RE: Lack of "Connection" to something higher - is this holding atheism back?
February 25, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Thanks for the responses all,
@Rhythm: No, because book clubs and hobby workshops don’t create a sense of shared life purpose, not to mention the fact it has nothing to do with secularist viewpoints. A Christian can join a book club, an atheist can join a book club. A book club (or any other sort of hobby group) isn’t an alternative to religion.
People don't join religion just for the sense of awe. Like you implied, everyone can experience awe. It's the combination of awe, community, and shared purpose that attracts people to religion.
Why the talk about sinners and a desire for redemption? It’s irrelevant to the subject.
@ Epimethean:
@Insanity X:
Your first point is right- most atheists are too independent to want to join anything with a church-like structure. But it would be hard to argue that there aren't any agnostics and atheists who do desire a such a structure, albeit without the dogma and hierarchy.
Can you explain your second point further? I do not think an individual's desire for community or shared purpose were instilled by their religion in order to give the religion power. If that were the case, then we wouldn't have children of secularists or atheists joining religions.
@ leo-rcc: But that’s the problem- as we can see, works for you often doesn’t work for other people.
@Welsh cake: Yes! I would love to see people start thinking for themselves, which is why I pose this question. If emotional connection is the only thing holding people back from pondering and accepting reality, why haven’t we provided an alternative source of emotional connection which allows questioning and embraces reality?
@Rhythm: No, because book clubs and hobby workshops don’t create a sense of shared life purpose, not to mention the fact it has nothing to do with secularist viewpoints. A Christian can join a book club, an atheist can join a book club. A book club (or any other sort of hobby group) isn’t an alternative to religion.
People don't join religion just for the sense of awe. Like you implied, everyone can experience awe. It's the combination of awe, community, and shared purpose that attracts people to religion.
Why the talk about sinners and a desire for redemption? It’s irrelevant to the subject.
@ Epimethean:
@Insanity X:
Your first point is right- most atheists are too independent to want to join anything with a church-like structure. But it would be hard to argue that there aren't any agnostics and atheists who do desire a such a structure, albeit without the dogma and hierarchy.
Can you explain your second point further? I do not think an individual's desire for community or shared purpose were instilled by their religion in order to give the religion power. If that were the case, then we wouldn't have children of secularists or atheists joining religions.
@ leo-rcc: But that’s the problem- as we can see, works for you often doesn’t work for other people.
@Welsh cake: Yes! I would love to see people start thinking for themselves, which is why I pose this question. If emotional connection is the only thing holding people back from pondering and accepting reality, why haven’t we provided an alternative source of emotional connection which allows questioning and embraces reality?
