I was gonna say "deist" also.

I guess a polytheist might acknowledge that there are gods outside of his/her pantheon. I mean, just because I pray to Gaia does not necessarily mean that I don't believe in Badb. I'm just not inclined to worship her. But I honestly can't think of a single word that covers that, aside from "disinterested".

What is Terry Pratchett said about witches/wizards and gods? That the witches & wizards acknowledge the existence of gods, but don't believe in them, because it would be like believing in a tree or a rock - they're just there (and it's no good to start paying them attention anyway, they might get a big head about it, troublesome creatures that they are)?

I was gonna say "deist" also.

Deist works.

The founding fathers were deist.

Deism seems to be more about the nature of god than the nature of the believer.

Calli--I was thinking like you were. I might be a devotee of Apollo and pay little attention to Aphrodite, although I certainly know she exists.

Non-practicing seems the closest so far, but it seems weird to put the label of Christian, say, anywhere near someone who doesn't view the whole thing with any reverence.

Yeah, Deist has a more specific meaning, so when people use it to mean something general, my pedantometer twitches.

Sort of depends on your definition of "worship," though -- deists on the whole don't (I think) think that God wants worshipping, but they may well pray and, er, respect.

There are some forms of Satanism which require belief in God but emphatically don't worship Him. Does that count?

*For me*, atheism is less about "there is no god" and more about "I do not believe in god." And maybe that distinction is part of the divide between the more evangelically-oriented atheists and the not-interested atheists. I have no need or desire to convince anyone of anything; I know what I do and do not believe, and I know that I didn't come to (or come to articulate) those beliefs lightly. That's

I think, think that is the distinction between a 'hard athiest' and a 'soft athiest'.

Non-practicing seems the closest so far, but it seems weird to put the label of Christian, say, anywhere near someone who doesn't view the whole thing with any reverence.

I feel like in this country there are a lot of - I don't know what you'd call it, default Christians? People who have their kids baptized, because it's what you do, and they may go to church on Christmas and Easter, because it's what you do, and they may never have even thought about it beyond that.

For that matter, there are also a fair number of people I know who are and who identify as Jewish, but do not observe the sabbath or dietary laws, etc.

There's a much bigger element of tradition in it than faith, sometimes.