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Interesting article describes the rise of atheist churches….it tells me that people join churches for more than just the religious experience. What are those reasons? http://news.yahoo.com/atheist-mega-churches-root-across-us-world-214619648.html The first thing that pops into my mind is community or connection. All over our religion, little groups for connectedness are cropping up. Coffee groups, disaffected member monthly dinner groups, etc. Most human beings don’t like to be alone, we want support. I also am sincerely of the belief that athiests do have a conviction of deity. I know they would fight me on it, but it never ceases to amaze me that when catastrophic issues arise – religion or worship or god-seeking – take place.
Science can answer so many questions and when life is proceeding in a way that we can describe or account for, it’s easy to feel safe in that knowledge, but the minute something passes beyond those boundaries the human soul cries out to something higher.
I imagine that church communities will eventually exist for anyone who is looking for a human hug in life.
I wish I had more time to answer atm. It baffles me why people don’t understand human nature or behavior more. They exist for the same reason ours exist. For the same reason others exist. Their is a really good study with 16 main reason why people are attracted to religion of many kinds.
Your mileage may very but there are 16 main ones identifiable now.
http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/religdes.htmhttp://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/religdes.htm” class=”bbcode_url”> Quote:These basic human needs – which include honor, idealism, curiosity and acceptance – can explain why certain people are attracted to religion, why God images express psychologically opposite qualities, and the relationship between personality and religious experiences.
Previous psychologists tried to explain religion in terms of just one or two overarching psychological needs. The most common reason they cite is that people embrace religion because of a fear of death, as expressed in the saying ‘there are no atheists in foxholes,” Reiss said.
“But religion is multi-faceted – it can’t be reduced to just one or two desires.”
Try to understand peoples needs on a basic level. There is so much in common we all share despite our seeming big differences. If you are interested to understanding have a good read.
Over the past 40 years or so, there has been an erosion of “community” in the United States. With the rise of social media, it seems that there are more little groups that are forming to provide community to like-minded people. I think that this community feeling is one of the major reasons for groups like this. What turinturambar said. I wonder if the primary motivation is irony or making fun of real churches. Anyone who wants a religion free church could go to Unitarians or even Quakers.
The local AC apparently sings corporate rock/AOR numbers like Eye of the Tiger.
Potluck and childcare help.
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