Happy Atheist Forum

How many of you have attended church, a youth group, etc. as an atheist? Did others know you were an atheist? What did you think of the experience?

I have attended a few youth groups with a Christian friend who is fully aware of my views. My last name is Church and when my friend introduced me to others, they said, "Church? Oh, good!". My friend told me this church was progressive and "a lesbian even goes there". However, most people there spoke German (I don't) so it was difficult to gauge their attitudes. Most didn't know I was an atheist; those that did seemed indifferent to me.

I go to church veryy often for weddings, christenings and the occasional funeral. At least my dad and bro know that Im an atheist. The rest, I have no idea (and I dont care really)
nothing interesting happens, those are very "to the letter" ceremonies. I just sit and daydream until its all over

I've been an atheist since 14, and I stopped going to church at 15, but I didn't know there were other atheists on the planet until college.

So yeah, it was awkward.  

I'm still a minor and live with fairly religious parents who I have not yet notified of my lack of belief, so I attend bucketloads of Christian activities and get-togethers.  I even go to a Christian school.  During services I just sit and think about whatever's on my mind.  Before and after them, most talk isn't about anything religious and is just your normal small talk, so I don't have much of a problem.  I usually enjoy chatting with other members of the congregation.  School's a little more difficult because I have to actually participate in conversation about it or listen to students being taught to do/think things that are, in my opinion, very wrong.  In a lot of the things I am involved in discussion about I am able to point out flaws in specific beliefs, though I'm not able to provide an alternative to whatever it is that I've disagreed with because it would require that I divulge my disbelief or that I endorse a view about which I have the similar qualms as the original.

I've made out with a guy in a church...  :hmm:

I politely refuse. Church just pisses me off.

I enjoy singing in public so I can enjoy myself at a church ceremony.  I have the ability to learn a melody by the end of the first verse, by reading the notes and listening to the choir and just opening my mouth and doing my best.  My singing is good enough that it is very common for someone to invite me to join the choir.  If they only knew.

Quote from: "MariaEvri"I just sit and daydream until its all over

That would be easier if they didn't make you stand and sit, stand and sit...
I gotta go now, another hymn is starting.

QuoteOh Lord please don't burn us
don't kill or toast your flock
Don't put us on the barbecue
or simmer us in stock,
Don't bake or baste or boil us
or stir-fry us in a wok.

Oh, please don't lightly poach us
Or baste us with hot fat.
Don't fricassee or roast us
Or boil us in a vat,
And please don't stick thy servants, Lord,
In a Rotissomat"

I have a couple of times to the same church, although I don't know how many were aware I was an atheist, but a few certainly were. Wasn't anything particularly exciting.

About 5 years ago (during a period of my life when I wasn't too sure of my beliefs either way), I prayed to god to let me know he was there. Like a sign or something. Not long after, an old family friend showed up on our doorstep for a visit. We hadn't seen him in years and he had completely changed his life. From a womanising alcoholic to a santa handing out presents to Aids orphans at chirstmas. He was a changed man and he was a catholic.

He told me they were running an Alpha Course (presented by Nicky Gumble) and I felt that, given the prayer, I should give it a chance. Things were fine and people were friendly until I was approached by a man who told me god speaks to him in his dreams. He told me that God was telling him that the church had become tainted by public opinion and had veered off course. He said god had charged him (amongst others) with the responsibility of setting the church right on a whole host of issues regarding women in the church, homosexuality, the way we celebrate christmas and easter, how worship is done, the misuse of praying in tongues and more. This guy had a problem with the way almost everything was being done in the church and tried to recruit me to his cause.

Not long after the attempted recruitment, a senior church member approached me with a warning. He had obviously seen this man and I talking and he said I should avoid contact with him at all costs. He believed this man was possessed by the devil and the other senior members had been trying to get rid of this guy for ages, but he just kept coming back (and "causing trouble" as they put it). Next he started quoting passages from the book of revelations about demonic possession and the end of days to try scare me into not talking to this guy.

Honestly, I've been avoiding contact with that church ever since. Now, I know this is not your run of the mill church story (or is it? maybe more common than I think?) but after this experience I put them all in the "loony" category and moved on with my life. Now, I'm just a happy atheist and glad to be free of religion.

It's a strange experience for me going into a church activity. Internally I get annoyed at how they state things as if they are facts, I also get annoyed how much they talk about God and Jesus. If the activity is a wedding or a funeral then I feel it should be about the people getting married or remembering the person that has died. I want to hear more about them and less about the gods.
I went to an activity where they had international people putting on a performance, song and dance stuff. It was supposed to be non religious so it was good to see the ethnic performances but then between the performances, while the next group were getting ready,  the minister just couldn't help himself and got up on stage and started reciting religious stuff. I found it alienating and annoying.
One wedding I went to was very religious and I was extremely shocked with what the minister and people were saying. My feeling was that you had to be extremely immersed into religion to not be taken aback by this stuff. It seemed quite cult oriented and I was surprised that a couple of my well educated friends could be this much into it.

If it is a non Christian thing, e.g. Hindi or Bhudist then I am more interested because I don't understand the detail and find it a reasonably new experience. I was at an opening of a Bhudist temple once and one of the attendees asked me if I was into Bhudism and I said that I don't believe in Gods. They responded with "Oh, your are a Non Believer". It just felt strange at the time because all of a sudden someone was stamping a religious label on me. Up until that point I had never given myself a religious label. I just didn't believe in Gods. It is strange trying to write this down in this post as Non Believer and don't believe in Gods is the same thing. So it is hard for me to articulate my reaction to receiving a label. It felt odd at the time.

I get talked in to going to church with my folks from time to time. I make the "owp" eating noise that Homer Simpson makes when I recieve the Eucharist.
[youtube:16s8xlqf]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDGp2nIf95k[/youtube:16s8xlqf]

My most memorable church experience happened in Iran at age 9.  Because Southern Baptists are rare in that part of the world, Mom sent me off with my friend Kenny's family to Catholic services.  In the taxi on the way to church, Kenny kept on prodding me and teasing me and such, and driving me up the goddamned wall.  Then we get inside, and the priest starts delivering his homily.  Kenny is still teasing me under his breath and finally it gets to me, and I shout at the top of my lungs "SHUT UP!"

You could've heard the angels dancing on the head of a dropped pin.  

Then his mother Geri grabbed me by the ear, took me outside, and beat my ass something fierce.  Looking back, I'm surprised she didn't shave my skull looking for the Mark of the Beast.

It was only later that I realized she thought that I was shouting at the priest.

My experences at church were rather boring, I was only 9-10 the few times went to church, so to me it just seemed like another boring history class with the addition that took up some of my weekend time.


(Hi! I'm new!)

I've been asked to attend church many a time since I became a freethinker, mostly for ceremonies such as a baptism or (in one case) a wedding, as well as Sunday service (after being asked by a friend to give it another go) and my opinion of the whole thing has really changed. I used to love attending church, and actively rushed to both the Sunday services each weekend. But the first time I attended church as a freethinker (in August), I was actively dreading and hating it.

 Now my old church was a Baptist church, and a fairly conservative one at that, and it saddened me when I visited it again to see many people, who have good education (including two professors) and an otherwise rational mind, believing this stuff as though it were fact. I also found it so frustrating to see the same apologetics answers and fudged facts offered as facts, and the Bible offered as solid history. I wanted to bring my Josephus texts, my Tacitus texts, Perseopolis texts and my Greek dictionary and prove them all wrong.

 I also found it frustrating that, when I DID get the opportunity to question some of the historical points using my extra-Biblical sources, the ministers and priests seemed actively unable to actually answer me, and rather than admitting it, they either said I had to 'have faith in God' or just to read the Bible, or that I was mistaken and that I needed to read 'X' apologist or 'Y' book.
 
 Possibly the only time I will now attend a church is for weddings, where generally there's less religious stuff and it's easier to wiggle out of prayers, singing hymns and other things I feel uncomfortable with doing. So far there's only been one wedding I've been asked to go to in which there was a lot of religious stuff and even then there was no pressure to join in.

I'm glad I happened upon this old thread, because I was just wondering if any people here who are atheist or otherwise non-religious ever go to church for intellectual reasons or out of curiosity. In the last 8 years or so, I've only been to church twice. The first was for a wedding between two people I had never even met (I was just there as a date). One of those Catholic stand-sit-stand-sit services.

The second â€" I spent last Christmas in Boston, and being away from my family for the first time ever on Christmas Eve, I felt like I needed to do something, so I just wandered to the little church that was next to my hotel to watch their Christmas pageant. I can't remember what branch of Christianity they were, but the church was unlike any I had ever been to. Instead of pews, there were lots of little cubicles that had seating all around, so you might end up sitting with your back to the pulpit, which was kind of odd. The services are presented by two priestesses, so it was definitely nontraditional in that aspect. The pageant was performed by all the kids in the church, so it was really kind of adorable. The priestesses and church members recognized right away that I wasn't a regular there, and on my way out a lot of them asked me about my visit to Boston and where I was from, thanked me for coming to watch the play, and told me to enjoy the rest of my trip. It was all around a very pleasant experience.

Lately, I've been kind of wanting to go sit in at a mass or church service just to observe. Do any of you ever do that?

QuoteDo any of you ever do that?

In fact, I've been considering cutting my family off from the few times each year that I DO attend. Christmas and Easter, my mother guilt trips me into showing up. "It would make your mother happy." Uggh.

I was raised going to church every Sunday, and have had quite enough. The crappy music, the silly sermons, the stand-up, sit-down, stand-up-again rituals, the fervent hand waiving, the nods and "amen" choruses during services, the flaws in the pastor's faith arguments, etc.

Frankly, it disturbs me to watch other members of my species devoutly worship this thing, and even more so to see that they're indoctrinating their children.

Quote from: "dgmort19"Frankly, it disturbs me to watch other members of my species devoutly worship this thing, and even more so to see that they're indoctrinating their children.

It's precisely this that makes me want to go. I'm very familiar with masses, since I grew up Catholic, and I know it's easy to sort of slip in and blend in with the crowd as the ceremonial structure is so rigid. The reciting and chanting and sort of herd behavior seems so much more bizarre to me now than it used to be when I attended for more sincere reasons, that I'm fascinated by the idea of it. I'm sure I'll go to a mass sometime in the next few weeks, sit there for about 20 minutes and think ohhhh wtf was I thinking, wait miserably for the remaining two hours, and then have it out of my system.

I should share my atheist experiences in the Church environment.

I became and atheist around the age of 15 and at the time I had been attending Seventh Day Adventist Church schools since the 5th grade.  I rejected God under the typical emotional reasons about Hell and the problem of evil so was pitifully intellectually dishonest with my self thus blinding me to the evidence and rational entailment's of the Christian world view.

Remember that I was in church school so not only did I have to lie to myself but I could not keep up a good front that I was a good little Christian student.  In my freshmen year at boarding academy I felt isolated and abandoned.  Lack of power was my dilemma so I even dabbled in the occult.  I shoplifted the satanic bible by anton lavey.  It is a hilarious romp into parody religion if you want to read it.  Needless to say as angsty teen I was going to rebel in many ways.  Got kicked out of school my freshman year. (two different ones)  Loved to read H. P. Lovecraft and do horrible things from a Christian perspective.  In Church I was a silent little mouse having masturbatory fantasy about the preachers wife or what ever tipped my fancy.  I was a good atheist by some standards and by others I could see where I am not considered to be atheist enough.  I was not militant in my view but I was a good contrarian and even now I like to share how some atheists think with my Church Family along with my testimony on what brought me back to the faith as an honest seeker of truth.  I am sure some will be pleased to know that this makes some uncomfortable but the atheist viewpoint is important to understanding what is going on now with certain political efforts to demoralize and marginalize Christians, especially on the left.

My advise is that if you want attention then start asking the tough questions if given the opportunity.  But I caution that if you want to say ignorant then keep up the shield of contempt prior to investigation because an honest truth seeker is going to have to confront some things that I had to and thus am no longer an atheist or an alcoholic or the contrarian rebel without a cause that I used to be.

QuoteThe reciting and chanting and sort of herd behavior seems so much more bizarre to me now than it used to be when I attended for more sincere reasons, that I'm fascinated by the idea of it.

I feel exactly the same way. However, my fascination manifests as an interest in research of Christian ideas, rather than a desire to attend. While I might find it interesting to observe the surroundings for a bit, I know from experience that, eventually, I begin the "ohhhh " process.

QuoteLoved to read H. P. Lovecraft

I just read The Shadow Out of Time. Very interesting, though I found the best portion of the story to consist of his description of life as a conical alien. The rest seemed like a needless confirmation of the reality of the dreams, which we, as the readers, already knew to be true.

QuoteIn Church I was a silent little mouse having masturbatory fantasy about the preachers wife or what ever tipped my fancy.

Now this was a fun one during my Christian years. Let's supercharge an adolescent with hormones, but tell him it's utterly wrong to engage in any kind of natural, compensatory activity. Obviously, this is the kind of ultimate love only a perfect deity could expend.

I spent 33 years drifting through different churches in different denominations.  Since January, I've been to church once, for a retirement ceremony for a coworker.  He took advantage of the opportunity to give an amateur sermon while he was at it.  I was surprised about one thing, though.  I had figured that since I didn't bow my head for the prayer, for sure the Catholic priest in the room would go find some holy water to douse me with, but that didn't happen.

Quote from: "fester30"I spent 33 years drifting through different churches in different denominations.  Since January, I've been to church once, for a retirement ceremony for a coworker.  He took advantage of the opportunity to give an amateur sermon while he was at it.  I was surprised about one thing, though.  I had figured that since I didn't bow my head for the prayer, for sure the Catholic priest in the room would go find some holy water to douse me with, but that didn't happen.

Do they actually do that?

Oh I lied, I just remembered another time I went to a church in the last decade. It was for my uncle's funeral 6 years ago, and it was about 5 minutes about the memory of my uncle, then quickly turned into a lengthy accusatory sermon about how we all need to change our ways or we will burn for eternity. Since then, I have refused to go to another funeral.

What a way to lift the spirits of the grieving.

Quote from: "Tank"

Quote from: "fester30"I spent 33 years drifting through different churches in different denominations.  Since January, I've been to church once, for a retirement ceremony for a coworker.  He took advantage of the opportunity to give an amateur sermon while he was at it.  I was surprised about one thing, though.  I had figured that since I didn't bow my head for the prayer, for sure the Catholic priest in the room would go find some holy water to douse me with, but that didn't happen.

Do they actually do that?

I've seen it in a movie or two.  The holy water usually boils and melts the skin away of the demons.  Might be an improvement in my case .

I went to a Catholic church twice.  Once, I fell asleep, but it wasn't horrible.  The other time, it was a very strict sort of Catholic church in Lincoln, Nebraska.  I whispered a couple words to my best friend who took me there.  She gave me a look as if to say "stop it now!"  I gave her a look back as if to say "what's the deal?"  Just then I felt an object hit the top of my head.  Behind me there was a nun, had to be around 55, dressed up in full habit, with what seemed to be a rubberized stick.  She had a mean look on her face and shooshed me!  I was very scared.

I would have taken her rubber stick away until the end of the service.

I wonder if it would hold up in court if you pressed assault charges on a nun who hit you with a rubber stick . . .

I can count the number of times I've attended a real church service on both my hands, two catholic and a few others of some evangelical denomination.

They're annoying to tell the truth. From my perspective, it's a group of people being emotionally aroused more than anything with their talk of "god", their personal relationship with Jesus and the like - something that had no value to me as a non believer. The incessant "amens" would follow, along with with the general high level of noise during some of the evangelical services as they talked on about what god meant to them and how pieces of their scripture should be interpreted to fit into their lives. Luckily I was never asked what I thought of the whole thing, though I think I would've just gone with the flow to maintain the peace. The accommodationist in me annoys me sometimes.  

I attended one service held by a seventh day Adventist church (which my grandparents frequent). Most of that was spent talking about how important it is to raise money for the church's architectural reform. They made a lot of money, I'll tell you that ... best business for sure is to open a church in a wealthy environment. Or sell real estate in heaven (I kid you not - it actually happens and people actually pay).  Woe to humanity.

I like cathedrals though, something about big spacious and ornamented buildings...I don't find the protestant idea of a church to be very visually appealing, though understand why they keep what they see as unnecessary out. I think that something that's the fruit of a rich human imagination and creativity belongs in a building that represents that.