Atheist Sunday Assembly goes worldwide, the future is bright for non-believers

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
If Jesus could see you all now.

If you believe in Jesus then you would already believe he can see us all now.
I don't believe such things though.

reply to post by woodwardjnr

So atheists want a community and social event on a Sunday. Big deal.

YEP. That about says it all. Big deal. Why don't we let non-religious zealots partake on non-religious musings that may or may not be spiritual? After all, they're doing it on SUNDAY, the day where all religious people SHOULD rest (apologies to the non-monotheistic sects). So, by all means, celebrate your infidelity on the very day the Lord hath made for REST. DO NOT REST until the voice of the silent MAJORITY is heard.

END OF RANT. Is it a rant? Peace ya'all.

Originally posted by ThirdEyeofHorus
Don't forget to bring your copy of the Humanist Manifesto, and make sure to have all versions. How much fun that would be for all of you to hang around and discuss over cigarettes and coffee how you are going to keep implementing your dream in the education system...oh wait, durn you can't smoke in public.

Got any particular constructive comments to agree or disagree with a meeting place for non believers or just want to score cheap points?

reply to post by grainofsand


Then you haven't drank in the pubs I have. In my experience I can count on one hand how many religious types I've actually even met in Britain. I think that's probably why I think it's a daft idea, I don't see religion as being that big of a deal in Britain anymore.

Originally posted by Biigs

Originally posted by SaturnFX

Originally posted by Biigs
Atheist church sounds pretty silly to me.

what do they do? sit around a room cussing other religions?

Because when i was a youngster, sitting around chatting about random stuff was just called a youth club.

seems very weird to me

Do sci-fi clubs sit around and cuss non-fiction as their primary goal?

I would imagine sci-fi talk about sci-fi stuff, what might atheists talk about if the reason there are all there is a common interest in essentially.... nothing.

religions sing songs and read text and discuss "local stuff"

Atheist church sounds more like a boring waiting room,
Bob- "hey frank do you still not believe in a God?"
Frank- "nope"
Bob- "yup, me either"
-= awesome! =-

Sci-fi groups do not evangelise and knock on strangers doors to spread their sci-fi word of alleged truth.
There is no need for a safe haven from sci-fi zealots, there is however, for a place for non god believing types to escape religious zealots who cry "you will burn" when any openness is shown about their lack of belief.

I wouldn’t even call this organized atheism. I do not see where they are organizing to promote or spread atheism.

It is a religion free zone kind of like a gun free zone where I am sure there will be instances where some religious zealot shows up to provoke or antagonize atheists but in this area they can simply have them removed.

Religious doctrine will not be welcome that is all.

I like the idea. It is like here on ATS you can try to start a thread discussing evolution but you will always get religious trolls that invade it. What they are doing is simply making an area that will be free of the religious trolls.

I doubt there is much talk about being an atheist in that group it is probably just people conversing on a multitude of topics enjoying a community without having to deal with someone pushing dogma on them. If it doesn’t interest you then don’t go it is that simple.

reply to post by KBadger

Thats cool fella, you can ignore this thread then, and ignore the Sunday Assembly as an irrelevance which does not affect you in any way.

Originally posted by headb
reply to post by woodwardjnr

 

So atheists want a community and social event on a Sunday. Big deal.

YEP. That about says it all. Big deal. Why don't we let non-religious zealots partake on non-religious musings that may or may not be spiritual? After all, they're doing it on SUNDAY, the day where all religious people SHOULD rest (apologies to the non-monotheistic sects). So, by all means, celebrate your infidelity on the very day the Lord hath made for REST. DO NOT REST until the voice of the silent MAJORITY is heard.

END OF RANT. Is it a rant? Peace ya'all.

It was your interesting opinion and in a public forum as such is always welcome

reply to post by Grimpachi

Your observation is exactly how I see it
I struggle to see the problems that so many people appear to have with it.

reply to post by grainofsand


Well I don't believe in god and don't feel the need to meet up with others, like the people that do believe in god on a Sunday as well.

You would just be as well going to your local church stand at the back and listen to your ipod!!!

Originally posted by Biigs

Originally posted by SaturnFX

Originally posted by Biigs
Atheist church sounds pretty silly to me.

what do they do? sit around a room cussing other religions?

Because when i was a youngster, sitting around chatting about random stuff was just called a youth club.

seems very weird to me

Do sci-fi clubs sit around and cuss non-fiction as their primary goal?

I would imagine sci-fi talk about sci-fi stuff, what might atheists talk about if the reason there are all there is a common interest in essentially.... nothing.

religions sing songs and read text and discuss "local stuff"

Atheist church sounds more like a boring waiting room,
Bob- "hey frank do you still not believe in a God?"
Frank- "nope"
Bob- "yup, me either"
-= awesome! =-

Well, that is what you would possibly do if you ran a sect.
I would be more interested in attending philosophical discussions of absurdity and existentialism. Maybe meet that special someone whom doesn't nag me to go to church, etc.

What does religious ceremonies discuss?
Bob-"Hey frank, do you still believe in a god?"
Frank-"yep"
Bob-"Me also"
-=awesome!=-

See, everything can be looked at in a simplistic manner, or you can actually get to know what your discussing as an alternative.

So. since you seem actually curious, do a quick google search for those two phrases...I bet if you start reading, you will suddenly become very intrigued with the philosophies put forth..
here..lemme help you
Absurdism

Absurdism, therefore, is a philosophical school of thought stating that the efforts of humanity to find inherent meaning will ultimately fail (and hence are absurd)

and
Existentialism

A central proposition of existentialism is that existence precedes essence, which means that the most important consideration for the individual is the fact that he or she is an individual—an independently acting and responsible conscious being ("existence")—rather than what labels, roles, stereotypes, definitions, or other preconceived categories the individual fits ("essence").

Plenty of stuff to discuss.
Do you see which one then could be viewed as "good" and "bad"?

Does Absurdism lead to suicide?
If you were Sisyphus, would you kill yourself, or keep rolling the rock up the hill only to have it roll back down for all eternity?

Originally posted by wmd_2008
reply to post by grainofsand

 

Well I don't believe in god and don't feel the need to meet up with others, like the people that do believe in god on a Sunday as well.

You would just be as well going to your local church stand at the back and listen to your ipod!!!

Cool, as I've said to others here, you are free to ignore it as something irrelevant to your life.

Originally posted by grainofsand
Sci-fi groups do not evangelise and knock on strangers doors to spread their sci-fi word of alleged truth.
There is no need for a safe haven from sci-fi zealots, there is however, for a place for non god believing types to escape religious zealots who cry "you will burn" when any openness is shown about their lack of belief.

Clearly your town has never hosted a Trekkie convention


-add-
ok, so they don't knock on doors..but that's probably because they are standing by it waiting for it to automatically woosh open

-I got a million of these-
--all of them equally bad--

reply to post by SaturnFX

Haha, appreciate the lighthearted humour, this thread has been my most challenging yet!

Originally posted by grainofsand
reply to post by KBadger

 

Thats cool fella, you can ignore this thread then, and ignore the Sunday Assembly as an irrelevance which does not affect you in any way.

Well that's just charming isn't it. You take part in a debate and get told to ignore it because you don't agree with the opposing point of view.
That's not very non-Christian of you...

Originally posted by grainofsand
reply to post by something wicked

 

Oh dear, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. You are welcome to ignore this thread of course, but as OP I have been dealing with "you shall burn" type comments so any disagreeable comments from myself are inspired by the religious zealots who feel that a meeting place for non-believers is something worth attacking.

Actually, on a slow ATS news day this has been an interesting thread. There are of course on ATS as many non religious zealots who wish to trash any non-non believers so I'm afraid you can't just have it your own way. Me? As long as you aren't hurting anyone else, it's your own business, why make it anyone else's? That goes for faith and non faith people, but if you must try and convert people to your fixed belief, try not to mock the belief of the person you are trying to convert.

Originally posted by grainofsand

Originally posted by Jauk3
Atheist meetings are not new. They have been here for ever since the first people begun stepping up against organized religion. However, I do not think we need organized atheism too. We should not get into a routine, meetings, discussions abd confentions should stay more random instead of every sunday.

Why not?
I love the idea of a place for non-believers to hook up and enjoy interesting discussions and community spirit in an environment free from religious zealotry. Many others appear to be attracted to this as well.
Social interaction, entertainment, networking and community minded charitable projects all seem pretty good to me.
If you have a strong argument against such things I'd be interested in hearing the specifics?

Because cults start that way

Originally posted by KBadger

Originally posted by grainofsand
reply to post by KBadger

 

Thats cool fella, you can ignore this thread then, and ignore the Sunday Assembly as an irrelevance which does not affect you in any way.

Well that's just charming isn't it. You take part in a debate and get told to ignore it because you don't agree with the opposing point of view.
That's not very non-Christian of you...

Haha, loving the irony!
You are welcome to contribute your views of course, I'm just saying that if you think the idea of a non believers meeting place is BS then you are welcome to ignore it as an irrelevant idea which doesn't affect you.
I've met some crazy religious types on a rant while they were drunk in a local pub, but then I grew up in Wales and live in a rural SW England community right now, so I should expect it really
Different experiences is all!

Originally posted by woodwardjnr
If Jesus could see you all now.

I'm sure he would be happy that people in their communities were comming together in a positive way, whether they believe in him or not. Maybe he would conclude, "god moves in mysterious ways"

It is a lie that Jesus would have condoned socialism, or that Jesus himself was a socialist. That would imply that all charity is a socialist system and it is not. Socialism depends on forcibly taking from another, whereas true Christian charity is the voluntary giving of one's own resources to another needy person. Socialism institutes and mandates forced redistribution.

Originally posted by grainofsand
reply to post by KBadger

 

Nope, I've met many a zealot in a pub, just depends on how drunk they are when they impose their beliefs on others

You live in a weird place. Do you find this everywhere? I'm beginning to feel you actually hunt it out. I cannot think when I've been involved in any such debate or heard any such opinions anywhere - to be honest, even in a church when I was younger. Seems to be a lot around your own experience and assuming everyone else receives similar in their day to day experience. I do have an atheist friend though who when he's had a few will argue blind why he is right..... hmmmmm, I don't think I know you......