4 ms·

As one of these unaffiliated I actually think it is kind of sad in some ways that religion is so tied to shared origin stories (of earth, mankind etc) because I

by jjcon 5y ago

As one of these unaffiliated I actually think it is kind of sad in some ways that religion is so tied to shared origin stories (of earth, mankind etc) because I want many of the other things religion offers in my life: community, philosophizing about the big questions, shared guidelines on how to live a good life etc etc. It just so happens I don't believe in much of a god so it is hard to participate. We figured out that many of the origin stories were incorrect so we tossed the whole thing without replacing the actually crucial components.

andai 5y ago
I spent a few weeks living with religious relatives. While it wasn't really my thing, I was impressed by how it brings the community together (they met twice a week) and by the heavy emphasis on morality (even if I disagreed on the particulars). I feel like we've really lost something. I suppose the regular meetings thing exists today with most clubs, but clubs are way more niche -- it used to be that the whole village got together every week. Though I suppose the same was true (weekly meetings in a town hall) of Viking society before Christianization.
- theplumber 5y ago
  >>it used to be that the whole village got together every week It'a a good thing until you end-up being excluded from that big community which means excluded any kind of social life or even worse(i.e killed with stones). I say: good riddance of that kind of community! More niche communities are better because you have more choices and less powerful community leaders.
  - jimbokun 5y ago
    You can be ostracized from those other communities just as easily.
    - nnf 5y ago
      Sure, but the point is that they’re niche, so if you get ostracized from one, you can seek other communities. It doesn’t work that way if there’s just one community in your village.
- somethoughts 5y ago
  This could be of interest for those in Silicon Valley: http://www.humanists.org/blog/ http://www.humanists.org/blog/
- jimbokun 5y ago
  Clubs have largely disappeared, too. We live in an atomized society, largely devoid of any kind of community.
  - paulryanrogers 5y ago
    That hasn't been my experience. Rather clubs have formed more loosely around common, nonreligious interests. Now in the COVID era even more are online.
colanderman 5y ago
If you haven't had the chance to check it out, Unitarian Universalism [1] is pretty much what you describe -- community and support for figuring out life's big stuff, without being tied to a creed. It is perfectly acceptable to be an atheist UU member. If you are in the northeast US there are many congregations around here. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism
- zionic 5y ago
  I don’t trust unitologists, they’re always up to something
  - 0des 5y ago
    Like what? I've never met one.
    - saxonww 5y ago
      This was a joke, Unitology is a religious movement in the Dead Space series of games.
- jjcon 5y ago
  Thanks for the rec, don't know too much about them, something to look into
biophysboy 5y ago
Unfortunately, the high-demand religions with explicit origin stories are the ones that maintain their membership numbers, whereas the more open religions are seeing their communities disintegrate more quickly.

by jjcon 5y ago

andai 5y ago

I spent a few weeks living with religious relatives. While it wasn't really my thing, I was impressed by how it brings the community together (they met twice a week) and by the heavy emphasis on morality (even if I disagreed on the particulars). I feel like we've really lost something. I suppose the regular meetings thing exists today with most clubs, but clubs are way more niche -- it used to be that the whole village got together every week. Though I suppose the same was true (weekly meetings in a town hall) of Viking society before Christianization.

theplumber 5y ago
>>it used to be that the whole village got together every week It'a a good thing until you end-up being excluded from that big community which means excluded any kind of social life or even worse(i.e killed with stones). I say: good riddance of that kind of community! More niche communities are better because you have more choices and less powerful community leaders.
- jimbokun 5y ago
  You can be ostracized from those other communities just as easily.
  - nnf 5y ago
    Sure, but the point is that they’re niche, so if you get ostracized from one, you can seek other communities. It doesn’t work that way if there’s just one community in your village.
somethoughts 5y ago
This could be of interest for those in Silicon Valley: http://www.humanists.org/blog/ http://www.humanists.org/blog/
jimbokun 5y ago
Clubs have largely disappeared, too. We live in an atomized society, largely devoid of any kind of community.
- paulryanrogers 5y ago
  That hasn't been my experience. Rather clubs have formed more loosely around common, nonreligious interests. Now in the COVID era even more are online.

colanderman 5y ago

If you haven't had the chance to check it out, Unitarian Universalism [1] is pretty much what you describe -- community and support for figuring out life's big stuff, without being tied to a creed. It is perfectly acceptable to be an atheist UU member. If you are in the northeast US there are many congregations around here. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarian_Universalism

zionic 5y ago
I don’t trust unitologists, they’re always up to something
- 0des 5y ago
  Like what? I've never met one.
  - saxonww 5y ago
    This was a joke, Unitology is a religious movement in the Dead Space series of games.
jjcon 5y ago
Thanks for the rec, don't know too much about them, something to look into

biophysboy 5y ago

Unfortunately, the high-demand religions with explicit origin stories are the ones that maintain their membership numbers, whereas the more open religions are seeing their communities disintegrate more quickly.