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Clearly church was a common source of community for people, and the OP makes the point that maybe we haven't found a good replacement for it yet. I wouldn't jus
by eloff 7y ago
Clearly church was a common source of community for people, and the OP makes the point that maybe we haven't found a good replacement for it yet. I wouldn't just dismiss that out of hand, it's a reasonable hypothesis on the surface.
- unchurched 7y agoBut how do you get from that to “we’re lonely because we’re not going to church”?
- nine_k 7y agoChurch services require people to be in the same place at the same time, for the same purpose. Few other activities gather the same people regularly. I can immediately think of narrow social networks (like obscure subreddits), and online games, though.
- pharke 7y agoAlthough those activities lack the factor of physical presence. For a lot of people in modern society the only time they are around others is at work or in public places neither of which have a primary focus on community and fellowship like a church congregation. We desperately need to add more community gatherings that don't exclude people based on skill or ability.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago>require people to be in the same place at the same time, for the same purpose. Otherwise known as the most effective way to build friendships.
- mensetmanusman 7y agoWorld of Warcraft raids are the only one
- eloff 7y agoIsn't the potential connection obvious? If you remove the main source of community and making friendships outside school/college and your workplace, that could definitely lead to loneliness.
- viraptor 7y agoSunday Assembly is getting popular and very much not religious: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/11175092/Britains-atheist-church-now-pulls-in-crowds-from-Berlin-to-Ohio.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/11175092/Br...
- russfink 7y agoWish it were more active in the BALTIMORE / DC area.