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Atheist Churches

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Kate87

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The obvious aping of Christian religious services in the structure, the musical sing-alongs, etc is ridiculous. The lack of a more specific viewpoint than "atheism" is a crippling defect; as several people point out in the article, some particular ideology will undoubtedly surface for this particular church.

By far the most interesting part to me is the 'sermon' described in the article: "in his closing sermon, Jones speaks about how the death of his mother influenced his own spiritual journey and determination to get the most out of every second, aware that life is all too brief and nothing comes after it."

This type of gather does provide one potentially very valuable activity: sharing personal experiences of grappling with death and with life's big questions with other people who don't look to religion. This is particularly helpful for people who don't really have any other nonreligious people among their close friends. Much more so than simply celebrating that we're all enlightened atheists, or feeding into an atheist persecution complex, this kind of personal, nonreligious confrontation of the human experience could be very rewarding, it seems to me. Why it has to be on Sunday morning in a church format is baffling.

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There's already a place for those who want the social experience and other trappings of a church, but not necessarily the religion: Unitarianism. Many UU members self-identify as atheists. Which does not imply, of course, that they are guaranteed to be committed to rationality.

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There's already a place for those who want the social experience and other trappings of a church, but not necessarily the religion: Unitarianism. Many UU members self-identify as atheists. Which does not imply, of course, that they are guaranteed to be committed to rationality.

Like I said in another post, I'd rather go with Lutheranism, the church that worships Luther Vandross. What use is a joke, if you don't drive it into the ground?

Edited by Nicky
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I have attended both Unitarian gatherings and naturalist groups in the past. I spent the whole time getting talked at by people who thought they were really profound.I had a guy call himself a "Voidist" at the unitarian church, and I had somone at the naturalist group tell me that "Capitalism isn't in the constitution" (As is I asked him his opinion on capitalism).

I agree Dante, there is value in sharing experiences with people. However neither community I attended was really good at it. It seemed like the unitarians and "naturalists" both had giant rods up their asses that made it hard for them to make emotional connections with others. There was just too much talk about religion and politics. What is ironic is that lefty spiritual people would love to claim that they are more in touch with their emotions, but I don't think that this is true at all.

Edited by Hairnet
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There's already a place for those who want the social experience and other trappings of a church, but not necessarily the religion: Unitarianism. Many UU members self-identify as atheists. Which does not imply, of course, that they are guaranteed to be committed to rationality.

You can always spot the UU churches. On their steeples you will see a thing that is shaped like this "?" and when they ring the bells the sound comes out like a question. However do not underestimate the UUs. If you get them ticked off they will come to your house and burn a question mark on your lawn.

ruveyn1

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