XPost: talk.atheism, alt.politics.obama, alt.politics.conservative   
   From: kenwurth@ibmc.com   
      
   Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of notifications on my Facebook   
   newsfeed about a new, dumb idea called “atheist church.” Every   
   time I see it, I just shake my head in disgust. Atheist church   
   is dumb, and here’s why.   
      
   First and foremost, atheist church is dumb because one of the   
   best things about being an atheist is not having to get up on   
   Sunday morning to go to church.   
      
   Duh!   
      
   Who wants to drag themselves out of bed on a Sunday, root   
   through the laundry pile, find clothes that smell halfway decent   
   and socialize with a bunch of do-gooders? No thanks!   
      
   I never really believed in God or Jesus, but you can rest   
   assured that the perks of not having to go to church on Sunday   
   had a helping hand in nudging me over the edge of agnosticism   
   into full-fledged atheism. There’s no way I’m going to give up   
   my blissful 1:00 p.m. Sunday wake up time to lug myself over to   
   some dorky sing-a-long with a group of (most likely) well-   
   educated people who are smarter than me an undoubtedly more   
   charitable too. Why would I want to be surrounded by people who   
   are better than me? I think I’ll stick to the self-esteem   
   destroying power of Facebook, where the confidence busting   
   happens virtually with no real human interaction required, thank   
   you very much.   
      
   Morgan Spurlock is going to be leading Sunday services at an   
   atheist church in Nashville. What the hell is wrong with those   
   people? Yeah, like I really want to watch some super   
   accomplished guy who’s younger than me remind me that I’m not   
   really doing much with my life. Ugh.   
      
   The next reason why atheist church is dumb is because it   
   reinforces the idea that church is required to live a decent   
   life and be a good person. We atheists are supposed to be good   
   without God; aka: without church. Now you better believe that   
   every religious person who finds out about this is going to call   
   us hypocrites or extremists and laugh in our faces, which is   
   really the last thing we need. We have enough trouble being   
   taken seriously as it is! Why give the yahoos more fuel for the   
   fire? Don’t believe me? Watch the YouTube video at the end of   
   this article in which the commentator calls atheists “retarded”   
   for forming a church and says it’s “the biggest crock of s***   
   ever.”   
      
   Additionally, all the pictures I have seen of people attending   
   services at atheist church have zero diversity. Sorry, sitting   
   around with a bunch of other white people singing You Are My   
   Sunshine isn’t really my idea of a good time.   
      
   Possibly the most compelling reason why atheist church is dumb   
   is because it is so freaking embarrassing. It’s really dorky. I   
   dread every time someone asks me about these atheist churches   
   because I don’t want to be associated with the concept in any   
   way, shape or form. What the heck do they do there, anyway?   
   Congratulate each other? I don’t understand the purpose. Some   
   say it’s for “community.” Why not spend time with your friends   
   and neighbors? Why not bring the old lady down the street a   
   casserole? Wouldn’t doing actual community building activities   
   be more productive than sitting around patting other atheists on   
   the back? Supposedly, the service includes “sing-alongs” (dorky)   
   and “poetry” (ok) along with “trying to figure out life.” It   
   sounds suspiciously like some weirdo 1960s Hippie commune   
   mentality; and there’s a reason why that mentality never got   
   anyone anywhere.   
      
   If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s group-think. The moment   
   people congregate into groups to simply reinforce and celebrate   
   each other’s ideas, which happen to be all the exact same ideas,   
   I lose interest.   
      
   Quite frankly, I’d rather spend an hour talking to Ken Ham than   
   attend one of these self-congratulatory, nerdy atheist church   
   sessions. At least Ham would be amusing, and who knows, maybe I   
   would learn something new about how young earth creationists   
   think, which is far more interesting to me than a sing-along   
   with (most likely) pushy vegans and naval-gazing intellectuals.   
      
   Atheist church is dumb. I don’t have to adhere to a set of   
   ideas, believe in God, or go to church to be charitable to   
   others and uphold a strong moral code. Being independent and   
   strengthening society by doing good works on my own while at the   
   same time reaching out to my fellow man with goodwill and   
   kindness does not require attendance at a church service. That’s   
   the whole point of being an atheist, after all.   
      
   http://guardianlv.com/2014/02/why-atheist-church-is-dumb/   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)