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Atheists Embrace Megachurch-Style Services

Guy Incognito said:
"Theism" is a general category. It's not wrong to refer to "theism" as a religion.

Not sure why this simple definitional matter is so difficult for people to understand.
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I disagree. Neither theism, nor atheism are correctly and fully defined by the the word "religion". They are much better defined by the words "belief/non-belief". Religion is much, much more complex than a simple belief/non-belief in deities. It involves, as the definition you quoted earlier clearly states, a set of religious attitudes and practices that both theism and atheism in their purest forms completely lack. I'll give you that some forms of atheism, such as militant atheism (New Atheism) tread dangerously close to religious territory, with some of the more extreme elements being so far gone as to make me question whether I want to continue labeling myself as an atheist for I have pretty much zero in common with them other than the lack of belief in deities.
 
Spriggs05 said:
Why would I want to go to church if i'm atheist? I have better things to do.
This Megachurch is just another form of religion creeping back into the lives of those who have abandoned it. Congrats Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans. :roll:
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Why would you care if they did? It's two comedians and absolutely no information on how many people attend and how often. so it seems to me that these condemnations for meeting with like minded people is jumping the gun a bit in an effort to denigrate atheists.
 
Ben K. said:
This sort of **** is just stupid.

These gatherings generally try to posit some sort of political mission statement well beyond the confines of the shared position "there is not enough evidence for me to hold a belief in God(s)."

Like the mind-numbingly stupid Atheism Plus.



Atheism Plus - RationalWiki
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Yeah, I know. Only people of preapproved religions should be allowed to do that :roll:
 
Ikari said:
Yeah, I know. Only people of preapproved religions should be allowed to do that :roll:
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Eh?

Atheism is a stance on a single issue and is not a religion, pre approved or otherwise. It has no relationship to any social/political dogma.
 
Ben K. said:
Eh?

Atheism is a stance on a single issue and is not a religion, pre approved or otherwise. It has no relationship to any social/political dogma.
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Why? Because you say so? It can't be that atheists have more in common or may have some political leanings as a group? So only theists need apply huh? Nice. I may not want to go to any meet ups, but others may and they and there is no issue with that. Though so.e here seem to imply that there is an that atheists shouldn't be allowed to address political issues as a group.
 
Ikari said:
Why? Because you say so? It can't be that atheists have more in common or may have some political leanings as a group? So only theists need apply huh? Nice. I may not want to go to any meet ups, but others may and they and there is no issue with that. Though so.e here seem to imply that there is an that atheists shouldn't be allowed to address political issues as a group.
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Because I say so? No, because atheism clearly means not having a belief in god and only that.

Religions are socially prescriptive, they tend to have whole books laying out how people live their lives, not just that a god exists.

What do you think atheists have in common besides the god question?
 
Ben K. said:
Because I say so? No, because atheism clearly means not having a belief in god and only that.

Religions are socially prescriptive, they tend to have whole books laying out how people live their lives, not just that a god exists.

What do you think atheists have in common besides the god question?
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Atheists at this point tend to share similar socio-economic backgrounds and education levels that would result in the overlap more ideals, even political ideals, than one may suppose. It's not quite as cut and dry as your arguments make it and there is no reason to infringe and.restrict free.association and speech. Association and speech are not just for theists.
 
Ikari said:
Atheists at this point tend to share similar socio-economic backgrounds and education levels that would result in the overlap more ideals, even political ideals, than one may suppose. It's not quite as cut and dry as your arguments make it and there is no reason to infringe and.restrict free.association and speech. Association and speech are not just for theists.
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Who said anything about restricting it? I'm calling it stupid.

And what ideals do atheists share?
 
The only thing atheists share is a disbelief in a god.
Everything else is possible. Racist, sexist, rectum opening, philantropist, conservative, liberal, religious.
 
Ben K. said:
Who said anything about restricting it? I'm calling it stupid.

And what ideals do atheists share?
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You can call out as you want, but it's a stupid and short sighted argument to propose that atheists c cannot share anything other than their atheism.
 
Ikari said:
You can call out as you want, but it's a stupid and short sighted argument to propose that atheists c cannot share anything other than their atheism.
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Some atheists can share views. Some atheists and some Christians may share views.

I ask for the umpteenth time, what views unite atheists aside from disbelief in god?

If you can answer that, your accusation of stupidity and short sightedness will attain merit.
 
Ikari said:
Why would you care if they did? It's two comedians and absolutely no information on how many people attend and how often. so it seems to me that these condemnations for meeting with like minded people is jumping the gun a bit in an effort to denigrate atheists.
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It's not the fact that they are meeting with like minded people. Its that they are calling it a church which is a religious place of worship, which atheists and contrary to.
 
The participants call it the Sunday Assembly. Others for various reasons call it a church. A megachurch supposedly supports a weekly congregation of more than 1000 at a time. None of the assemblies meet this basic criterion.
 
Spriggs05 said:
Atheism is not a religion. Religions believe in deities.
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Not all religions. Theraveda Buddhists don't acknowledge any deities and are members of a religion, so their religion incorporates atheism. Other examples of religions without gods are Pantheism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism, and Leveyan Satanism.

If atheists pick up the trappings and practices of religions then they have formed a religion.
 
EXCELLENT! I've found the group, found where and when they meet in LA and I'm going. Finally a way to meet like people without having to hike or go to dinner or drink (there's some atheist meetups, but they end up costing and are very into hiking it seems). Just be together and visit a bit before and after. Thanks for this.
 
Spriggs05 said:
It's not the fact that they are meeting with like minded people. Its that they are calling it a church which is a religious place of worship, which atheists and contrary to.
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Oh noes, a couple of comedians making up a comically ironic name. Why I would never have imagined!
 
Ben K. said:
Some atheists can share views. Some atheists and some Christians may share views.

I ask for the umpteenth time, what views unite atheists aside from disbelief in god?

If you can answer that, your accusation of stupidity and short sightedness will attain merit.
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It's more like the 2nd time, and I already told you. Many political and social ideals are heavily influenced by socio-economic backgrounds and education levels. Atheists are a very small group and at this point they share many of the same backgrounds and education levels. Ergo, they are well more likely to have ideals that are similar. So this group wants to get together like minded atheists and do something, so what? Why can't they? You seem to have it in your head that this isn't OK based on the fact that they are atheists. It's ridiculous posturing in order to try to condemn an act that frankly isn't even your business in the first place. Assembly and speech are not reserved only for the theists.
 
Not everything that involves a weekly get together can be described as a "church". Or else book clubs, poker nights or bowling leagues would all be considered churches. This is a meeting of somewhat like minded individuals for entertainment and social purposes. It has nothing to do with any God or religious dogma, and therefor isn't "church".
 
LowDown said:
Not all religions. Theraveda Buddhists don't acknowledge any deities and are members of a religion, so their religion incorporates atheism. Other examples of religions without gods are Pantheism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism, and Leveyan Satanism.

If atheists pick up the trappings and practices of religions then they have formed a religion.
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Many Buddhists feel that the more appropriate way to describe Buddhism is that it's a philosophy more so than a religion, due to the lack of a belief in God.

And your assertion that if it looks kinda like a religion it must be a religion is a silly way to look at it. It narrows down religion to any group that socializes on a regular basis. You're bastardizing the word "religion" to the point that it means nothing.
 
roughdraft274 said:
Many Buddhists feel that the more appropriate way to describe Buddhism is that it's a philosophy more so than a religion, due to the lack of a belief in God.

And your assertion that if it looks kinda like a religion it must be a religion is a silly way to look at it. It narrows down religion to any group that socializes on a regular basis. You're bastardizing the word "religion" to the point that it means nothing.
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Bah! You can run you can hide, but your religious nature cannot be denied.

I'm pretty sure that attendees at these atheist "churches" do a lot more than just socialize. Do they have a regular service? A litergy? I bet they do. Readings from Dawkins, no doubt, is one feature.
 
LowDown said:
Bah! You can run you can hide, but your religious nature cannot be denied.

I'm pretty sure that attendees at these atheist "churches" do a lot more than just socialize. Do they have a regular service? A litergy? I bet they do. Readings from Dawkins, no doubt, is one feature.
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You don't need to bet, you can read for yourself and find out. Though, I guess they aren't listing things like guest speakers. That part may end up being true sometimes, but mainly it looks like they plan on just being good humans in a group.



The Sunday Assembly » About
 
LowDown said:
Not all religions. Theraveda Buddhists don't acknowledge any deities and are members of a religion, so their religion incorporates atheism. Other examples of religions without gods are Pantheism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism, and Leveyan Satanism.

If atheists pick up the trappings and practices of religions then they have formed a religion.
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Yes, but most of those religions that you have mentioned are based around a way to live your life. Religion should just be a guide on how to live your life, not large church services or a calling to prayer 6 times every day. I use guide, since it doesn't have to be in your life, religion is voluntary. Those examples mentioned above are perfect examples of what I consider the better religions.
 
Ikari said:
It's more like the 2nd time, and I already told you. Many political and social ideals are heavily influenced by socio-economic backgrounds and education levels. Atheists are a very small group and at this point they share many of the same backgrounds and education levels. Ergo, they are well more likely to have ideals that are similar. So this group wants to get together like minded atheists and do something, so what? Why can't they? You seem to have it in your head that this isn't OK based on the fact that they are atheists. It's ridiculous posturing in order to try to condemn an act that frankly isn't even your business in the first place. Assembly and speech are not reserved only for the theists.
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You still can't answer a simple question. What do they have in common? You can't name a single thing that unites atheists. If some atheists happen to be environmentalist for instance, why on earth would they exclude the theists, deists and agnostics that agree with them? It's self defeating nonsense.

And still stuck on the idea their right to assembly is under attack (hint: right to assembly doesn't mean a right to not being criticised). And why on earth is it not my business anymore than any news story we routinely comment upon? Stop hiding behind the cowardly "they have free speech, stop hurting their feelings" card.
 
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