“Who Cares About Faith?” attack of the IDGAFs

A recent upsurge of something vastly different to the opponents of atheism has arisen. I do not think all agnostics are like this, so I will not call them that - but I will call them the IDGAFs (”I Don’t Give a F%$!”). Very well. This is my response to people who often say to me IDGAF.

Firstly - I do not involve myself in face to face engagement in atheism. What usually occurs is somehow it is mentioned I am an atheist. Because of this, I am expected to have a range of opinions on subject matters from abortion to gay rights. A wise friend of mine, who’s Christianity comes as a surprise to people considering how liberal he is, said to me: “I’m not sure why they do it. They ask me: ‘What do you think of gay marriages?’ And I say: ‘Well, I don’t. I don’t sit up at night thinking about such things because they don’t affect me.”

I could answer similarly and in such a humorous way - but I can not. Because my life is polemics and the dispelling of modern delusions, I appear to have an opinion on everything. I do think that most things, when it comes to abortion and gay-rights should be labelled “pro-choice”. I am neither gay nor a woman, so those things do not affect me. But why should I let that infringe on people who are gay and who do need an abortion. No one is forcing them to have them - but people (or religious groups) could force them not to have them.

How many women’s lives are destroyed because the choice is never given? Ditto gays and lesbians. Just because these people do not conform to a stringent world-view, they must be wrong or not human. That is a load of bollocks and I think many people will agree with me.

But my main argument is not for rigidity. That is for another topic. This is quite the opposite of rigidity: the flaccid mind.  People who I label the IDGAFs. The Gafs don’t care either way. I am writing this article because of a culmination of dealing with a large group of people like this. I will give the instance of the latest.

After months, the University of Cape Town’s Atheist & Agnostic Society organised a discussion with the local Christian Youth Group. I am representing the atheists and a pastor the Christians. We have engaged in debates now for many months and finally reached a head with allowing public access to this. We have had good responses. I myself became good friends with the pastor who is one of the nicest individuals I have ever met. However, when we created the event the first response was not: “I am looking forward to it” but rather, and I will quote this:

this is going to get silly… we all know whats going to happen.. no side will concede.. people will talk about evolution.. people will talk about crap.. people will defend their crap.. people will not listen to logic… the atheists will go home saying “damn they really dont listen.. what morons”

the others will go home saying “what a bunch of heretics.. they all going to burn in hell”

in short a total waste of time.

I responded in a mild-mannered way, but I believe it is time to unleash my wanton destruction and tirade.

1. Who invited this person and why? If they did so and this individual was not interested, why did he agree to comment?

2. What are his opinions on this?

3. how are things supposed to progress unless we learn how to communicate as a species?

Bertrand Russell says “man’s greatest accomplishment will be through cooperation” and it is a philosophy I live by. Having IDGAFs toting their sticks of watery luminescence helps no one. If you do not have an opinion, do not expect others to remain silent. Faith is a big factor in many people’s lives - whether it is for you, as a person, is beside the point. It affects billions of people - if not everyone in the entire world - at some level. To say belief is useless to discuss is to misunderstand what many writers, activists and speakers are trying to do.

Very well - I concede. You don’t care. But why tell that to people who obviously do? By engaging a group event and saying “this is pointless”, do you want to see everyone who spends their lives doing this simply drop it? How short-sighted, myopic, incredibly stupid and very very damn lazy of you as a functioning human being to suggest that belief matters not. The amount of effort people exert as IDGAFs is naught. Is that what people such as myself, who engage with faith (or unfaith) all the time are meant to look up to? Intellectual laziness?

Laziness goes nowhere - your coconut philosophy of life leads only so far. The world is in dire need of dialogue and we need support, not muffles. We need fists raised not hands lowered. I can respect agnostics who can speak about their differing opinions, but one way or another they land up in one of the camps. At this stage, the atheist camp is swelling.

If you encounter IDGAFs, just smile and nod. Tell them if it means nothing to them, why do they focus so heavily on it. I’ve met people who are more passionate about their Idgafity than I am about my atheism. Passionate about laziness? Well, if we can have millions believing in virgin births, why not people who are passionate about their laziness.