Skeptic Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 I found out today that there is an atheist church: http://firstchurchofatheism.com/ I'm not sure if atheist churches are a good idea. To me, it seems like it gives believers more evidence that atheism is a religion and it isn't. I'd rather there be more UU churches instead of just a church for atheists. That even sounds weird to me, atheist church, because atheism isn't a religion. It's like a club for people who don't collect stamps. This is just my opinion, though. If you go to an atheist church and you like it, then that's great and I'm happy for you. It's great that there are more places for atheists, especially ex-xians, to build a community like believers do. My question is, why can't we do this at a UU church instead of making one for ourselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Summersong Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 I found out today that there is an atheist church: http://firstchurchofatheism.com/ I'm not sure if atheist churches are a good idea. To me, it seems like it gives believers more evidence that atheism is a religion and it isn't. I'd rather there be more UU churches instead of just a church for atheists. That even sounds weird to me, atheist church, because atheism isn't a religion. It's like a club for people who don't collect stamps. This is just my opinion, though. If you go to an atheist church and you like it, then that's great and I'm happy for you. It's great that there are more places for atheists, especially ex-xians, to build a community like believers do. My question is, why can't we do this at a UU church instead of making one for ourselves? I don't know that I like that they're calling it a "church". There's other ways to build community... there's secular humanist groups, etc. I know of one in my city that meets on Sunday mornings. At least it looks like they're just interested in ordaining non-religous people to perform clergy functions... I was looking for some kind of building. What kind of hymns would they sing? LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looking4Answers Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 If you read their About page you find out about how they got started. One of the things that prompted this (for them) was getting married. They wanted someone to officiate over the wedding and so they found some liberal ordained minister. Even so, the liturgy of the wedding was still full of references to deity. So by creating an "atheist church" they can "ordain" people who can then perform weddings and other functions that are normally left to the religiously ordained. Its pretty funny, actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKR Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 If you read their About page you find out about how they got started. One of the things that prompted this (for them) was getting married. They wanted someone to officiate over the wedding and so they found some liberal ordained minister. Even so, the liturgy of the wedding was still full of references to deity. So by creating an "atheist church" they can "ordain" people who can then perform weddings and other functions that are normally left to the religiously ordained. Its pretty funny, actually. You can get certified to do weddings without being part of a church. Churches have absolutely nothing to do with the legalities of marriage. I don't care for the name "Atheist church" for the same reason as the OP stated, but really, so what? What are they gonna do about it? Nothing. Christians are just going to believe it anyways and it doesn't hurt us, so they can just suck it. If they think we're a religion, then they shouldn't mind if we get tax exemptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Genesis Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I agree with AKR that some Christians are going to think atheism is a religion no matter what we do, so who cares what they think? I personally like the idea of having a more secular friendly church-like environment for non-religious to go to. I think the church in general was a good concept but it gets corrupted by dogmatism and out-dated superstitions. While having more UU churches might be nice, some atheists might feel uncomfortable attending a church that's still made with being pro-supernatural in mind and might feel like they're leeching off the ultra-liberal churches. It's sort of like why we have sites like ex-c instead of us just leeching off of liberal Christian forums. Perhaps it would be better if they went with a different name like Secular Humanist Community or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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