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LINK Atheists Are Sometimes More Religious Than Christians - The Atlantic

I take articles like this with a grain of salt (media interpretations of studies are often misleading), but I thought this would be a good conversation starter.

Particularly - "America is a country so suffused with faith that religious attributes abound even among the secular. Consider the rise of “atheist churches,” which cater to Americans who have lost faith in supernatural deities but still crave community, enjoy singing with others, and want to think deeply about morality".

Thoughts?

Tucker79 5 May 31
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15 comments

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0

Silly!

1

How very enlightening - I like the Groucho Marx comment about not wanting to join any club that would have him. there does seem to be a lot of silliness around peoples ideas of godlessness.

1

We don't worship an deity that is why atheists are not a religion. There nothing wrong with us coming to socialize or start an atheist movement to get rid religion from the world or at least the country.

3

Seems they don't know the difference between an Atheist and a fence sitter.

1

It is human nature to want to be part of a pack or community. In the UK lots of atheists who like to sing join local non-religious choirs, and community groups are popular, some political, some not. I have never come across an 'atheist church' though. Maybe it is a specifically American thing?

I think so too, humans are more pack animals than independent Hunters. the closest thing to an atheist church that I've seen here in America are the Unitarian Universalists.

I must have a warped human nature, I avoid people most of the time. And live here!

@Teresa I would love to live somewhere similar. I prefer minimal physical interaction with other human beings, but life seems to dictate otherwise!

0

There plenty of atheist/agnostic conservatives and Libertarians on this site that mention that all liberal /Progressive values are nothing more then Christian values wrapped in a different colored package. I don't have a problem with secular values, and how one chooses to express that.

Do they really? I block most morons like that when I see em but they sound more honest than the ones who think Jesus was a white republican. Do they not notice that they’re the ones sharing their bed and fleas with the religious most often? I’m sure it’s just coincidence.

@Wurlitzer I thought it was strange too. the Libertarians are worse than anybody. they are violently against taxes and violently against helping those who are unfortunate. Many in the group support the Supreme Court's ruling on the cake case. They think that business owners should be able to discriminate against anybody if they want to. For most of us that's considered to be the ultimate selfish bastard

@Kojaksmom That's libertarianism in a nutshell, "the ultimate selfish bastard" party. Their entire political philosophy condenses down to "I've got mine, fuck everyone else"

0

That was an interesting read. I had no idea this was going on but I also wouldn't participate in that. I couldn't be around too many people like that, wasting time... I have dozens of hobbies to do...

2

Atheists are more advanced in the study of Religion than Believers. The more you yearn for the truth the more you become aware of all the faults and shortcomings that others blindly accept which they cannot defend or explain. Its called 'Faith' to them and other educated retorts by others.

0

Some people make a big deal about the "Sunday Assembly" movement but it's as overwrought as Christians claiming atheism is some vast conspiracy with a central organization when in fact it's millions of people but only about 20,000 belong to American Atheists, to my knowledge the largest explicitly atheist organization -- and that's for political advocacy, not telling atheists what to think or do.

Sunday Assembly was started in the UK by a couple of comedians for dog's sake. It spread to the US but there's never been one within a 2 hour drive or me even here in NY and one of the major "congregations" that has a web site, only manages to meet once a month. It's already dying a natural death; atheism is way too narrow a basis for community. It's like herding cats.

The impulse behind it is to gin up a sense of community and belonging, which is about the only thing of actual value that religion offers (sometimes). For deconverts who had positive experiences in religion but simply don't believe, and for alienated young people looking to fit in somewhere, that's a value proposition, I guess. So-called "atheism 2.0", proposed by Brit Alain de Botton, is also trying to figure out how to appropriate value from religion and apply it to atheist life; I personally think it's equally doomed.

Good points. Would you think a humanist focus would have better luck? Something to focus on other than lack of belief?

@Tucker79 Yes, secular humanism might be better, but the humanist societies have had meetings and they haven't exactly set the world on fire either.

1

They're eager to demonize anyone who is different from them! Soon they'll call us an evil cult... We're just rational people. That makes them very uncomfortable because they feel stupid.

Elie Level 3 May 31, 2018
2

That's a pretty terrible article as it seems to conflate two different things, unaffiliated believers and atheists/agnostics.

True, which is why I mentioned the grain of salt, but it does get me thinking about the level of religiosity in the US and the positive social networking that religions provide (that can keep people in religion even when they don't believe).

@Tucker79 Take a look at the crime statistics on bible states and compare them to the same type of statistics on more secular states like in New England. You are in for a surprise.

@KashFigueroa not sure you and I are trying to discuss the same thing. I have heard and seen people who don't believe but still hang onto religion or even "spirituality". I thought it interesting that the US is (according to this article) more strongly embedded than even people who consider themselves religious in other nations. That's the aspect I was trying to explore

0

Specially those who pray to science.

Who prays to science? I don't. On the contrary. That comes from christians trying to divide the atheists that they concoct those ridiculous statements. That is just a simple passing of disinformation to destroy us. Don't fall for that crap because it is crap. Atheism is not a religion and cannot be a religion.

@KashFigueroa Who see science as the new religion? scientists as new apostles? Were you been? Stick around... hawkins the messiah/prophet just died.

@GipsyOfNewSpain Hawking was not a saint. He simply had a great mind that he could visualize the Universe and its inner workings. Before he got the ALS, he was a party animal in college and had lots of fun partying around. ALS stopped him and he decided to use his mind as he could not walk or do things that most people do w/o a wheel chair.

@KashFigueroa yeah jesus was missing in action from childhood wonder miracle boy until his 30's, another party animal. He, he, ha, he, ha, ha.

@GipsyOfNewSpain what exactly are you trying to poke fun at here? Seems like you’re creating a straw man argument out of some mysterious distaste for scientists.

0

I know there are conferences, from time to time, mostly book selling tours, from what I can gather, is that "Church"? Maybe you could say the same for comic-cons.

I wouldn't call it church, and I cringe at those who do.

1

Thank god they weren't talking about me. 😉

1

Go away Atlantic!

Yeah! You’ll have to be more Pacific. ?

@Wurlitzer

Ha ha! That's good.

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