Atheist ‘Church’ Launches In Usa

[naomi24]

Atheists – what do you think of this? Do you feel the need for a sense of community - or to 'Come Out' as an atheist?

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/global-mission-atheist-church-launches-in-usa-8708733.html

Personally, I abhor the way in which this appears to be emulating Christianity. These people don't speak for me.

[emmie]

sure the Americans, God Bless America, will love it, or not. They don't speak for me either...

[Gromit]

I do not think, as British, this makes any sense to us, and I doubt it will catch on here. The decline in christian worship we have seen in the UK has never really happened in the States. And the church is a community meeting pount once a week. So a non religious alternative to that would work there.

The church ceased long ago to be a focal in our communities. That became the pub, but that is also declining. An athiest 'church' holds no answers for the British.

[naomi24]

Gromit, it started here. It has now spread to the US.

Looking at it from another angle, atheism is frowned upon even more in the US than in this country, so from that point of view perhaps this will encourage people who are reluctant to speak out to find the courage to do so. I could think of more well-constructed platforms though. This is an embarrassment and I would imagine that thinking atheists would deem this structure to be an insult to their intelligence. I do.

[emmie]

its possible that some don't care for religion in USA, at least going on this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreligion_in_the_United_States

[jomifl]

I suppose it would give some people a place to go on a sunday without having to pretend that they are christians. What they are going to do the rest of the week I can't imagine. Friday has been monopollsed by muslims but that still leaves Wiccans, Buddhists, Taoists, Sikhs, Hindus etc. oh and Satanists, do they have a special day of the week.

[douglas9401]

I heard the bearded one interviewed on PM a few weeks ago. It all came across as another Mumsnet style organisation for people who just HAVE to be saying something about nothing in particular to anyone who'll listen.
Sanderson and Pippa, there it is in a nutshell.

[naomi24]

Douglas, the thought that this dumbed-down nonsense could become the recognised face of atheism is rather alarming. I find the steely and determined jaws of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens far more attractive.

[Khandro]

jomifl; I can't speak for the others, but for the "Buddhists,[&] Taoists," you mention, every moment is special.

[keyplus90]

Didn't I always said that no belief in god itself is another belief. Welcome aboard.

[keyplus90]

Didn't I always said..............................What is happening to my grammar. Ramazan I think.

[naomi24]

Keyplus, //Didn't I always said that no belief in god itself is another belief. Welcome aboard. //

You did - and you are still mistaken. There is no belief - and there is no 'aboard'. These people have set up their own little club - not to be confused with intelligent atheism.

[modeller]

It's the word 'church ' I don't like . It implies a religion of some sort .
Atheism is not a religion ! It is not a belief ! We have AB atheists but we don't have a common belief in something.

I doubt if the Atheist Church will be a lasting success because it lacks a common interest that many people can relate to. Just being a social club
isn't enough, there's plenty of them , most of whom struggle to survive.

[woofgang]

love it...atheists now have other atheists to argue with!

[LazyGun]

I was not especially keen on the London Atheist "Church" - It does not appeal to me. Those who favour religion often talk about the communal and cohesive benefits of an assembly of like minded individuals and I get that for some people that sense of community can be important - but why does it need to be centred around non-belief in a deity? Non-belief seems a rather strange and frankly rather trivial centre to build a cohesive community around.

And it does rather play into the hands of believers, like Keyplus, who continue to assert that atheism is merely another form of belief, especially when they ape the prevailing religious custom of weekly Sunday morning meetings.

All in all, not a positive move, and I hope something of a fad that will fizzle out.

[FredPuli43]

I don't mind that. Birds of a feather flock together. I go to the Festival of Lessons and Carols for the Ungodly at Christmas. It is just a fun event with comedians and scientists and singers, with a little amount of digs at organised religion and Christianity, which is fine by me.

Can well understand that atheists feel the benefit of a meeting of like minds and experiences; so do alcoholics, in AA meetings

[missnemesis]

So not only are the athiests more intelligent than the theists, they are now also more intelligent than each other!

Talk about having a superiority complex.

[jim360]

Yes, and no religion fancies itself as being superior to all the others...

[chrisgel]

This has already happened in a way on Youtube where some of the high profile atheist posters thought that it would be a good idea to start a new movement called "Atheism+". The + part being social issues such as feminism etc.
A ridiculous idea since the only thing atheists have in common is a non-belief in god/gods and their political beliefs may be so disparate that they will never ever agree on any other subject.
I suppose it's because they like to "belong".

[pixie373]

Keyplus - just the opposite-it is a lack of belief

[LazyGun]

I agree with Chrisgel really. No need to try and conflate and graft issues onto Atheism - If you want a kind of expanded secular rationalist viewpoint, then Humanist organisations probably fit that sort of bill.

And I go to the Carols for the Ungodly at Xmas too - Not last xmas but the one before anyways, at UCL Theatre - but not so much because I wanted to experience a sense of community with fellow atheists, but more because I wanted to enjoy the humour and songs :)