Apathy

Apathy. For a non-action type of word, it is one that I have seen as being fairly "active" these days. For some odd reason, many Christians do not seem to want to be involved with the dire issues facing our nation today. Why is that?

Here's the definition:

ap⋅a⋅thy   /ˈæpəθi/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ap-uh-thee] Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun, plural -thies. 1. absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement.
2. lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting.
3. Also, ap⋅a⋅thei⋅a, ap⋅a⋅thi⋅a  /ˌæpəˈθiə/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ap-uh-thee-uh] Show IPA Pronunciation . Stoicism. freedom from emotion of any kind.Origin:
1595–1605; ap·a·thy (āp'ə-thē) Pronunciation Key
n.
Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference.
Lack of emotion or feeling; impassiveness.

[Latin apathīa, from Greek apatheia, from apathēs, without feeling : a-, without; see a-1 + pathos, feeling; see kwent(h)- in Indo-European roots.]


The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Apathy

Ap"a*thy\, n.; pl. Apathies. [L. apathia, Gr. ?; 'a priv. + ?, fr. ?, ?, to suffer: cf. F. apathie. See Pathos.] Want of feeling; privation of passion, emotion, or excitement; dispassion; -- applied either to the body or the mind. As applied to the mind, it is a calmness, indolence, or state of indifference, incapable of being ruffled or roused to active interest or exertion by pleasure, pain, or passion. "The apathy of despair." --Macaulay.

A certain apathy or sluggishness in his nature which led him . . . to leave events to take their own course. --Prescott.

According to the Stoics, apathy meant the extinction of the passions by the ascendency of reason. --Fleming.

Note: In the first ages of the church, the Christians adopted the term to express a contempt of earthly concerns.

Syn: Insensibility; unfeelingness; indifference; unconcern; stoicism; supineness; sluggishness.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Explore the Visual Thesaurus »Related Words for : apathy
indifference, spiritlessness

Main Entry: apathy
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: Lack of emotion or interest.
Synonyms: disinterest, impassivity, incuriosity, incuriousness, indifference, insensibility, insensibleness, lassitude, lethargy, listlessness, phlegm, stolidity, stolidness, unconcern, uninterest, unresponsiveness

A friend of mine (who I met at the first church back in the 90's) is now attending the church that did absolutely NOTHING in the effort to pass Proposition 8. Such a decision by that church may not be considered wrong. Such a decision by that church may not have mattered much (in their minds). Such a decision may not have even been considered "apathetic" by some. But to me? It was a huge disappointment. Such a decision by that church, for me, was the "clincher" to knowing that it wasn't the right place for our family to call our new church home.

I saw their inaction and un-involvement on this crucial issue as a mistake. You may not agree with me on this, but to me, it was a huge error on the part of the pastors.

I know. I am guilty of judging. But that is OK - according to God's Word we are to "judge rightly."

Luk 12:57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?

Jhn 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

1Cr 6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

1Cr 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

If the huge amount of PRAYER first and foremost, effort by pastors, individuals, and voters, as well as all of the treasure spent on the passage of Proposition 8 didn't happen, then what would have been the result?

Faith without works is dead. I think that the Proposition 8 issue was a perfect example of faith and works - working together. Work is an action word...not an apathetic word.

I am seeing lots of apathy on the part of some Christians regarding the Obama citizenship issue. So be it. But please don't frown upon those of us who are actively supporting, pursuing information, and sharing that information on the 40 plus lawsuits already in the works to get to the truth of the matter.

I applaud all of the lawyers who are working tirelessly to get to the bottom of this issue. I don't need to go into detail - much of it has already been posted here at this blog. I would just ask that those of you who have written to me, objecting to my posting on this issue to recognize that there are MILLIONS of people who are now aware of this potential threat to our Constitution.

Think of it this way. You know how people tend to "pick and choose" what to believe from the Bible and so live their lives in a pseudo-Christian type of way? What is at stake when that happens?

Answer: True, genuine salvation. Jesus told us, "you MUST be born again." Pseudo-Christianity isn't going to save you.

I submit to you today, that the same (on a lesser scale, mind you) is true about our nation and it's Founding Documents. When we drift away from the truth, wisdom, integrity and loyalty to what the Founders' and Framers put into our Constitution and other founding documents, then the erosion of all that our nation was originally built upon will get worse and worse...until our Constitutional Republic is unrecognizable anymore.

I, for one, don't want to just sit back and let this to happen. Not without a fight.

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Eph 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.


Eph 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,


Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.


Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord [is].



With God's help and our WORK - if it be His will to save us from this downward spiral into the cesspool of spiritual, moral, intellectual, and physical oblivion - then as Christ Followers, we are to do all that we can while we occupy this earth. To sit back in apathy, would be a huge error.

Christine

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[Something strange just happened. I attempted to put quotes around the "apathy" definition, and some of my post was zapped! Maybe God edited it?? It's a mystery...]

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” [often attributed to Edmund Burke - but some say it isn't his quote]

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
- Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents (1770)

Quotes about apathy:

By far the most dangerous foe we have to fight is apathy - indifference from whatever cause, not from a lack of knowledge, but from carelessness, from absorption in other pursuits, from a contempt bred of self satisfaction.
-William Osler

A university professor set an examination question in which he asked what is the difference between ignorance and apathy. The professor had to give an A+ to a student who answered: I dont know and I dont care.
-Richard Pratt

Apathy is a sort of living oblivion.
-Horace Greeley

Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand.
-Bodie Thoene