...(Atheistic irony)

[Cinjin]

Allow me to ask these questions and your response will answer tons of questions I have about Atheists' meetings. What do you all do every single sunday? Do you have "rituals" (not like killing goats or have candles lit while you chant ancient languages), I mean stuff that you do every weekend? Or do you just play it by ear. Is there an echelon of leaders or is everyone equal? Then there's the flip side to this, do you just come together in nonorganized fashion as friends who share beliefs and play cards, drink beer, watch football and sometimes talk about religion, Atheism, Agnosticism, Freethinking etc...?

First of all. It's nothing like church. Usually between 20 and 30 of us gather in an informal circle. The person who runs it is just the man who represents the organization of free-thinkers that brought all of us together by way of the internet. We have a guest speaker each week. Speakers range from college professors to atheist writers to local scientists and national lecturers who happen to be in town and want to kill a sunday morning. The speaker usually only speaks for 15 or 20 minutes and this is followed by a lengthy group discussion. "Preaching" is not something you would ever get at one of these meetings. Topics range a great deal. There's actually very little "god-bashing" and much of the discussions turn to societal issues and the like. It's quite a collection of intellectual minds and the perspicacity with which many of them speak makes it somewhat of an elite group. It's not for everybody, but I can't get enough.