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Are you still involved in highly religious settings despite no longer being a believer?

Last year I decided to revisit an old hobby of mine. Some background: From about 2011-2014 I was a Ukrainian folk dancer and loved doing it. In 2014 my newly acquired talent was ended abruptly due to a dispute and lack of dancers to join the ensemble (the dance ensemble was sponsored by the church and this was before I was no longer a god-believer). This occurrence in particular crushed me, I felt like I never reached my full potential and there were no nearby dance ensembles that I could join. As a result, my already prevalent depression only grew worse and by 2017 I had gained 103 pounds. After gaining the upper hand over the depression, I started to lose all of the weight--losing about 10-16 pounds on average each month with a new diet, exercise, and a caloric deficit. Seeing that I was finally taking some steps to make my life better, my grandfather (possibly one of my best friends who has always been there for me. He also was the one to introduced me to the dancing. Also a closet atheist) told me that he had met a dance instructor last summer and that he had his business card. Of course I was very excited about this. So we decided to go together and meet the instructor and ended up joining the ensemble and they even ended up moving the ensemble to that same church that I used to practice in.
Now to the point, I basically go to a church 2-3 times a week but it is not for religious reasons. Plus it is impossible to find a ensemble in my culture that doesn't operate out of a church. Sometimes they have dance events that make me feel incredibly awkward since they sometimes have many religious invocations. I constantly feel torn because of all of this. Any advice? How about you? Do you have any similar situations?

AustinSkepticus 7 Sep 13
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26 comments (26 - 26)

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I go to church with my wife every Sunday and also to church functions, etc. I keep my mouth closed. I bow my head for prayer time ( I think of it as meditation time). I am like a visitor each Sunday. My wife is a member but I am not. How much hypocrisy is one person allowed?
If were you, I wouldn't spend much time worrying. Just do your thing and let it go.
Remember the adage, "When in Rome, do as the Romans".Think of yourself as a visitor.

When people pray I usually stand or sit in silence while they do their thing, but I don't bow my head. Not interrupting them seem fair enough--it is their building after all.

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