Can an Atheist Church Make Nonbelievers Nicer?

[egodfather]

The proposition of God cannot be disproved. But we can say with a high degree of certainty that all of Earth's religions are man-made, and therefore fake. An atheist simply looks at evidence, and cares about the truth through the mode of reason, logic, analytical scholarly discourse, debate....
I mean there's 7 billion people on this tiny planet and around 1 in 7 believe in Islam. I find that to be a disturbing ratio.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

[QUOTE]

I dont know how you got that from reading the article.
I thought it was very clear that the idea of an atheist church was a social meeting place where people form a community and focus on uplifting, inspirational stuff.


He didnt say believing in God makes people happier, but that attending church has a positive impact on people because it brings people together, and helps people meditate on positivity.

Actually he did:

by Harry Cheadle
Lately, I’ve been wondering if I missed out on anything by not attending services. I’m not really worried about the lack of God in my life, since God doesn’t exist. But it’s possible that by skipping church, I was leaving behind a community and a support network I could have had. Since I’m an atheist, I’ll base this claim on data: studies have shown that those who go to church are happier, more optimistic, and healthier than others; attending religious services helps kids fight depression and by some (admittedly biased) accounts makes people more charitable.

Now before you say "attended church" and "belief in god are two separate things, I have seen the same exact study done for belief. Which is what it's more correlated to.

IMO i think its a good idea but dont see it catching on. People would rather be with friends, family or watching sports on a pub. Plus atheists who are very anti-religious are put off by it seeming too church-like. Anything that even resembles religion they are hostile towards. They would rather belittle people online.

My point is that he correlates the idea that church is a positive motivating factor and insinuates that atheists aren't nice people. I'm saying that you don't need some meeting place to make you happy and that atheists aren't angry, just angry that for their entire life someone or some thing has forced a belief on them in every aspect of their lives.

So when you challenge that, they immediately get offended.

[Suavecito80]

How can atheist have a church????

[RajahBell]

How can atheist have a church????

Here is a video of what the church looks like. It was part of the article. There is a lot of females attending. Maybe they're looking for a nice Atheist boy who share their non-belief. AtheistMingle anyone?

[The Noose]

Actually he did:



Now before you say "attended church" and "belief in god are two separate things, I have seen the same exact study done for belief. Which is what it's more correlated to.





My point is that he correlates the idea that church is a positive motivating factor and insinuates that atheists aren't nice people. I'm saying that you don't need some meeting place to make you happy and that atheists aren't angry, just angry that for their entire life someone or some thing has forced a belief on them in every aspect of their lives.

So when you challenge that, they immediately get offended.

I think he makes it clear that in his opinion, it was the community offered by attending church that had the positive impact. He may be wrong, and that the studies, as you say, correlate happiness with belief in God rather than just attending church. So maybe he shouldnt have mentioned those studies, but he still felt he was missing out on that social gathering.

And i dont believe he thinks atheists are angry and not nice. He himself is an atheist and the article is about atheists coming together not just to attack religion. It does seem to me that when you look online, or even in this forum, most 'atheist threads' are anti-religious mockery. So i think it is more about saying atheism isnt anti-religion, and attacking religion all the time is a waste of time. its better to focus on more positive things.

Plus it seems that now its the atheists who are offended just as easily as religious people.

[cupocity303]

I think he makes it clear that in his opinion, it was the community offered by attending church that had the positive impact. He may be wrong, and that the studies, as you say, correlate happiness with belief in God rather than just attending church. So maybe he shouldnt have mentioned those studies, but he still felt he was missing out on that social gathering.

And i dont believe he thinks atheists are angry and not nice. He himself is an atheist and the article is about atheists coming together not just to attack religion. It does seem to me that when you look online, or even in this forum, most 'atheist threads' are anti-religious mockery. So i think it is more about saying atheism isnt anti-religion, and attacking religion all the time is a waste of time. its better to focus on more positive things.

Plus it seems that now its the atheists who are offended just as easily as religious people.

A-Theism. The opposite of Theism. That's all it is; an identity word, a statement. You can use it to argue away against religious folk, make a statement in your social network profile, your social circle, to your friends etc,.

I use 'non-religious' on many internet profiles (I.E. dating site). It's not combative and it hints that you're simply not interested in religion, and don't risk giving anyone the wrong impression since the word Atheism has a lot of bad (albeit false) connotations to it. Plenty of 'non-religious' folk out there even if they still self-identify as a Jew, Christian or whatever their family religion is. 'Non-religious' is the equivalent to 'Not interested in politics', instead of naming your political affiliation or ideology right out of the gate, like you're wearing it on your sleeve and risk alienating people. It's not necessary and not everyone needs to know.

Now anonymously on the interwebs (forums like this, Facebook group pages), it's a different story:



And I'm a part of it.

[The Noose]

A-Theism. The opposite of Theism. That's all it is; an identity word, a statement. You can use it to argue away against religious folk, make a statement in your social network profile, your social circle, to your friends etc,.

I use 'non-religious' on many internet profiles (I.E. dating site). It's not combative and it hints that you're simply not interested in religion, and don't risk giving anyone the wrong impression since the word Atheism has a lot of bad (albeit false) connotations to it. Plenty of 'non-religious' folk out there even if they still self-identify as a Jew, Christian or whatever their family religion is. 'Non-religious' is the equivalent to 'Not interested in politics', instead of naming your political affiliation or ideology right out of the gate, like you're wearing it on your sleeve and risk alienating people. It's not necessary and not everyone needs to know.

Now anonymously on the interwebs (forums like this, Facebook group pages), it's a different story:



And I'm a part of it.

I agree, but i dont see what that has to do with my post.

[cupocity303]

I agree, but i dont see what that has to do with my post.

I was specifically thinking about this part of your post when I wrote that:

It does seem to me that when you look online, or even in this forum, most 'atheist threads' are anti-religious mockery. So i think it is more about saying atheism isnt anti-religion, and attacking religion all the time is a waste of time. its better to focus on more positive things.

And I'm saying, NO!!! If you call yourself an Atheist, you're making a statement and you're ready to back it up, via heated argument's/debate or just plain bash some religious-wingnut ass. That's ALL IT IS. Otherwise, you might as well call yourself 'non-religious' (as I suggested) and get on with your 'positive' life.

Atheism isn't tattooed on anybodies forehead (well there are always exceptions).

[cupocity303]

So in conclusion Noose,

I disagree with your soft stance on Atheism. It's not that big of a deal. Lets just save that crap for the professional self-promoters like S.E. Cupp, who are pushing book sales.

If you self-identify as an Atheist, tussling with religious people in your spare time is the only thing to get out of it. Squealpiggy is a damn role model for that.

[Jim Jeffries]

He didnt say believing in God makes people happier, but that attending church has a positive impact on people because it brings people together, and helps people meditate on positivity.

Actually he did:

by Harry Cheadle
But it’s possible that by skipping church, I was leaving behind a community and a support network I could have had. Since I’m an atheist, I’ll base this claim on data: studies have shown that those who go to church are happier, more optimistic, and healthier than others; attending religious services helps kids fight depression and by some (admittedly biased) accounts makes people more charitable.

Quiteamuck, it is exchanges like this that make it difficult for me to believe your claim that no one has ever called you stupid.

Anyhow, religion has never been my cup of tea and I attended quite a variety growing up. But my experience with religious people has been a fair bit more positive than with other non believers like myself, so the author just might have a point.