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Along the lines of Apatheist (I don't care), Atheist (I don't believe), Agnostic (I don't know)...

Is there a neat little word expressing

"I have no need for a god"?

Kit Z. Fox
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misterjohn john
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4 Answers4

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In addition to secular humanism as @auspicious99 has stated, we also have:

naturalism - (philosophy) the doctrine that the world can be understood in scientific terms without recourse to spiritual or supernatural explanations

RobJarvis
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How about secular humanism?

Secular humanism is a philosophy or life stance that embraces human reason, secular ethics, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, and superstition as the basis of morality and decision making.

Secular humanism posits that human beings are capable of being ethical and moral without religion or belief in a deity.

So, since I am "capable of being ethical and moral without religion or belief in a deity", "I have no need for a god" ..

auspicious99
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  • This is a good answer because concepts who can only find expression in the likes of "atheist" or "apatheist" are complicated by the fact that their very words mention the supreme person who the first says does not exist and the second says he does not care about. – Conrado Jul 14 '20 at 18:21
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A belief in God makes one a Theist, one who believes in Theism. The negative of the is the Anti-Theist or A-Theist or rather Atheist, one who does not believe in God.

I'm sure if you have no need of God, He will have little need of you.

The Gnostic is one who believes in the Gnosticism as in the Gnostic gospels, a wide array of early christian texts, some of which made it into the Bible. Gnostic comes from 'knowing', the Gnostic is 'One who knows' One who does not believe in them is Agnostic. Nowadays Agnostic is used to refer to those who merely doubt the existence of God but are not overly concerned either way.

Then there is the lapsed agnostic, don't know - don't care.

Elliot
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  • There is also talk, but I don't know if it's true, of a dyslexic insomniac extistentialist, who stayed awake all night wondering if there was a Dog... – Conrado Jul 15 '20 at 12:53
  • @conrado There's also the dyslexic devil worshipper who sold his soul to Santa... – BoldBen Jul 15 '20 at 22:01
  • This may explain why Mr. Santana's dog is getting all the heat these days. – Elliot Jul 16 '20 at 00:33
  • Probably off-topic here, but maybe you could give a pointer: which gnostic gospel(s) made it into the canon? – Conrado Jul 20 '20 at 03:38
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    @Conrado, I may be off myself but if I recall some of them used the source known as 'Q'. It has been a while since I read my Pagels and I may have overstepped. – Elliot Jul 20 '20 at 03:59
  • Gnosticism and agnosticism are not antonyms, even though the prefix a- is usually used to form antonyms. – jsw29 Aug 24 '20 at 22:50
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    There is a distinct whiff of "etymological fallacy" here - the origin of words and the understood meaning of them are not always the same, so it's not necessarily helpful to break down "a-theism" and "a-gnostic" into their constituent parts. As comparison, compare "vegetarian" and "vegan", which have very similar etymologies, but are understood as fully distinct concepts. – IMSoP Aug 25 '20 at 10:59
  • @!MSoP Perhaps you can make a case to have the site removed since this is what we do here. I have added and adjusted the etymological details according to those who correct me. I have also stated the plain and current meanings of words. You are encouraged compose an answer of your own with the stated limitations in mind. – Elliot Aug 25 '20 at 16:02
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I see nothing wrong with apatheist. From Wikipedia:

Apatheism is the attitude of apathy towards the existence or non-existence of God(s).

And from Lexico:

apathy: Lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.

Clearly one who has no interest, enthusiasm, or concern about gods has no need of them.

Richard Kayser
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  • Nobody appears to understand my original query, and there may not be a word that specifically means "I have no need for god(s)" . The words Agnostic, Atheist, Apatheist, Antitheist are all useful but don't answer my question. I actually don't think there is an extension that can be added to create it, but I know bugger-all about the English language. – misterjohn john Aug 24 '20 at 17:44
  • @misterjohnjohn Then perhaps you could edit the question to explain your query more clearly; as Conrado suggested in the comments, you could expand on how the word you're looking for differs from each of the ones you've already found. – IMSoP Aug 25 '20 at 11:00
  • @misterjohnjohn Maybe the term you're seeking is something like free spirit, which applies to people who have no need to conform to existing norms, and certainly no need for gods. They follow their own paths, seek their own "truths". Nietzsche wrote of them in many of his books. – Richard Kayser Aug 25 '20 at 14:11