Interesting. I've thought that there should be some kind of secular humanist church for a while now. When leaving religion the worst thing for me was the lack of fellowship. It is very comforting to know that most Sundays I'll see my friends at church and quite often make plans to hang out after church. Now that I've been worshiping atheos, there is nothing like that, except these forums, but it is hard to ring up anyone here to go to the local brewhouse for a pint.
For me it makes sense that we could have a place to meet on Sundays and maybe throw concerts or have readings from atheist blogs or books. Instead of Sunday school to teach dogma and religious stories there could be classes on fallacies, logic, philosophy, or basic critical thinking. One great thing that church provides is a place to leave ones kids for a bit while you take a break listening to some preacher. Another important function of a church is networking; it can't be stressed enough that when competing in the marketplace it is very advantageous to be lined up with a religion to make business connections and be afforded breaks due to shared belief. Many religions take care of their own and atheists simply lack that support structure.
For me it makes sense that we could have a place to meet on Sundays and maybe throw concerts or have readings from atheist blogs or books. Instead of Sunday school to teach dogma and religious stories there could be classes on fallacies, logic, philosophy, or basic critical thinking. One great thing that church provides is a place to leave ones kids for a bit while you take a break listening to some preacher. Another important function of a church is networking; it can't be stressed enough that when competing in the marketplace it is very advantageous to be lined up with a religion to make business connections and be afforded breaks due to shared belief. Many religions take care of their own and atheists simply lack that support structure.
