Church for atheists...

[downbeatplumb]

Yeah i totally agree. We should start one. All it is is a sports bar where people gather on saturdays and sundays for football. Both kinds folks.

Football eh, include me out.

[Ervin]

Over here in Melbourne they used to catch up once a month at the Unitarian church.

Thanks

[DeistPaladin]

My proposal:

Church of Reason
"Because freethinkers need community too"

Purpose: To provide all the social benefits of religion, including a setting for ceremonies such as weddings and funerals, without any of the ancient superstition or strict dogma.

We believe:

1. ...that we exist in a natural universe, governed by predictable laws and best understood through science and reason.

2. ...that morality is measured in how we treat our fellow sentient beings.

3. ...that meaning is derived from the difference we make in this life in our service to one another and in our efforts to create a more rational world.

4. ...in the separation of church and state.

Discuss?

[OnlyNatural]

I think it's a great idea, though I also agree that not all atheists share the same philosophy, beyond rejecting belief in god. There may be nihilistic atheists or Marxist atheists or Humanist atheists.

I like the idea of a Secular Humanist community, but that's just because of own philosophy.

[Minimalist]

Discuss?

No collection plate?

[muhtesem insan]

You can not found enough common grounds for atheists to form a organization. Atheism is just rejecting the idea of god. Nothing more.

I've commented before to my roommate that the plethora of churches around us seems to stem from the fact that while Christians have the common ground of believing in Christ, they have WAY too many shades and hues to their faith. You don't like one church? Go to another.

I'm sure if someone wanted to start an "atheist church", you could find enough people with enough OTHER things in common besides a lack of belief in gods to make an organization of some sort. The godless-volleyball-lovers-egg-hating-cat-owners association even.

We're on this forum because the vast majority of us want a place where we can feel safe from being preached to. I don't necessarily have that safety depending on which group I join here in the Bible Belt.

Yes, there are different shades of a religion. Some of them enjoy(ed) killing each other (Protestans vs Catholics, Sunnis vs Shiites...etc) but they still have some common grounds.
And this is what makes ateism superior, It doesn't have guidelines. It doesn't make claims. Take Karl Marx and Ayn Rand for instance, can two person be farther away? But still they're both atheists.

[thesummerqueen]

Yes, there are different shades of a religion. Some of them enjoy(ed) killing each other (Protestans vs Catholics, Sunnis vs Shiites...etc) but they still have some common grounds.
And this is what makes ateism superior, It doesn't have guidelines. It doesn't make claims. Take Karl Marx and Ayn Rand for instance, can two person be farther away? But still they're both atheists.

What I'm saying is that if you look at it from the perspective of "we're a bunch of people who don't want to be preached to, here's our little 'sanctuary'," you could very well build a gathering place based on that.

Opposite to what I described as far as the churches, in both of the synagogues I went to there was a very wide difference of opinions as far as beliefs amongst the age groups and different families, but they all housed themselves in the same building under the label "jew".

[shrugs] just depends on how you look at it.

[Rhizomorph13]

Thanks for the input everyone, it seems to me that most people here see the value in a meeting place for the non-religious and get why I made the post.
Some of you have pointed out the problems that would beset such a place, namely the fact that there would be no clear dogma or agreed on set of principles to guide the "church". I liked DeistPaladin's list of belief statements and the meeting place would certainly need something akin to the doctrines and covenant's associated with churchs. Min pointed out the need for a collection plate, of course, that would be a necessary thing to maintain a non-profit organization such as this, OR it could just be set up as an LLC with profitable ventures collected around the community hub and a percentage of the rents go to fund the center. There could be all the accoutraments of other churches like, a gym, meeting rooms, class schedules and the like that would cost a small fee. So, membership would allow admission with the meetings being free to recruit new members.

I would want to set it up as pro community; there would be no atheist requirement to hang out there, much like churches allow non-members to go to their outings and meetings. I am not an anti-theist and feel strongly that anti-theism is just as destructive as fundamental christianity to our society.

What should the name of the center be though? I certainly wouldn't want to call it a church. I was thinking that Atheist Community Hub, or something like that.

[downbeatplumb]

How about the church of "do as you would be done by"