Question

I saw in one of your articles that you maintain that the prohibition of “do not place a stumbling block” does not apply with respect to a secular person. How does that fit with what the Talmud says [Avodah Zarah 22b], that it is forbidden to rent a field to a Cuthean because of “do not place a stumbling block,” and from this the Mishnah Berurah [243:2] derived that the same prohibition applies to an apostate as well? According to your view, the Talmud has formally binding authority.
And regarding your actual claim: ostensibly, the Torah’s command concerning faith means that every person, if he weighs things with straightforward reason, should arrive at that conclusion. Otherwise, what sense does such a command make? If he believes, he believes anyway; if he does not believe, a command will not help. And from the fact that we see many people who do not believe, according to this we are forced to assume that it comes from their desires [conscious and unconscious], worldview, arrogance, and the like—and not from their intellect.
Therefore, we do not find in the literature such a possibility as the one you suggest—an apostate who is not committing a transgression. Rather, every person is called to account: “How did you not recognize the truth?” And all his actions that result from this lack of genuine clarification—he is called to account for them.