Agnostic.com
9 8

Just trying to build up some points here to get to that level 3, so listen up.
When attending a meetup for non-believers, I found that many of the attendees did not realize that the Unitarian Universalist church is accepting of and supportive of non-believers, atheists and agnostics. Some have Sunday services that are devoted to those beliefs. Most are also very supportive of the LGBTQ community answell as the homeless population so attending there might be a good connection to get closer to those groups.
Just sayin.
Danny

dannydreamer 5 Feb 4
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1

I once belonged to a UU church, was on the Board of Trustees for 3 years, and found it a very welcoming place. There was a sense that the Pastor, himself, was an atheist, as I was, and had been since childhood.
I joined the UUA because my then wife, a "Fallen Away" Catholic wanted our child to b raised in a church context.

BirdMan1 Level 8 July 28, 2020
1

How could you have an atheist church service? Atheism isn’t a belief, it’s a rejection of a claim. It’s not possible to have an atheistic church service. Maybe you didn’t realize that you were saying that. I’m all for supporting equality and equal protection under the law but there is no belief system required to support those things. I truly believe that the charitable atheists are among the best of us all because they give because they want to not because they are scared of being tortured for eternity. Eternity...what a loving father..eternal torture and eternal praise and worship sound equally horrific to me. Thank god its bullshit. V

Well, V, thanks for your feedback. I didn't mean to imply that it was a service per se. Probably more of a gathering and discussion of similar beliefs. I think Sophilang said it pretty well if you read her post.
Also, there was no threat of torture for eternity in any UU service that I attended. UU"s are free thinkers. Maybe you ought you try attending once just to get a flavor for what they are about.

2

I was a member of a UU church for years, and I've been an atheist for a long time. There were people of every stripe there, and our minister was gay. In fact, she was one of the people who purposefully went to jail for marrying gay people in New York. If you're curious, her name is Kay Greenleaf of the the Poughkeepsie, NY congregation. She's a hero. There were lots of non-believers, pagans, traditional religious people. Sermons were typically about social issues, relationships, celebrations, sometimes from the bible or other holy book, but not always.

sophilang Level 4 Mar 8, 2020

Wow, Sophilang, that sounds like a special place How come you stopped going? In my experience, It's usually because the minister was changed. Is Kay still in jail?
Danny

Whoops, I see that she's passed. Shame. She is a hero.

Danny

@dannydreamer I moved away from that area 15 years ago, and I didn't even know that she passed. Thanks for the update. I tried other UU churches in my new area, but they didn't thrill me. There's no dogma in any UU church; it's really more of a meeting place for people with deeper and broader things on their mind and in their lives. People who like to ask questions and are not afraid of the potential answers.

@sophilang You're welcome, Sophielang. That's a great description of the UU community. Every church is an adventure. I wish the UU's in St. Pete were more supportive of the LGBTQ community like I saw down in Fort Myers. The direction and vitality of each church is very dependent on the minister.

0

Have at it !

xlog Level 2 Feb 15, 2020
2

Been to a couple UU services but frankly, it feels a little too churchy. I might like the community but not the services.

We have an Ethical Humanist Society here too. They also are somewhat structured like a church. Services and Sunday school, but not religion based. It seems they are trying to fill a Sunday morning void.

Here, have a couple points.

That's the spirit, Itsme!
Yeah, it's a church. They run church activities like you'd expect and I'm sure there is some kind of tything going on.
The one thing they have is participation. In some of these non-believer groups such as meetups, it's hard to get a critical mass (no pun intended) for a decent meeting. It's tough trying to get along underground!

@dannydreamer True and I am ever thankful that we have the Internet, so we can find more of "our kind".

I do belong to a couple meetups around here.

@itsmedammit Yes. The internet and google maps are game-changers. What Meetups do you attend? How and why did you coin the name itsmedammit?

@dannydreamer There are a couple of Atheist or Freethinker Meetups in the area, north of Chicago that I attend. There are ones in Chicago, too, but those are too far for most days. There are a couple of Humanist groups too.

Nothing really special about the name. Just something that came to mind. Been thinking of changing actually, because it sort of sounds like there is more drama than there really is.

Hi Itsme, we have an ethical humanist society too, but the closest one to me is a bit far. It wasn't really structured except for their book discussions, but fussy me wasn't into that either. The UU churches in my new area are a little on the dogmatic side because there is a pretty high concentration of christian churches (and poverty, lack of education, violence, etc) in the 2 main cities here. I think they're trying to function as some kind of "bridge," if you will. Familiar enough for the locals to give it a try without seeming too liberal.

0

I walked into a Unitarian Church and they asked me to introduce myself. I told them I was an atheist ordained minister. After the service I could not believe how many walked up and told me they were atheist! They pretty much ssid as a whole that they were there for the community. In other words they openly admmitted that they went there for social reasons. The church did do many community service projects but did not push religion!

Thanks for sharing that, David. That will be helpful to some who are inclined to have that kind of community.
Danny

3

It's an odd Christianity but what the heck.

You'll race up the first few levels without breaking into a sweat.

brentan Level 8 Feb 4, 2020

Kinda Christian based, but most that I have met claim to be "spiritual".

1

As an agnostic I can go to any church and not believe but I guess it's nice to know that one of them would welcome me to come and not believe with them. It also all seems a bit pointless, but nice to know.

piphirho Level 7 Feb 4, 2020

Well if you're interested in social justice, then a UU church is a hotbed of action for causes. War, AIDS, gay marriage, immigration, homelessness, etc... Then they have certain ceremonies that are just kind of cool, for example the water ceremony. Not holy water. At the end of the summer, the participants bring a little sample of water from somewhere they had visited and tell a story about their experience. Usually a vacation spot.

3

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