Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic, Mississippi Synod

Statement of Beliefs:

Agnosticism is a legitimate religious belief. We do not know because we cannot know. The ultimate truth about the existence of a Supreme Being is unknowable. Recognizing this, we can free ourselves from a fruitless search and, indeed, no longer care about answering the question. The basic tenants of our religion are summed up in our Articles of Faith.

Articles of Faith:

1. The existence of a Supreme Being is unknown and unknowable. To believe in the existence of a god is an act of faith. To believe in the nonexistence of a god is likewise an act of faith. There is no evidence that there is a Supreme Being, nor is there evidence there is not a Supreme Being. Faith is not knowledge. We can only state with assurance that we do not know.

2. If there is a Supreme Being, then that being appears to act as if apathetic to events in our universe. All events in our Universe, including its creation, can be explained with or without the existence of a Supreme Being. Thus, if there is indeed a God, then that god has had no more impact than no god at all. To all appearances, any purported Supreme Being is indifferent to our Universe and to its inhabitants.

3. We are apathetic to the existence or nonexistence of a Supreme Being. If there is a God, and that God does not appear to care, then there is no reason to concern ourselves with whether or not a Supreme Being exists, nor should we have any interest in satisfying the purported needs of that Supreme Being.

A brief history of The Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic

The Universal Church Triumphant of the Apathetic Agnostic was founded in 1996. Initially it was a single page on the founder's personal web page comprised of the church's name, the three Articles of Faith, and the disclaimer found as a footnote to the current main menu. There were no thoughts at that time that the web site would grow, nor that the Church would actually have a membership, not to mention the estimated 5,000 who have joined over the years. Rather, the page was intended as a light-hearted presentation of John Tyrrell's personal religious beliefs.

The roots of the church go back further. In 1965 while a student at The Royal Military College of Canada, John Tyrrell first used "I don't know and I don't care" to describe his understanding of god, and shortly thereafter thought of Apathetic Agnosticism as a name for this doctrine. (No claim for originality is made here. Several other individuals have been encountered over the years who independently have made the same linkage of the motto to the term Apathetic Agnostic.) Since that time, John has used Apathetic Agnostic to describe his personal religious conviction. In creating the church's first site, ironic terminology was deliberately chosen in selecting the overblown name of the church and in calling the first exposition of the church's doctrine "Articles of Faith." In spite of the church developing a serious side over the years, these terms are retained to remind us to laugh at ourselves as well as others.