1st Atheist Church

[Potatoes]

This just doesn't make sense to me, does anyone who understands what the hell this is about care to explain:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-213258...

I just don't get it, they're atheists but are replicating a religious ceremony... why?! I don't get it. I'm troubled by this... Don't know why but I am.

I did a search for this using google but could not find a similar subject.

[scottdd]

It is a get together for people with similar Athiest views where they can have a karaoke and a laugh.

No different to people who like motoring talking on this forum or going to a car meet.

[Kitchski]

It's either to make the point that you can join together with people and talk about life, exploration and experiences without having to base it all on an invisible friend, or they're trying to rub up religious people. I'm athiest as they come (science has taught us far too much not to be IMO), yet I get annoyed by some extreme athiesm as it seems set out to deliberately get under the noses of religous people. The whole point of athiesm is thinking for yourself, independant of what others say or do.

Though I'm not sure what it's got to do with cars!

[chrisw75]

swerni said:

What car do they drive?

^^ this

[GadgeS3C]

If religious ceremonies did not exist it would be necessary for man to invent them...

[Caulkhead]

Potatoes said:

This just doesn't make sense to me, does anyone who understands what the hell this is about care to explain:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-213258...

I just don't get it, they're atheists but are replicating a religious ceremony... why?! I don't get it. I'm troubled by this... Don't know why but I am.

I did a search for this using google but could not find a similar subject.

It's like vegetarians wanting food that mimics meat so they don't feel left out and similarly daft.

[Johnnytheboy]

"Now let's all get drunk and play ping pong."

[Ozzie Osmond]

Kitchski said:

The whole point of athiesm is thinking for yourself, independant of what others say or do.

IMO atheism is about accepting, as Donald Rumsfeld might have put it, that there are "known unknowns" without feeling the necessity to make something up. Dawkins famously used the expression "God of the gaps" to cover this area. Put at the simplest he is a severe critic of making stuff up just because the question is interesting and you don't know the answer!

[AJS-]

It looks like a way for a comedian to boost his profile to me.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Richard Dawkins also said that organising atheists is like herding cats. That sums me up perfectly. As an atheist, I have no wish to join a club where I gather with other atheists. Straight away my sceptic's alarm starts sounding. How much is the joining fee, who's getting the money etc.

And what would I have in common with them, other than a lack of belief in god/s. We don't have a shared belief in something to give us a common moral code. A group of Christians are likely to share a similar view on behavioural standards, family values, what constitutes decency etc. A group of atheists would all have totally differering views on all of that from each other.

Sorry, it's not for me.

[Halmyre]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Richard Dawkins also said that organising atheists is like herding cats. That sums me up perfectly. As an atheist, I have no wish to join a club where I gather with other atheists. Straight away my sceptic's alarm starts sounding. How much is the joining fee, who's getting the money etc.

And what would I have in common with them, other than a lack of belief in god/s. We don't have a shared belief in something to give us a common moral code. A group of Christians are likely to share a similar view on behavioural standards, family values, what constitutes decency etc. A group of atheists would all have totally differering views on all of that from each other.

Sorry, it's not for me.

Agreed. And as Marx (Groucho) once said, I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member.

[Captain Muppet]

Halmyre said:

Agreed. And as Marx (Groucho) once said, I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member.

I'm assuming that was your last ever post.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Very good!

[Robb F]

Kitchski said:

The whole point of athiesm is thinking for yourself, independant of what others say or do.

There is no point to athesism, it is the state of not being religious. It is just opting out.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Robb F said:

Kitchski said:

The whole point of athiesm is thinking for yourself, independant of what others say or do.

There is no point to athesism, it is the state of not being religious. It is just opting out.

Exactly. Most atheists are independent thinkers, becasue they've rejected their parents' religion. But not all. If you have atheist parents, you might just be an atheist because you blindly follow them. You can be a dependent, non thinking, complient, clueless idiot who just doesn't believe in god.

[BoRED S2upid]

This used to happen in pubs back in the day.

[AJS-]

Robb F said:

There is no point to athesism, it is the state of not being religious. It is just opting out.

Or even not opting in.

[Halmyre]

Captain Muppet said:

I'm assuming that was your last ever post.

Hah ha, er, well, I don't see PH as a club; more like the bar in "Road House".

[Art0ir]

Not really that extraordinary, the Church of Satan celebrate High Mass even though they're atheist.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Art0ir said:

Not really that extraordinary, the Church of Satan celebrate High Mass even though they're atheist.

Debateable. In effect, these particular crackpots believe that the individual memebers are
their own god. So they have thousands of gods.

Also, although they say they don't believe in the supernatural, they do believe in magic. Magic is a supernatural phenomina so whilst claiming they don't believe in god, they do believe in the a supernatural force. Which could be the definition of a god.

It's all very strange.