atheism

Apatheism

/ uurevjeff / 1 Comment

Browsing the latest issue of the Humanist Network News, I found myself browsing an article by Warren Allen Smith. His online encyclopedia of freethinkers, Philosopedia, defines apatheism (a portmanteau of atheism and apathy), as a subset of atheism, when atheism is defined as lack of belief in deities, rather than specific disbelief in deities. “An apatheist (AP-uh-thee-ist) is someone who is not interested in accepting or denying any claims that God, or any other supernatural being, exists or does not exist. In other words, an apatheist is someone who considers the question of the existence of God as neither meaningful nor relevant to human affairs.”

I came to atheism after years of reflection and by what seems to me, appropriately, to be a quite evolutionary process. I certainly would say that I possess a lack of belief in deities. I suppose I have yet to consider whether I also possess a specific disbelief in deities. But, just because I do not believe deities exist, nor that any proof of their existence could be offered, I think it would be slightly presumptuous of me to profess a disbelief in deities.

So, the question now is whether or not I consider the existence of God as a meaningful notion or as relevant to human affairs. Let me start simply. The existence of God has no meaning to me. And, I certainly believe that peoples’ belief in the existence of God has led to some of the greatest miseries of humanity in the millennia since the inception of civilized society. On the other hand, belief in the existence of God has also created great beauty and motivate some people to incredible acts of generosity, kindness, and courage.

Therefore, I think the more relevant question is, should the existence of God continue to be a meaningful notion? I would answer that question categorically in the affirmative. I believe that humanity has outgrown its continued belief in the existence of God, just as children outgrow their need to believe in many myths and fairy tales to assuage their guilt or ease their fears of the unknown. I believe that a continued belief in the existence of God will eventually lead to more “just” wars with unjust underlying motives professed by preaching hypocrites with sacred texts in one hand and clubs and stock portfolios in the other hand.

Given that no one can wave a magic wand and excise the notion of God from human memory, one must surely admit that the existence of God has been, is today, and will likely continue to be relevant to human affairs. So the question of whether or not it should be relevant is, in my opinion, moot. The answer, therefore, lies in religious education and in the provision of effective affective worship experiences that do not require a believe in God. I have spent many years committed to the education of our youth in the ways of critical thinking and assessment of moral issues based on Unitarian Universalist principles. And, as a developing minister, I am now committing myself to the creation of worship experiences that are effective and that produce in participants an affect that is as powerful, if not more powerful, than that produced by the purveyors of the God myth.

So, am I an apatheist. Not yet and perhaps never. As a minister, I must care about the impact that peoples’ belief in the existence of God has on society, and I must respond by offering religious people an atheistic option to pursue their spiritual paths and to share worshipful experiences with others.

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/ uurevjeff

I find it difficult explaining who I am in 25 words or less, particularly about religion. As a minister, however, I know that I must develop good “elevator speeches” to answer those small questions like, “What do Unitarian Universalists believe?” That said, what are my labels?

Atheist – For many years, I resisted calling myself an atheist because of the stigma American society places on the word. I hemmed and hawed with agnostic and even nontheist. But, emboldened by other groups who have reclaimed pejorative words, I think it is time that we atheists embrace our moniker. Ironically, I fully embraced the term after a phone conversation. The person was explaining to me how he would structure an experiment to prove the existence of God. After hanging up, I thought for a long time about what proof I would be willing to accept of God — burning bush, eclipse, parting seas, voice from the skies. I found that I could imagine nothing that would convince me that the cause was exclusively due to the presence of God. At that moment, I knew that I had ceased to be an agnostic.

Humanist – This poor word has so many meanings, that its use demands explanation. My first exposure to humanism was the Humanist Manifesto II, written in 1973.
(http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/manifesto2.html)
Although a third version has since been written, my preference is for the second for a number of reasons. It is more explicit about nontheism. In fact, it is more explicit about most of the key points of humanism. And, there is less naturalistic humanism, a point of view I have some difficulty embracing. I find the distinction between secular and religious humanism divisive and unimportant since I do not see support of religious institutions as problematic. In fact, I embrace a term coined by Professor David Bumbaugh from the Meadville Lombard Theological School of “high church humanist.”

Now the big one.

Minister – Honestly, I consider myself a minister already. I have yet to complete the Master’s of Divinity coursework or the field education requirements. I have yet to go before the Ministerial Fellowship Committee or become ordained. But, I believe that “minister” is truly a way of living and not merely an occupation. Those requirements are the gates through which one must pass to work as a minister. I think that living one’s life as ministry is all that is required to be a minister. My call to live my life as ministry has been growing for nearly 15 years, as a religious educator and as a youth advisor. Now, as I preach and counsel, officiate at rites of passage, and am just generally present, I consider myself a minister.

Are you doing ministry right now? Maybe you have for years, but just hesitated to use the term. I think that one knows if they are a minister or not. Earning the professional credential is worthy if one has the financial resources and the time. Becoming fellowshipped is something I look forward to. But, I do not view it as defining of who I am.