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

reply to post by waggz

Do I have to copy and paste this or something...

Social environment for likeminded folk free from religious zealots, interesting talks, entertainment, charitable work, community spirit...

There is clearly a market for it due to the growing success. If you don't understand it then ignore it, or even better, just read what is presented on the Sunday Assembly website - it is not a campaign to destroy religion, it is an option for non-believers to hook up socially.

Originally posted by waggz
Just curious? Who even gets together as a group to talk about religion unless you are going to church?

Philosophy and theology has been a centerpoint of human discussion and enjoyment for as long as there has been civilization.
Ancient greeks made it into an artform
I could give you a whole host of things to check out on the matter and you will see that its quite common. What is being presented here is not some new thing..it is just a rehashed and rebranded version of the existentialism groups that formed up at about the 18th and 19th century. They are just being a bit more blunt to a society that is dumbing down and probably wouldn't know what that word means anymore.

The way you keep saying this just makes me think all the Atheists are going to get together and bad mouth the Christians. Are you guys going to just sit around and talk about what doesnt exist?

See above, then google that word.

My ex-girlfriend's entire family was Atheist.. and they made a clear and almost rude point to everyone else that anyone that believes in a religion is an idiot. I had never really experienced Atheists until this point and it really set the tone for what I thought about them.

I would be careful associating anything with an ex. when your with them, its awesome (religion, bowling, etc), and when you break up, everything about them is horrible...but at least you understand your views are jaded by your life experience.
atheism is simply a non belief in deities..thats it. some are polite people, some are rude. Some are also hardened skeptics, some are almost shaman style spiritualists. etc...all walks of life. the only common thread is as mentioned.

Some things have happened in my life and certain observations that just make me KNOW that something else is going on. I am a VERY scientific person and can find many things to ask an Atheist that will stump them.

I highly doubt love and all the magical things about life are coincidental...

Well, love is an emotion..humor being equally as "magical"..aka, not magical at all.biological function.
I doubt you could truly stump a atheist though..you can of course give it a shot though..but chances are, you are mistaken atheism for cynicism. Common misunderstanding.

Originally posted by waggz
reply to post by grainofsand

 

And to be honest man your whole Mermaid , and mystic dragons spill is getting a bit old. I can really see how that could be insulting to people of faith.

Why?
Give me an example of a religion which has any evidence to support it's claims more than than mermaids, pixies and the like?
If pointing out the lack of evidence is insulting then that is unfortunate but not my concern.

reply to post by grainofsand



Why cant you just hook up with people in general? I don't even remember the last time I was with a group of people and religion was brought up.

You make it seem like you guys have been bullied your entire life for being an Atheist. I have never witnessed anything like that in my entire life.

I have witnessed Atheist's bullying believers though.

reply to post by spy66


my point is a counter to yours, and as you missed or ignored when i outlined it in lesser detail earlier, i felt the need to re-outline it.

you suggested that christianity somehow controlled my life via the calendar, and you seemed pleased by this in a partisan way.

i only seek to show that pagans equally control yours, by the standards of your own argument/position..

i dont think i am a christian, pagan or atheist - i just found the idea you proposed to be extremely daft

reply to post by tothetenthpower

Why do you care?
Call it a religion if you like but minus the instructed spiritual message and the invisible unprovable entity such a term is incorrect.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
If Atheists are going to begin congregating, giving sermons and I expect quite soon, be applying for tax exempt status, well sorry, but you are now a religion.

To an Atheist, religion is little more than a exercise in a philosophy course held on sundays
and they get tax exempt status.

So, why not then start a different philosophical course, and likewise get tax exempt status. This philosophy not being without deities.

Originally posted by waggz

Why cant you just hook up with people in general?

Again, why do you care?
If it doesn't interest you just ignore it.

Originally posted by SaturnFX

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
If Atheists are going to begin congregating, giving sermons and I expect quite soon, be applying for tax exempt status, well sorry, but you are now a religion.

To an Atheist, religion is little more than a exercise in a philosophy course held on sundays
and they get tax exempt status.

So, why not then start a different philosophical course, and likewise get tax exempt status. This philosophy not being without deities.

In the UK, private member social clubs get tax exempt status anyway. No need to pretend to be a religion

Originally posted by grainofsand
reply to post by tothetenthpower

 

Why do you care?
Call it a religion if you like but minus the instructed spiritual message and the invisible unprovable entity such a term is incorrect.

Why do you care so much? Why do you take such a condescending tone with anyone who isn't 100% agreeing with your message?

You see, the problem with Atheists/Agnostics ( I am one fyi) is that we are a bunch of a-holes. You can pretend that we aren't a bunch of condescending, know better than, treat you like you are delusional folk, but that's just not the reality.

Now, to us, it's really easy, cause who the hell could EVER believe in some of the nonsense that believers do, you'd have to be a bit crazy right? Wrong. Some people just have faith, and I respect that fully, which means I don't spend my time telling people they are stupid. I spent my time asking them questions, that force them to question their own faith.

No, that is not an incorrect statement. If you operate EXACTLY like another kind of institution, and focus on NON belief, that's a belief structure.

You FIRMLY believe that there is no god. That's just no more or less spiritual than a bhudist who believes in re-incarnation.

You'll see. I guarantee you this Non-church, will apply for tax free status as soon as they have enough members and support. And it will be FUNNY to see Atheists defend getting tax breaks for the same damn reasons they think the church should not.

~Tenth

reply to post by grainofsand


I care because I am trying to figure out what makes a need for Atheists to congregate. The groups of people I hang out with have all types of different beliefs and we get along just fine.

Do you get made fun of as an Atheist in the UK? Are you picked on?

Obviously it interests me or I would not be probing you to get a deeper understanding.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower

You'll see. I guarantee you this Non-church, will apply for tax free status as soon as they have enough members and support. And it will be FUNNY to see Atheists defend getting tax breaks for the same damn reasons they think the church should not.

As I said earlier, in the UK, private member social clubs are tax exempt anyway, there is no need to pretend to be a church here.

reply to post by SaturnFX

To an Atheist, religion is little more than a exercise in a philosophy course held on sundays
and they get tax exempt status.

That's a pretty rosy definition of religion, by any atheists standards. I take into consideration the church's overall wealth and spending when trying to figure out if they deserve a subsidy from the general population.

So, why not then start a different philosophical course, and likewise get tax exempt status. This philosophy not being without deities.

Because atheism is about nothing. if you start coming together, under the banner of non-belief and atheism, than you are NO better than conventional religions. You're just creating fan fiction. Scientology started this model it seems, they are very successful.

As an atheist, you are suppose to ignore religion and all of it's nonsense, in favor of things that are not nonsense.

Using the structure that the church created, to further the goal listed above, defeats the ENTIRE purpose.

~Tenth

Originally posted by waggz
Why cant you just hook up with people in general? I don't even remember the last time I was with a group of people and religion was brought up.

Actually...why are you even in this discussion? You made it clear you have no actual opinion about either church or gatherings in general
Do you also find sewing circles and hammer on them, asking why they don't just sew at home?

You have shown you don't understand why people gather together to discuss stuff..thats fine..but us earth hoomans are social creatures whom enjoy spending company in like minded company.

You make it seem like you guys have been bullied your entire life for being an Atheist. I have never witnessed anything like that in my entire life.

Its not about just one life, one generation.
Such movements have been going for many centuries, picking up more speed...This is a storm long in the making.

I have witnessed Atheist's bullying believers though.

so...I witnessed a atheist friend of mine catch 3 huge fish the one day I seen him fishing. Guess that means all atheists are great fishermen?

reply to post by waggz

I'm attracted to the religious free zone with likeminded people.
Obviously many others are as well due to the growing success. If it is not for you that's fine, there will be no knocking on doors to attract new members.

reply to post by grainofsand


Well since I have already answered that question. You must not have anything deeper to talk about on the subject other than insults and petty religious arguments.

I have always been against any type of religious congregations. It is a business... plain and simple. I do IT work and see the inside of HUGE churches on the business side that most don't get to see.

Thats why it matters to me.

So, people with a common belief or 'un-belief' are congregating to talk with other people who share those views?

I don't get what the big ruckus is, or why a lot of people seem to particularly dislike this idea. It's what humans do.

reply to post by waggz

I have cast insults at nobody in this thread and I shall continue to refrain from doing so.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
Because atheism is about nothing. if you start coming together, under the banner of non-belief and atheism, than you are NO better than conventional religions. You're just creating fan fiction. Scientology started this model it seems, they are very successful.

As an atheist, you are suppose to ignore religion and all of it's nonsense, in favor of things that are not nonsense.

Using the structure that the church created, to further the goal listed above, defeats the ENTIRE purpose.

~Tenth

Well, atheism is actually about no belief in a deity. so who knows..they might be giving chemistry classes
Now, I love me a good philosophy course..so long as nobody demands they are right in the end (its philosophy after all).
As far as it being a religion. I don't see that happening...technical status perhaps just to show the absurdity of it all..why the hell does any philosophy get tax exempt status to begin with? Perhaps this is an attempt to rectify that stance...either let all philosophical undertakings be tax exempt, or none of them (deity or not included).

But it would be nice to go chat about as I said a few times in this thread, absurdum and existentialism without low brow minds demanding the answer is simply god and dismiss the entire discussion, etc...maybe these type chats will come from it..and it will become known as modern day symposium...perhaps with a bit less wine though.