4 ms·

Church. If you have never been religious before: go to a Catholic church. They exist almost specifically to solve this problem.

bckr 5y ago
Unitarian Universalist is another option.
- raphlinus 5y ago
  As is Quaker meeting. I'm deeply involved in mine, and it has been essential for my emotional well-being over (at least) the past couple years.
  - undershirt 5y ago
    Can you share more about what Quaker meetings are like?
adzm 5y ago
Worth mentioning that I know a surprisingly high number of atheist Catholics.
- CitrusFruits 5y ago
  I'm curious, is this someone who goes through the liturgy but doesn't have a faith?
  - MattGaiser 5y ago
    Essentially. I know a bunch in other religions as well as it is their social group.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      It took me a long time to reconcile how people can claim they belong to a religion, yet proclaim their assumptions are contrary to said religion as well as exhibit inconsistent behavior. I was probably almost mid 20s before I realized people simply need an excuse to form and maintain tribal bonds, similar to how a birthday, anniversary, house warming, or other ritual provides an excuse to get together. I wish someone had explained this to me sooner.
  - nfw2 5y ago
    Yeah, most of my mom’s family is like this. They don’t believe in most on the heaven and hell stuff literally but see Catholicism as part of their cultural identity as Irish-Americans
  - ptrklly 5y ago
    Not sure if this the same experience as the person you asked the question of, but I went to Catholic school growing up, altar boy, youth group, the whole works. And I'd consider myself atheist, or agnostic maybe is better. But I call myself "culturally Catholic" because so much of how I grew up is still a part of me: a focus on finding universality in experience ("catholic" christian historically grew out of an attempt to find universality in the christian belief, and I think today amid globalization it still does that remarkably well); an impulse toward social justice; a tolerance of hypocrisy and inconsistency. And like the prior poster said, many/most Catholics disagree with the Pope--I think something like 85% of American Catholics disagree with the official views on birth control and abortion and homosexuality--but that doesn't stop us from calling ourselves Catholic.
  - Smaug123 5y ago
    Not at all unusual - though I think of it as more common in Judaism, where the cultural heritage is much more important than the religion for many people.
- chadanon 5y ago
  Look up Jonathan Pageau. Also checkout Tom Holland's "Dominion". A "Christian Atheist" is a modern phenomenon, and our materialist culture is the heart of that perspective and one that's deeply misunderstood and flawed. I'd argue St. Paul and other biblical era scholars would find a western atheist not only very Christian, but also having a very childish and ignorant understanding of reality. When everything is a thing, we have no room to see the fractal nature of happenings through time and synchronicity up and down layers of abstraction. Reality is just as much an interactive story between narrative and conscious threads as it is space/time, matter/energy. We've lost the first personal perspective of that with our modern "atheism".
  - undershirt 5y ago
    I just want to say this is a great summary of the predicament of modern atheism. (I watch Pageau’s videos regularly and am halfway through the book Dominion.)
CitrusFruits 5y ago
I agree that this is worth considering. We Christians mess up a whole lot and there's a good share of bad theology out there. But if nothing else we value people, community, and relationships more than the average.
goldenkey 5y ago
This ^. Just meet some random folks and go bowling with them.
MattGaiser 5y ago
A good friend of mine predicts that loneliness will cause a resurgence in religion among Gen Z for this reason.
- dQw4w9WgXcQ 5y ago
  Of course, when times get hard people repent.
viraptor 5y ago
Or find non-religious mass around your area. They exist in many cities now and you don't have to commit to some spiritual idea.
- donatj 5y ago
  Unitarian ones are nice. I’m not very religious but went on sundays for a while just as something to do/an excuse to get out of the house. They don’t care what you believe, and just exist to celebrate each other.
- wincy 5y ago
  I was a part of a non religious “atheist church” group like this until it turned into a polyamorous sex cult and then some people got jealous and metooed the leader, and one of the lead organizers became homeless because of severe mental health issues. It was fun for like a year, though.
  - zentr1c 5y ago
    Rofl
  - derangedHorse 5y ago
    I actually find this experience super interesting. I didn't know things like that existed and looked skimmed the article for Sunday Assembly to learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Assembly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Assembly
29athrowaway 5y ago
In some places, you attend church with your family and then leave. In some other churches, people get to socialize more.
downrightmike 5y ago
“Blessed are the Nations with High Levels of Schizophrenia”: National Level Schizophrenia Prevalence and Its Relationship with National Levels of Religiosity https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-021-01353-z https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-021-01353-z
undershirt 5y ago
Out of utility, yes, church helps. When I was a non-christian, I tried church but walked out because it felt like a cult. What worked for me instead was just listening to enough Alan Watts to soften my spirituality, then hearing enough intellectual explanations about the Bible from Jordan Peterson's Bible lecture series, Jonathan Pageau's videos on symbolism, or Bible Project explainer videos. Then Church started making sense that the utility started meshing with its meaning.
square_usual 5y ago
More generally speaking, it is very likely that your cultural background has some link to a religious association. It could be a church, but it could also be a temple or a mosque or a synagogue. It is likely that the people there will receive you with kindness and warmth, although it may not be for you especially if you're gay/trans.

bckr 5y ago

Unitarian Universalist is another option.

raphlinus 5y ago
As is Quaker meeting. I'm deeply involved in mine, and it has been essential for my emotional well-being over (at least) the past couple years.
- undershirt 5y ago
  Can you share more about what Quaker meetings are like?

adzm 5y ago

Worth mentioning that I know a surprisingly high number of atheist Catholics.

CitrusFruits 5y ago
I'm curious, is this someone who goes through the liturgy but doesn't have a faith?
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  Essentially. I know a bunch in other religions as well as it is their social group.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    It took me a long time to reconcile how people can claim they belong to a religion, yet proclaim their assumptions are contrary to said religion as well as exhibit inconsistent behavior. I was probably almost mid 20s before I realized people simply need an excuse to form and maintain tribal bonds, similar to how a birthday, anniversary, house warming, or other ritual provides an excuse to get together. I wish someone had explained this to me sooner.
- nfw2 5y ago
  Yeah, most of my mom’s family is like this. They don’t believe in most on the heaven and hell stuff literally but see Catholicism as part of their cultural identity as Irish-Americans
- ptrklly 5y ago
  Not sure if this the same experience as the person you asked the question of, but I went to Catholic school growing up, altar boy, youth group, the whole works. And I'd consider myself atheist, or agnostic maybe is better. But I call myself "culturally Catholic" because so much of how I grew up is still a part of me: a focus on finding universality in experience ("catholic" christian historically grew out of an attempt to find universality in the christian belief, and I think today amid globalization it still does that remarkably well); an impulse toward social justice; a tolerance of hypocrisy and inconsistency. And like the prior poster said, many/most Catholics disagree with the Pope--I think something like 85% of American Catholics disagree with the official views on birth control and abortion and homosexuality--but that doesn't stop us from calling ourselves Catholic.
- Smaug123 5y ago
  Not at all unusual - though I think of it as more common in Judaism, where the cultural heritage is much more important than the religion for many people.
chadanon 5y ago
Look up Jonathan Pageau. Also checkout Tom Holland's "Dominion". A "Christian Atheist" is a modern phenomenon, and our materialist culture is the heart of that perspective and one that's deeply misunderstood and flawed. I'd argue St. Paul and other biblical era scholars would find a western atheist not only very Christian, but also having a very childish and ignorant understanding of reality. When everything is a thing, we have no room to see the fractal nature of happenings through time and synchronicity up and down layers of abstraction. Reality is just as much an interactive story between narrative and conscious threads as it is space/time, matter/energy. We've lost the first personal perspective of that with our modern "atheism".
- undershirt 5y ago
  I just want to say this is a great summary of the predicament of modern atheism. (I watch Pageau’s videos regularly and am halfway through the book Dominion.)

CitrusFruits 5y ago

I agree that this is worth considering. We Christians mess up a whole lot and there's a good share of bad theology out there. But if nothing else we value people, community, and relationships more than the average.

goldenkey 5y ago

This ^. Just meet some random folks and go bowling with them.

MattGaiser 5y ago

A good friend of mine predicts that loneliness will cause a resurgence in religion among Gen Z for this reason.

dQw4w9WgXcQ 5y ago
Of course, when times get hard people repent.

viraptor 5y ago

Or find non-religious mass around your area. They exist in many cities now and you don't have to commit to some spiritual idea.

donatj 5y ago
Unitarian ones are nice. I’m not very religious but went on sundays for a while just as something to do/an excuse to get out of the house. They don’t care what you believe, and just exist to celebrate each other.
wincy 5y ago
I was a part of a non religious “atheist church” group like this until it turned into a polyamorous sex cult and then some people got jealous and metooed the leader, and one of the lead organizers became homeless because of severe mental health issues. It was fun for like a year, though.
- zentr1c 5y ago
  Rofl
- derangedHorse 5y ago
  I actually find this experience super interesting. I didn't know things like that existed and looked skimmed the article for Sunday Assembly to learn more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Assembly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday_Assembly

29athrowaway 5y ago

In some places, you attend church with your family and then leave. In some other churches, people get to socialize more.

downrightmike 5y ago

“Blessed are the Nations with High Levels of Schizophrenia”: National Level Schizophrenia Prevalence and Its Relationship with National Levels of Religiosity https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-021-01353-z https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-021-01353-z

undershirt 5y ago

Out of utility, yes, church helps. When I was a non-christian, I tried church but walked out because it felt like a cult. What worked for me instead was just listening to enough Alan Watts to soften my spirituality, then hearing enough intellectual explanations about the Bible from Jordan Peterson's Bible lecture series, Jonathan Pageau's videos on symbolism, or Bible Project explainer videos. Then Church started making sense that the utility started meshing with its meaning.

square_usual 5y ago

More generally speaking, it is very likely that your cultural background has some link to a religious association. It could be a church, but it could also be a temple or a mosque or a synagogue. It is likely that the people there will receive you with kindness and warmth, although it may not be for you especially if you're gay/trans.