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I am not religious, but regularly attend my wife's church. I agree with this. Church really does provide a great community. I'm very curious about what a secula

I am not religious, but regularly attend my wife's church. I agree with this. Church really does provide a great community. I'm very curious about what a secular alternative to church would even look like. I get to meet people of all ages from all kinds of backgrounds every week. I have made friends of all ages (at least one in 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s). These aren't just people I know, but people that I could call, if needed, and they would help me. People who would gladly come over to my house for dinner. I work from home, and would have little chance to meet new people if it wasn't for church. Its been quite a surprised to me, as an atheist in his 30s that church would become an important part of my life!

Regardsyjc 8y ago
There are churches for atheists. The religious cultural beliefs of a welcome opening community are a huge factor for church but as someone else has mentioned, I think regular planned meetings are also a key factor. I started hosting board games once a month and it made it a lot easier to maintain and grow friendships for everyone. So I would say any group for any activity that meets regularly, whether for video games, books, athletics, etc are also good places to foster friendship.
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  I don't like that idea, or the whole atheism movement - it's like they turned a religion out of not believing, reading Dawkins instead of the bible. What do those churches do / talk about anyway? If it's people going on about why / how they don't believe, it's not for me. Or is it more like a humanistic church?
  - gehwartzen 8y ago
    Can't speak for OP but I too attend my wife's church pretty frequently. I'm probably more agnostic than an atheist but have found her UU (Unitarian Universalist) church pretty welcoming and found a ton of like minded folks there. I wouldn't call it an atheist church but lots of self described atheist attend. The basic tenants or '6 principles' that the church holds are all things I subscribe to in my personal beliefs anyway (basically respect other people) and most of the sermons are fairy interesting and cover lots of different religions, philosophies, and ideas (bonus: the whole thing wraps up in under an hour!). There are tons of smaller groups that meet outside of regular services to discuss everything from Christianity to Hinduism as well as more general philosophy and social work. As well as things such as neighborhood groups, parenting groups, gardening groups.
flukus 8y ago
> I'm very curious about what a secular alternative to church would even look like For me sports clubs fill that niche. From my local lawn bowls club I meet people of all ages, the oldest member is 84, the youngest are kids of parents and there is everything in between and from all walks of life. You can do this without even playing sport but if you participate you can meet an even wider range of people. Much of this activity is centered around various sports and the bar of course. If that's not your deal then there are all sorts of other local communities, you just have to look.
- unixhero 8y ago
  Is that in Aussie mate?
exolymph 8y ago
ctrl+F "church" in this essay https://samzdat.com/2017/05/22/man-as-a-rationalist-animal/ https://samzdat.com/2017/05/22/man-as-a-rationalist-animal/ there is no exact alternative, because the church-ness is an essential element

Regardsyjc 8y ago

There are churches for atheists. The religious cultural beliefs of a welcome opening community are a huge factor for church but as someone else has mentioned, I think regular planned meetings are also a key factor. I started hosting board games once a month and it made it a lot easier to maintain and grow friendships for everyone. So I would say any group for any activity that meets regularly, whether for video games, books, athletics, etc are also good places to foster friendship.

Cthulhu_ 8y ago
I don't like that idea, or the whole atheism movement - it's like they turned a religion out of not believing, reading Dawkins instead of the bible. What do those churches do / talk about anyway? If it's people going on about why / how they don't believe, it's not for me. Or is it more like a humanistic church?
- gehwartzen 8y ago
  Can't speak for OP but I too attend my wife's church pretty frequently. I'm probably more agnostic than an atheist but have found her UU (Unitarian Universalist) church pretty welcoming and found a ton of like minded folks there. I wouldn't call it an atheist church but lots of self described atheist attend. The basic tenants or '6 principles' that the church holds are all things I subscribe to in my personal beliefs anyway (basically respect other people) and most of the sermons are fairy interesting and cover lots of different religions, philosophies, and ideas (bonus: the whole thing wraps up in under an hour!). There are tons of smaller groups that meet outside of regular services to discuss everything from Christianity to Hinduism as well as more general philosophy and social work. As well as things such as neighborhood groups, parenting groups, gardening groups.

flukus 8y ago

> I'm very curious about what a secular alternative to church would even look like For me sports clubs fill that niche. From my local lawn bowls club I meet people of all ages, the oldest member is 84, the youngest are kids of parents and there is everything in between and from all walks of life. You can do this without even playing sport but if you participate you can meet an even wider range of people. Much of this activity is centered around various sports and the bar of course. If that's not your deal then there are all sorts of other local communities, you just have to look.

unixhero 8y ago
Is that in Aussie mate?

exolymph 8y ago

ctrl+F "church" in this essay https://samzdat.com/2017/05/22/man-as-a-rationalist-animal/ https://samzdat.com/2017/05/22/man-as-a-rationalist-animal/ there is no exact alternative, because the church-ness is an essential element