Apatheists: Don't Know, Don't Care About Christianity


By some estimates, the majority of "nones", who do not claim any particular religion, are dominated by people who simply have no interest in religion. They are not interested in atheism nor in Christianity. They are not annoyed by prayers of public officials but they don't think the prayers are to anything or anyone.

I have a distant relative who explained his apatheism to me years ago. As I recall, he said he is a "lazy atheist," has no interest in religion nor any interest in discussing atheism. 

Believers may like apatheists better than atheists like me who blog about the shortcomings of religion. But, I don't see apatheists as hope for Christianity's falling numbers either. They have no interest in discussing hell and an afterlife because they have already heard about these and find them boring.

The link written by a devout Christian tells of his apathiest friend whom he was unsuccessful in converting. The author surmised the best approach for the Christian is to set an example of being a good person.  

Inevitably, there will be apatheists who are straight but have gay friends. Are they going to be attracted to Christianity if Christians carry on about the "sinfulness" of their friends? Good luck with that. Abortion is similar.

The problem Christians have with something like apatheism is many Christians get no pleasure from visiting about their faith if they do not bring up the sins they enjoy condemning. If faced with a choice being strategic and limiting discussion to broad issues or condemning the sins of others they will choose the latter. Anyone can see this in discussions about atheists. Atheists don't accept Christianity because they want to keep on sinning, so Christians say constantly.  

I think the link article is a rational approach because it seeks to understand nones instead of preaching at them. It doesn't provide a solution to the slid of Christianity, however.

Comments

  1. Bryan KJune 2, 2021 at 4:29 AM

    I've always struggled with the idea that we need a name for something that already has a perfectly serviceable name already. I would suggest that the "apatheist" is the default position for...well....everyone. That's where everyone starts. Don't know. Don't care.

    Folks who have had religion forced upon them tend to take a more aggressive and militant style of atheism. I like to call that anti-theism.

    But we don't need a new word to describe what the word "atheist" already full well describes. The reason why folks tend to think that these "apatheists" are so rare is because, by definition, we tend to not engage others in our views unless other folks' views pose a direct threat on our ways of life.

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