Atheist 'mega-churches' take root across US, world

Oh no, here comes the atheists sects and division pitting one atheist against another, oh the humanuty.

Evening,

I can come off as a tad sarcastic but as far as the OP material goes, this is how I think this group ended up looking like a group of quasi-religious mutants.
For whatever the actual reason, a group of people become disenfranchized with modern religion...(insert favorite reason here)...which is a brave thing to do in any community but insert obstacle one.
Familiarity...people just love it.
In their time with The Church, they became used to a certain lifestyle and one of those aspects is the sunday mass (but maybe the name differs from region to region). A portion of the week for people to establish a sence of community because everyone is there.
They REALLY missed that part so they decide: "We'll just bring that part back...but let's just call it a weekly atheists meeting?"
Then they think about it for a little while and they decide: "Well, the meeting was such a hit so why not bring another old tradition back?"
Before you know it, they are right back where they are started...making ALL the same mistakes and doing all the same things that made them leave organized religion in the first place...they just don't see it yet and it's possible most of them never will.
They might be REALLY nice in real life but until I hear otherwise, I'm treating them all like the freaks from the movie "Red State".

-Peace-

reply to post by Stormdancer777


It will be the atheist critical thinkers and the atheist humanist sects.

Lol that has me laughing.

I went to an atheist critical thinkers meeting once it was at a bar and we played video trivia. Everyone was nice and the discussions were about upcoming events like renowned scientists who were giving speeches at some of the colleges. I would go back but haven’t for various reasons.

Since atheism isnt a religion but a lack thereof how would one call them "mega-churches"? Church denotes a religious organization and a place or worship.... how do atheists worship in a church when they have no god? I know you are probably just quoting whatever site you got the news from... but someone should think that atheism and church do not go hand in hand.... ever

reply to post by kdyam


I remember reading about the first one of these that opened. It wasn’t called church but it was held at a former church that went belly up. The name stuck and other meetings popped up across the UK some were at simple meeting halls but for simplicity sake the name stuck yet again now they are in the US and you guessed it the name stuck.

Grimpachi
reply to post by kdyam

 

I remember reading about the first one of these that opened. It wasn’t called church but it was held at a former church that went belly up. The name stuck and other meetings popped up across the UK some were at simple meeting halls but for simplicity sake the name stuck yet again now they are in the US and you guessed it the name stuck.

LOL... if i was an atheist and i was wondering where we were going to gather....and found out it was a church.. well I would be pissed off. Maybe the atheists should rethink their whole movement if they are meeting in "churches"and if they are actually calling them that, it kind of squashes their whole belief... Muslims worship in mosques.. christians, catholics and myriad others worship in churches, Buddhists and others worship in temples.... atheists... well they shouldn't be calling their meeting places any of those.

reply to post by Klassified


And the Freaks who step forward to open such a 'Church' and then Preach Atheism, have one intent, A Large Bank Account.

Wow, it took them this long? From the way Dawkins and other prominent atheists are regarded by their community, I am not at all surprised.
Its always amused me that you can pretty much apply any religious zealot stereotype to hardcore Athiests. Refusal to admit even the possibility of being wrong? Check. An uncontrollable need to push beliefs on others? Check. Belief that he/she is party to the truth? Check check!
I'm sure fellow form-members can come up with a dozen more commonalities.

reply to post by kdyam


Ah- I don't see any reason to be pissed off. I once served in a newly formed national guard unit and while our facilities were being built we used an old church. Getting mad about such a thing is pretty trivial.

reply to post by Klassified


To think us Christians are weird, this is really weird.

To me it is almost creepy. Invasion of the boxy snatchers...me thinks that's why the world is getting to be like a Woody Allen comedy.

Irako
Wow, it took them this long? From the way Dawkins and other prominent atheists are regarded by their community, I am not at all surprised.
Its always amused me that you can pretty much apply any religious zealot stereotype to hardcore Athiests. Refusal to admit even the possibility of being wrong? Check. An uncontrollable need to push beliefs on others? Check. Belief that he/she is party to the truth? Check check!
I'm sure fellow form-members can come up with a dozen more commonalities.

This may be true of some atheists, but by no means is it commonly true among atheists. It's a straw man argument, and doesn't work any better on atheists, than it does Christians.

reply to post by Klassified


Oh for sure. We're talking about the 'hardcore' atheists, and the commonalities between them and the so-called religious zealots. Which is why I find it amusing. Because normal atheists are very different, just like run-of-the-mill Christians are very different from evangelical Christians.

reply to post by Grimpachi


No im not mad about it. Its just that every atheist i have ever talked to was so adamant about their beleif that i find it hipocrytical that they ars fine with using churches, considering how fanatically they reject other religions and what they stand for. Dont get me wrong im not a religious nut and i dont attend church, i just find it interesting and a little clouded that they are taking over old churches...

reply to post by kdyam


Well I know the first one in the UK was picked for convenience. The article I read said due to low church attendance especially in the UK many had been left derelict. There is really no need to go tearing down or building new meeting places when so many were already available. They are just buildings being repurposed. If they hadn’t of rented them they would have been just left vacant. It is just pragmatism.

This only further proves what I have been saying all along about Atheism, that it is a religion. What is that you say? Atheists are not all the same? Just like all Christians are not the same? So you are implying there are different denominations of Atheism, further proving it is a religion. This is hilarious.

The only thing more hilarious than this is the next big thing will be Christians coming together to form science discussions and so on. An Atheist trying to be spiritual is just as awful as a Christian trying to be scientific, joking of course but come on now.

I have a big problem with those churches....
I don't believe in any god what so ever...
It is my Point of view and my choice,
If this Church thing, goes big, When I present my self as an atheist, people they generalize and think of me as a follower of the atheist church.

Religious people go to churches to worship the same god, they have something in common
My lack of belief doesn't mean I share the same principles, morals,thoughts , beliefs with all the other atheists.
Why should I end up being labeled as one, generalization and labeling people is the worst thing happened to society.

if people want to gather in one building and act like christians they can, just don't call your church atheist. cause then anyone opposed by religion and the idea of god would be labeled by society as your member.

Organized groups are created to limit peoples freedom!
I am a free individual, just because I dont bite into religions doesn't mean I should be grouped by society and have an organization do the thinking for me, cause that is what society has became

We don't have individuals anymore, no personal freedom, just generalization and organizations everywhere.

Show me an indipentend politician! none in every country
He will be either right wing, left wing, nationalist, communist, socialist, etc
If you accept none of the above they will call you anarchist, or terrorist
Same goes with religion and almost every aspect of social life.
There are no free independent persons doing their own thinking anymore. you just choose a group and join in

But what if all the ''groups'' in society, behind the certains have the same leader(s)?

They they control you no matter where you belong
they don't leave things go random
they generalize and make groups, organizations, religions, etc so no individual left outside (uncontrolable)
marginals will always treated with racism by the majority
(they (cia) even made the church of satan FFS!!!)

Anyway I believe to rule societies you have to
1 control the people (political views, laws)
2 control their minds (way of thinking, morals, spirituality etc)

That's why all empires have had political power and religious power
and they always go hand in hand

Krazysh0t
reply to post by Klassified

 

Well that's the beauty of agnosticism. You can still have an opinion on what you think is the most likely truth based on the knowledge that you have. .........
Just because I'm an agnostic, doesn't mean I don't believe in many things that mainstream science dismisses (like ghosts). For example, this allows me to have an opinion on the afterlife without having to believe the boring one that atheists believe (that we just stop existing).......

You don't need a permission to have an oppinion, no matter what your views are.
Stop putting yourself under labels,
Atheism doesn't have rules or laws,
When you are born you don't meet god.
others put that idea in your head
if you don't accept that idea
then you are an atheist.

God = unknown

Everything unexplainable by the naive people of the past, was credited to a god
Even today things like afterlife, ghosts, paranormal activities are still credited to god or angels or demons or dead souls etc.
Even if there is an ''afterlife'' there is still no need for god
paranormals could be simply natural incidents we can't yet explain with our current knowlwge, no need for god
Ghost may be just time slips, and or subconsciously created by our own minds.
Your mind very powerfull, if you strongly believe something is real, then it creates it... and that might explain everything
Still no need for a god what so ever!

It is just us, no god above , no god below.

minkmouse
i ain't joinin no athiest church unless someone can prove god don't exist!

Same story again and again
People were leaving their lifes untill someone put the idea of a god in their head to explain things he couldn't
Next generations went along with that idea till our days...

you want me to prove wrong an idea? it is not fact,no evidence anywhere, god is just an idea in people's minds...
For me to prove your god don't doesn't exist you must saw me your evidence or of his existence....
Your are the one claiming something exists, just claiming...

Finaly the proof your god or any god doesn't exist, is the total absence of evidence.

The people fisrt thought of your god were stating he created earth 6000 years ago . proven wrong
they though earth as flat surface and god siting on his throne in the heavens above with his angels, no mention of the infinite universe or the round shape of earth or dinosaurs, or the trillion other ''suns' only in our galaxy.
proven wrong we went through the heavens and space above earth no god there.

Then churches told us Gods kindom is not in our universe and the bible was being symbolic and stuff like that,
but thats just wishfull thinking,
and aking someone else to prove your faith wrong is an oxymoron
Faith can't be disproved cause it is just faith (not real)
If god came to us tomorrow and showed himself then his existence wouldn't be a matter of faith
Untill then it is just faith
and you can't disprove the unprovable

yeah, how long until them churches get into all the stuff Christianity has?

2000yrs of strife?

bail now or get tattooed, people.

i think it's great, tho. i'll buy a book and read it, by them.

instead of lions, you guys gonna get thrown to obamacare?

i am really amused. you need friends, right?

everyone does.

I'm not a fan of this kind of thing. It seems to me they'd rather have an adversary than find a new way of doing things.

The best way to diminish something's influence, is to ignore it. They seem to want to inflame the very the thing they say they stand against.