n.
An atheist who respects or accommodates other people's religious beliefs, or who attends religious services. Also: fatheist.
—faitheism n.
Example Citations:Some days I just wish more people like Nietzsche were around. At least then the Church would have a worthy adversary, rather than the "faitheists" that now abound.
—Dan Paetkau, " Have your say: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/118638119.html," Winnipeg Free Press, March 25, 2011
I had never heard the word "faitheist" before, but I was pretty sure it wasn't a compliment.
I blushed and ran my hands through my short hair — a nervous habit — and cleared my throat, asking if it was intended to be an insult.
"Yes," he said without inflection."There's nothing worse than a 'faitheist."
—Chris Stedman, " Toxic atheism drives people apart: http://www.salon.com/2012/10/21/toxic_atheism_drives_people_apart/," Salon, October 21, 2012
Earliest Citation:It is Friday night and Duclayan and husband Daniel Radosh are lighting Shabbos candles and saying a prayer over challah and wine (substituting grape juice for wine, so their children can also partake) like many Jewish couples all over Brooklyn.
But there is one main difference: Duclayan and Radosh don't believe in God. Call them "the new fatheists," a growing number of Brooklynites who are turned off to organized religion — there's just too much "God begat this" and "God smote that" for them — yet still need spirituality in their lives.
—Gersh Kuntzman, " The new 'faitheists': http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/pdf/29_14bp.pdf." The Brooklyn Papers, April 8, 2006
Notes:Oddly, the earliest citation — which has a date of April 8, 2006 — is mentioned (in fact, copied) in in a blog post called Defenders of Faitheism: http://www.radosh.net/archive/001484.html, which is dated January 1, 2003. Since the next few entries in that blog carry the same date, I'm going to assume it's an error.
Related Words:entheogen
God helmet
neurotheology
Categories:Religion
Insults