collapse into a soft chair after a long day. Just the opposite, it is the product of a determined effort to discipline the religious mind set, and often of an equally determined personal effort to master the spiritual passions. It is not a lapse. It is an achievement.
This points to Apatheism being more than apathetic. In order to maintain the dynamic stand of an apatheist, Rauch says we are controlling our normally zealous nature. A less ambiguious way to describe his stand might be assertive - theism. However this does not roll off the tongue like Apatheism.
Ignosticism, Apathetic agnosticism
See also
- Ignosticism
- Apathetic agnosticism
Apatheism - External link
- Let It Be, Jonathan Rauch's May 2003 article in Microsoft Word format, reprinted by permission of the author.
- Let It Be, Jonathan Rauch's May 2003 article using the term “apatheism” (“The greatest development in modern religion is not a religion at all—it's an attitude best described as ‘apatheism’”). Warning unless you subscribe to the online edition of The Atlantic Monthly, you will see only the first two paragraphs.
- Apatheism, Allognosticism, and the American Religious Landscape.
- The Church of Apatheism, a web page first published in August 2000 which also uses the terms “apatheism” and “apatheist”
- Straight Dope Message Board discussion, an early (July 2000) use of the term "apatheist" with enough context as to be clear what meaning is intended.
- Apatheism.net, a Web page which seems to consolidate different resources regarding the subject of apatheism and seeks to further the adoption of this philosophy.
Categories: Articles to be merged | Secularism
Other related archives2000, 2003, Apathetic agnosticism, God, Ignosticism, Jonathan Rauch, Secularism, The Atlantic Monthly, apathy, atheism, atheist, haplology, portmanteau, theism,
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Apatheism", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page |
