my daughter gets married soon and its in a church. i've made it a policy not to enter religious buildings as i don't believe and i'm not a hypocrite.
she's ok with it but her fiance's family are making life difficult. i will not go into a church.. therefore the question.
am i being a bit silly?
I attended my son's wedding in a church. There are no religious buildings it was built to house religious rituals, but that obviously doesn't imbue it with special significance. I see religious buildings as just another building full of people with weird beliefs. They're just like any other public building.
I don't attend religious services, but I am glad I was there for my son's wedding.
Please don't miss your daughter's wedding because it's happening in a church. A church is just a store where they sell something they can't prove exists. You won't be forced to buy anything, but you'll regret not being a part of this super important moment in your daughter's life, and it could taint your relationship with her forever. Your policy is not worth that.
Are you there to "worship" or support your friend?
Attend your daughter's wedding. A church is brick and mortar, just a building.
A wedding is special to all who attend. Please don't miss the celebration because of principle.
By not going you would give credence to their "values". However, now you're free. Do what you bloody well feel like.
It's your Daughter. Don't be a dumbass. Supporting your family is more important. You're not being asked to preach a sermon or dedicate your life to silly nonsense. Not going because of "Religious difference" will make you look like douche. Make the smart choice and go to the wedding.
I think refusing to go to a wedding in a church or a funeral in a church because you are an atheist is a misplaced concern. By refusing to go to the wedding because it is in a church also looks a bit like you are attempting to pressure your daughter to get married somewhere else. It's your daughter's wedding and it should be however she wants it. Go and enjoy it.
Speaking as a daughter and an atheist, you should go. You will definitely regret it if you don't and not too sound mean (or trollish), the fact that you're asking means that you know you probably should.
I've been to churches since I've removed the blindfold of religion and it doesn't bother me. It doesn't make me a hypocrite and I don't lie if it comes up. And yes, I've told ministers that I am an atheist. None of them ever batted an eyelid either.
The first time I went into a church as an atheist, I expected the walls to start dripping with blood LOL Seriously though, just go and enjoy her big day. She'll love you even more knowing that you made an exception to 'no church' just for her. ??
I cannot say you are being silly if a church building bothers you; i can only say it wouldn't bother me, and i have never been a christian, and have been an atheist for half a century. i don't know whether telling you how i feel about it will help, but i'll tell you in case it does, and hope for the best ) you are allowed to rethink your promise to yourself on this basis: a church is a building. to you it represents religion, and that is what it usually represents, but it doesn't have to threaten you. it's just a building. if there is no god, you're not walking in the shadow of a god by entering the building. to me christianity is getting worse and worse, more and more intrusive, not only into the lives of nonbelievers but into the lives of other-believers, and interfering in american politics to a disgusting extent. however, if i were in london, i would definitely visit the parish church of st. martin-in-the-fields at about 12:45 on a weekday, since that church has wonderful chamber music concerts, free for anyone who shows up before 1:05 (and the pews fill up fast). i have been to churches and synagogues (and on beaches!) to see friends and relatives get married. i wasn't injured, i didn't feel as if i was tacitly accepting the religion or the deity of the place of worship involved (i didn't turn into a mermaid on the beach either) and i hope i made my friends and relatives happy by being there. so regarding your promise, i think you were promising yourself something different from what you thought you were. you did not want to enter religious buildings -- but buildings cannot be religious. if you do not believe in a religion, then you do not believe in the sanctity of a mere building, even if it is used for religious purposes. you are therefore not being a hypocrite entering such a building for a purpose that has nothing to do with your worship of a god, and will not make you appear to worship a god. you know, and everyone else will know, that your presence isn't about that, but, rather, about witnessing the happiness of your daughter and your son-in-law. (keeping good relations with his family, without compromising yourself, is a good thing, too!)
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Why mpt? It's just a building and if you don't believe in a creator then what it said should not bother you. I mean it's not your wedding ceremony. Right?
I have no problems attending weddings, funerals or other events in religious houses just spare me the sermon.