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If there were an atheist church (for lack of a better word) where the speaker holds up a bible and shouts about it being bullshit and loudly reads from it, pointing out its errors and inconsistencies and basically behaved with all the overblown histrionics of a Xian leader exactly like an evangelical minister does bu to denounce religion rather than promote it -- would you attend a service like that even if only out of curiosity?

I'm wondering if such a thing would find a receptive audience of heathens by emulating the sense of community that religion offers without all the Bronze Age superstition and magical deity crapola.

Because I'd go to check it out. Sounds like a hoot. I might even drop $5 in the plate or the box or however they'd collect donations.

Now, if such a thing existed, how long do you think it would take for some follower of Christ to go in and shoot up the place?

Sgt_Spanky 8 Dec 15
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27 comments

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8

Pass.
I'm good as is.

To paraphrase the immortal Groucho Marx,
I don't want to join any club which would have me as a member.

You'll always be welcome to come in and join us in song as we sing to the glory of no magic people in the sky. We also have no afterlife. In our church you just die!

Our 10 Commandments are gonna be more fun than most ppl can stand.

8

No, eating a shit sandwich doesn’t taste any better by simply flipping it over....

No but replacing the shit with something edible does. Religion is shit, truth and reason are a lot more digestible and probably lower in fat and calories.

@Sgt_Spanky some loud, self-absorbed pinhead pontificating on his “truth and reason” is just as unpalatable to me.

@Canndue Then you don't have tp join. We hold no malice toward those who choose not to become one with The Church of the Magical Way of the Alpha and the Omega or whatever it would be called.

@Sgt_Spanky no worries there. What symbol are you going to use?

@Canndue A tuna fish sandwich, maybe a 2014 smartphone, something random and meaningless.

@Sgt_Spanky ahh..gotta have style, how about a flip phone....meaningless, how about a cross or 6 point star or crescent moon....

5

Defining yourself by what you are not (Christian) feels good for a while, but it does not last long. You must define yourself by what you are.

5

I really don't need to tear someone else down to feel better about myself. I have better things to do than attend a meeting like the one you describe, but I can see where some people might

5

I'd go just to check it out. It'd been even better if it was televised on Sunday morning!!

Yeah! What she said!
Put that shit on tv on Sunday mornings!

[sundayassembly.online]

It would have to be recorded earlier in the week then broadcast on Sunday. No way do we get up early on a weekend in our church.

4

I give it a month for word of mouth to get around before it gets fire bombed.

Probably.

4

No.

skado Level 9 Dec 15, 2020

Oh ye of little imagination.

@Sgt_Spanky
um... that’s not the problem. If it works for you, knock yerself out.

3

I would probably show up once but my ethical standards don't believe in making fun of people with an illness.

Being irrational and/or superstitious isn't an illness, it's a choice. I was raised in ignorance and superstition and I chose to leave it behind. Xians choose to believe in a faith that invites derision and isn't worthy of respect.

@Sgt_Spanky I left it behind 4 years ago. It’s great to live without shame and guilt and be fake. I get a headache now when people start talking the bs

3

No. But I would attend something more affirmative rather than negative. I think it is a good thing to foster a sense of community, but not in reaction to religion.

A community gathering based on the ideas of "mutual aid" where it is encouraged as a value.

3

Boring! Atheists would need lots of alcohol, pot, snacks, sex, or some other draw to get them to come.

These would all be covered under our 10 Commandments. 👍

3

I would go! And you better have good security!
LMMFAO

We'd need it. The followers of Christ are usually pretty heavily armed being Republican and, y'know, crazy.

@Sgt_Spanky I’m not intimidated by clowns like this.

I have known 4 people who moved to NY from Southern States Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma and Tennessee. None of them lasted here for 3 or 4 years before they had to go back to where they came from. Only thing that makes these people tough or at least makes them feel so is their guns. They have no street smarts or ability to survive in a place like this.

2

I don’t need a church...never have, never will. Atheism is NOT a religion, and atheists do not need to ape any religion, or to read an instruction book to know how to live ethically and morally with our fellow humans. I do realise this post is tongue in cheek...so never let it be said that atheists have no sense of humour!

Do atheists make use of collected generational wisdom?

@skado I can only speak for myself..I had the benefit of the wisdom of my father and grandfather...both of whom were atheist and freethinking. My home was filled with books and I was encouraged to find out everything for myself through enquiry and discussion...my own sons were raised in a similar way.

@Marionville
OK so you're not opposed to all books, just some books.

@skado I’m not opposed to any books, quite the contrary I’m a bibliophile...I’m just not for taking one particular book and using it as a reference book for everything...I wouldn’t do that with any book, especially a work of fiction such as the Bible, the Koran or the Talmud. It’s akin to using using the Arabian Nights or Aesop’s Fables ...in fact they’d probably be more useful and more moral.

@Marionville
Thanks for clarifying. So you’re not opposed to making use of instruction books so long as it’s not limited to a single book. Is that a fair understanding of your position?

@skado yes...of course....the post was about the Bible was it not?

the similarity of Atheism to Fundamentalism has been fairly well documented, but you might contemplate your statement there (expressed as an Absolute Truth, no less, like a "believer" ), "Atheism is NOT a religion," to understand how religion forms in the first place, imo.

Now I mean no offense here, and i dunno if atheism is a religion or not, but after all you have come to a site named "agnostic" to insist upon your atheist perspective, right? Which don't get me wrong, free country, but i gotta ask which boxes you are not ticking for "religious?"

@bbyrd009 I’m also agnostic...and before you tell me I can’t be both...I am. I responded to the post in the way I did, as it was explicitly about an atheist church...not an agnostic one. As for the question...what boxes am I not ticking for religious...all of them. Atheism is not a belief it’s a disbelief...it’s the natural default position of all humans...prior that is to indoctrination or to be kind..a choosing to believe in the unknowable and unprovable. That to me lacks logic.

@Marionville
Yes, it was about the Bible, and churches, and community, and truth, and heathenism, and so on. But your comment didn't mention the Bible directly. It made reference to a more general category called "instruction books". So I just wondered if you were opposed to instruction books generally, or if you were just opposed to that specific one. And now you have clarified for me that neither is the case; you're just opposed to limiting instruction to a single book. That answers my question. Thanks.

I understand what you're saying, and I generally agree, although to be fair, I doubt very many Christians limit their reading to only the Bible. For me, the issue isn't whether we take instruction from the Bible or not, it's whether we understand the Bible to be a book of descriptive prose or a book of allegorical poetry.

@skado apparently some don't.

@skado I have no dispute with those who take instruction and live their life entirely by the the Bible or any other religious book...that is their business not mine. However, what I do object to is them telling me that I too should use it as a template for my life. As a book of descriptive prose or of allegorical poetry it is fine, some of it is indeed worth reading and memorising for its literary merit and certain wisdoms and beauty, however that is to cherrypick and disregard the other parts which completely contradict love, beauty and brotherhood, instead spewing hatred, death and destruction. On balance I believe it’s a dangerous book, mainly because it keeps people believing that they are not really in control of their own destinies and actions, that they are weak and sinful, and that this life is just a precursor for another one, making them value this life here and now, and themselves, less. Not believing in a greater being makes people stronger, encouraging them to stand on their own to face life and all that it throws at them, and not constantly appealing to an invisible being to help them. All we need as individuals is fellowship, friendship and love from fellow humans to feel fulfilled in life, supernatural beings are entirely superfluous, but I realise that others think differently, and would never impose my personal ethos on others.

@Marionville

Well all of that is maybe another discussion worth having, but here I was not questioning your views on Christians, but rather on atheists, when you said atheists do not need to read an instruction book to know how to live. I'm guessing they need such books as much as any other folks do.

2

I give it a month!

2

There are Satanic events that are basically that.

2

. . . Sunday Assembly

[sundayassembly.online]

I'd check this out if it were available here. I doubt I'd become a member but I'd sit in on a few "sermons."

1

I very much doubt that it would even be possible for them to get the building started if it was in the USA. They would hunt down all the people involved and lynch them. Don't even thing of it if you want to stay alive.

Sadly and given the some-what obvious mentality that seems to abound amongst so many Christians in the Untied States of Absurdity these days I have to agree with you 100%.

Accurate AF

1

I've often thought of Zen meditation as a non-religion that can replace religion. (There are no gods or angels or belief system.) But most Zen practitioners don't need a church. Although, some have a "Zendo" where they meet like-minded people.

1

Hypotethical over hypothetical equals more hypothetical bs.

I would not even waste my time.

1

Not interested a fool putting down religion. Faithfools believe some crazy stuff, and I can make fun of them.

1
1

Atheist/agnostic Jim Jones was known for "using religion to get people out of the opiate of religion " Then, kill over 900 followers.

[reddit.com]

Word Level 8 Dec 15, 2020
1

I've been to a secular humanist Jewish service, but the style of this particular Rabbi was boring.

I've also been to a number of Unitarian Church services at a congregation here, and atheists are welcomed. I have not sensed a particular atheist focus from this particular minister, some of the secular points they make seem worth thinking about.

kmaz Level 7 Dec 15, 2020
0

I wouldnt go. Waste of my time and around my part if the world would probably be a trap to lock us in and then burn it.

0

ha well i guess a Christian might, but a follower of Christ would never
i'd invite you to illustrate an error or inconsistency, and we might see, but after all that isnt really what you're after i guess

0

My time is far more important to me......

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