This a little wierd?

wobbles-grogan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21319945 wrote:

An "atheist church" in North London is proving a big hit with non-believers. Does it feel a bit like a new religion?

Not many sermons include the message that we are all going to die and there is no after life.

But the Sunday Assembly is no ordinary church service.

Launched last month, as a gathering for non-believers, it is, in the words of master of ceremonies Sanderson Jones, "part foot-stomping show, part atheist church, all celebration of life".

A congregation of more than 300 crowded into the shell of a deconsecrated church to join the celebration on Sunday morning.

So, a group of people whom have similar beliefs meet up regularly to discuss said beliefs.
Ironic isnt it?

davet82

wobbles-grogan wrote: »

Ironic isnt it?

Yes, yes it is

Vicar in a tutu

probably about 50 neckbeards sitting around circle w@nking.:eek::eek::eek::D:D:eek::eek::eek:

Genghiz Cohen

Vicar in a tutu wrote: »

probably about 50 neckbeards sitting around circle w@nking.:eek::eek::eek::D:D:eek::eek::eek:

Reading skill: 5%
Smiley overuse: 350%

AnonoBoy

part foot-stomping show, part atheist church, all celebration of life

So it's a.... nightclub then?

Turtyturd

It's only wierd when they start donating money.

wobbles-grogan

Vicar in a tutu wrote: »

probably about 50 neckbeards sitting around circle w@nking.:eek::eek::eek::D:D:eek::eek::eek:

Are those smileys meant to give us an image of the faces in the circle?

whiskeyman

I find the amount of people who misspell 'weird' weird...

Celly Smunt

Sounds more humanist than athiest.Im fairly sure attending sermons isn't athiest,by their logic,me going out at the weekend is a sermon.

B.A._Baracus

But dont tell me... they still pass around the collection plate right?

orestes

wobbles-grogan wrote: »

So, a group of people whom have similar beliefs meet up regularly to discuss said beliefs.
Ironic isnt it?

How is it ironic? Or do you consider every political/scientific/humanitarian/trade/hobby/sci-fi convention to be a church?

Oranage2

We should probably keep a tab on these fundamental atheists, sounds like they could be dangerous.

Turtyturd

whiskeyman wrote: »

I find the amount of people who misspell 'weird' weird...

Take it as a criticism of the Irish education system ( i before e...) and boards inability to correct words spelt wrongly.

Celly Smunt

orestes wrote: »

How is it ironic? Or do you consider every political/scientific/humanitarian/trade/hobby/sci-fi convention to be a church?

a group organising congregations for the celebration of spiritual matter is in my view a church.

Vicar in a tutu

Seriously though, they're doing no harm.. It's ironic alright, but if they share the same views it could be nice to discuss them with like minded people. Although I've no idea what they have to discuss:o

harney

There is only one church worth going to on a Sunday in London

http://thechurchlondon.com

orestes

pmcmahon wrote: »

a group organising congregations for the celebration of spiritual matter is in my view a church.

So addiction groups like AA, pagans meeting at stonehenge to celebrate the solstice and philosophy courses are churches too?

Celly Smunt

orestes wrote: »

So addiction groups like AA and philosophy courses are churches too?

you'll find a lot of AA's are run by religious groups.Philosophy courses are educational not establishments.

Hoop66

pmcmahon wrote: »

a group organising congregations for the celebration of spiritual matter is in my view a church.

Surely the fact that the group is atheist, suggests that they are not celebrating spiritual matters?

orestes

pmcmahon wrote: »

you'll find a lot of AA's are run by religious groups.Philosophy courses are educational not an establishment.

AA is an autonomous group with zero connection to any church or religion. Some addiction treatments are run by religious establishments, but not none of them are AA.

Celly Smunt

Hoop66 wrote: »

Surely the fact that the group is atheist, suggests that they are not celebrating spiritual matters?

"celebration of life",that's humanist.

My name is URL

Is it a coincidence that Sanderson Jones is the image of Jaysus?

Vicar in a tutu

orestes wrote: »

So addiction groups like AA, pagans meeting at stonehenge to celebrate the solstice and philosophy courses are churches too?

AA is all about a higher power etc, very religious. An addiction to to replace another addiction.

biko

It's like filling a soccer stadium with people and not have a game on.
Just stupid imo.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

orestes wrote: »

AA is an autonomous group with zero connection to any church or religion.

http://www.alcoholicsanonymous.ie/Information-on-AA/The-Twelve-Steps

orestes

Vicar in a tutu wrote: »

AA is all about a higher power etc, very religious. An addiction to to replace another addiction.

AA is not religious, it's a spiritual program, not connected to any church or religion whatsoever. Just because something spiritual does not make it a church. And, since when is atheism a spiritual belief anyway? Surely it's the opposite, which was my original point - a gathering of people to discuss a common belief is by no means a church.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

http://www.alcoholicsanonymous.ie/Information-on-AA/The-Twelve-Steps

The key phrase is god as we understood him, a person in AA can choose anything greater than themselves as their higher power, whether it is god, AA itself, their pet, their family, etc. It's not associated with any church or religion at all.

Second bullet point in this link: http://www.alcoholicsanonymous.ie/download/1/questions.pdf

danniemcq

at this stage militant Athiests are getting more annoying than militant Christians.

except with christians you can have a decent arguement and both can come away feeling good and show a general respect for each other.

These athiests though are so far up their own fecking arse at this stage thinking that because they are to smart and clever to fall for a belief of a god and that anyone could be that stupid.

People should be free to practice their own beliefs in private so if they want to start a group let them work away but do it quietly ffs

by the way the quiet bit goes for all religions. Doesn't the bible say something like do not met the right hand know what the left hand does when you give to charity and that those who scream their religious beliefs will have their reward but those who do it in private will be welcomed to kingdom of heaven

and yes i know they aren't the correct quotes but i'm to lazy to look them up right now

Celly Smunt

orestes wrote: »

AA is an autonomous group with zero connection to any church or religion. .

ehh..thats not right

danniemcq

danniemcq wrote: »

at this stage militant Athiests are getting more annoying than militant Christians.

People should be free to practice their own beliefs in private so if they want to start a group let them work away but do it quietly ffs

So an atheist group being an atheist group makes them militant and very annoying even though people should be allowed have their own groups.

tfitzgerald

biko wrote: »

It's like filling a soccer stadium with people and not have a game on.
Just stupid imo.

LOL. I agree

HTML5!

Atheists banging on about being atheists and there being no God or afterlife etc. are as boring and irrelevant to me as the next religion.

Hoop66

danniemcq wrote: »

People should be free to practice their own beliefs in private so if they want to start a group let them work away but do it quietly ffs

In the same way that mainstream religion is practised without any fuss or bother? Sure you'd hardly know they were there.

Micky Dolenz

Is there anything these Atheists aren't capable of? The mad yokes.

orestes

pmcmahon wrote: »

ehh..thats not right

Really? What church or religion is AA associated with?

danniemcq

Hoop66 wrote: »

In the same way that mainstream religion is practised without any fuss or bother? Sure you'd hardly know they were there.

think you missed the second part of my post

by the way the quiet bit goes for all religions. Doesn't the bible say something like do not met the right hand know what the left hand does when you give to charity and that those who scream their religious beliefs will have their reward but those who do it in private will be welcomed to kingdom of heaven

danniemcq

bluewolf wrote: »

So an atheist group being an atheist group makes them militant and very annoying even though people should be allowed have their own groups.

no i did say some in the same way that some religious people are militant (watch jesus camp)

my issue is with those who people know are Athiests. If you are an Athiest what point is there in telling someone else.

Its like the iphone joke. how do you know someone has an iphone, they tell you. I get the same with athiests, i don't think i ever had someone tell me in a converstaion that they were jewish/catholic/protestant etc

wobbles-grogan

orestes wrote: »

How is it ironic? Or do you consider every political/scientific/humanitarian/trade/hobby/sci-fi convention to be a church?

No, I dont. Its just that a group of atheists (<gross generalization> People who dont believe in a higher power </gross generalization>)
get together to discuss things they believe in (or dont believe in, as the case may be).
Getting together to discuss things the group believes in is usually resigned to the land of religion.

I believe this may be the definition of ironic.

Anyone else believe this is the meaning of ironic want to meet up?

My name is URL

orestes wrote: »

Really? What church or religion is AA associated with?

It's intrinsically linked to theism in general. It requires people to accept that a God exists, even if it's worded in a woolly headed way like "as we understand Him", and it asks people to believe that he will be the one that helps them beat alcoholism.

Procasinator

pmcmahon wrote: »

Sounds more humanist than athiest.Im fairly sure attending sermons isn't athiest,by their logic,me going out at the weekend is a sermon.

Being a humanist group does not preclude it from being an atheist group, unless they are aligning their humanist views with ones rooted in theism.

The sermon was the BBC language from what I can tell, they never label it as such on the Sunday Assembly website.

They don't seem to label themselves at all really, only calling themselves a Godless congregation.

orestes

My name is URL wrote: »

It's intrinsically linked to theism in general. It requires people to accept that a God exists, even if it's worded in a woolly headed way like "as we understand Him", and it asks people to believe that he will be the one that helps them beat alcoholism.

So in what way was I not right when I said AA isn't connected to any church or religion?

smash

I believe!!!!!


no, wait....

Dravokivich

What's next a periodical? Bet the editors of Alive are shaking in their boots now.

Dj Grimreefer

I tried to join but they believed I didn't belong there

kylith

It seems to be a group of likeminded people getting together to discuss what they have in common. How is that weird? You only think it's weird because they're called a 'church' in the paper, though I suppose "Group of People Meet To Discuss Common Interests and Experiences" doesn't sell as many papers...

Adyx

kylith wrote: »

It seems to be a group of likeminded people getting together to discuss what they have in common. How is that weird? You only think it's weird because they're called a 'church' in the paper, though I suppose "Group of People Meet To Discuss Common Interests and Experiences" doesn't sell as many papers...

It's described as part atheist church by the master of ceremonies. That's where the paper got it from. Like-minded people getting together to talk about common interests isn't weird obviously.

Personally, I honestly don't see what there is to talk about regarding atheism. Organised atheism sounds as bad as organised religion.

My name is URL

orestes wrote: »

So in what way was I not right when I said AA isn't connected to any church or religion?

I never said you were wrong about it not being connect to any particular church, but it's disingenuous to say that it isn't connected to religion. It relies heavily upon the religiosity of those partaking in the program.

orestes

My name is URL wrote: »

I never said you were wrong about it not being connect to any particular church, but it's disingenuous to say that it isn't connected to religion. It relies heavily upon the religiosity of those partaking in the program.

How can it be a religious program if it is not connected to any religion? I said it was a spiritual program, not a religious one, and when other people said I was wrong and that it was explicitly religious I asked them to explain how so. Rather than explaining how it is a religious program the response was "well it's not associated with any actual religion or church, but it's kinda religious in general since it needs people to believe in something bigger than themselves". That's not religion, it's spirituality.

Religion and spirituality are not the same thing, that's my point.

Procasinator

Adyx wrote: »

Personally, I honestly don't see what there is to talk about regarding atheism. Organised atheism sounds as bad as organised religion.

They seem to talk about issues as wide ranging as particle physics to dealing with bereavement. They also have tea afterwards.

It gives people a community that has some of the benefits of a church group without the actual religion.

Doesn't really sound all that bad to me.

krudler

danniemcq wrote: »

at this stage militant Athiests are getting more annoying than militant Christians.

except with christians you can have a decent arguement and both can come away feeling good and show a general respect for each other.

These athiests though are so far up their own fecking arse at this stage thinking that because they are to smart and clever to fall for a belief of a god and that anyone could be that stupid.

People should be free to practice their own beliefs in private so if they want to start a group let them work away but do it quietly ffs

by the way the quiet bit goes for all religions. Doesn't the bible say something like do not met the right hand know what the left hand does when you give to charity and that those who scream their religious beliefs will have their reward but those who do it in private will be welcomed to kingdom of heaven

and yes i know they aren't the correct quotes but i'm to lazy to look them up right now

Atheism, the arrogant belief that the entire universe wasn't created just for your species.

Adyx

Procasinator wrote: »

They seem to talk about issues as wide ranging as particle physics to dealing with bereavement . They also have tea afterwards.

It gives people a community that has some of the benefits of a church group without the actual religion.

Doesn't really sound all that bad to me.

Oh, I agree. It does sound interesting. But I don't see a need to bring religion or lack thereof into it. That's just me though.

kylith

Adyx wrote: »

It's described as part atheist church by the master of ceremonies. That's where the paper got it from. Like-minded people getting together to talk about common interests isn't weird obviously.

Personally, I honestly don't see what there is to talk about regarding atheism. Organised atheism sounds as bad as organised religion.

My mistake. In that case, he's being very silly. 'Church' is defined as 'a building...organisation of Christian worship'. I can only assume that he's trying to be humourous.