I wonder whether atheists attend religious ceremonies. Or if they visit on their accord or under some pressures from their family or relatives will they feel some divine preence despite their different ideologies. I often think most atheists declare themselved in public, but in private they may support divine presence. Most atheists may be unsure. I just like to discuss this issue here
I'm an agnostic. I'm also a member of a Christian church. Do a lot of volunteering; built their website. I'm their one-man technology committee. I'm there for several reasons. #1, my wife wanted to find a church to attend, for her own spiritual reasons. #2, I like the community work they do (organizations make volunteering a lot simpler). #3, we think it's important for our kids to know about religion from the inside, even if they grow up to be agnostic or atheist or Hindu or whatever. Not once have I felt a "divine presence." If I had, I wouldn't be agnostic.
I’ve attended several religious (mostly Christian) weddings and funerals. When I was involved in scouting, there was an unspoken obligation to attend the associated churches “family service” on a monthly basis too (though if anything they put me off wanting to attend any more). I’ve never felt anything that could be considered “divine presence” at any of them, nor at any other time. I’d suggest the exact opposite actually – most atheists don’t declare themselves in public but (by definition if nothing else) don’t support “divine presence”. I would agree that most atheists are unsure but then I’d suggest most theists are unsure too.
I often attend Christian religious services, mainly for the music, but many other aspects are quite possible to enjoy without the faith. I also attend a Christian discussion group, and the odd Jewish ceremony. If you think that every single atheist wants to remove every building with religious connotations and drain every single person out of believing, you must have missed most non-religious arguments. Besides, I learn a lot about how Christians (and others, on occasion) think, how their world view is built up, so even if I actively worked against religion, I'd find many interesting things there.
Honestly, I don't think many atheists declare themselves in public - tends to bad for careers and business. I think most only discuss their beliefs on forums where they can be anonymous to some degree. Hell, a gay person has a greater chance of being elected to public office than a declared atheist, and I believe there are more closet atheists than gay people. As an agnostic married to a Christian, I have often been to Church services. Churches at their best are great at community service and supply a sense of community for many. Do I ever experience a "divine presence," at said services? No. Do said services serve to change my mind on the existence of gods? No - they really just reinforce my belief in the historical fact that humans feel a need to create religions to express themselves or justify their existence.
just the opposite actually, most people pretend to be the majority religion, be it Christian, Muslim, whatever....
we even have a growing number of preachers coming out of the closet http://clergyproject.org/ so many that they are starting to create their own support groups .
Well that page is not exactly a set of statistics, however it will serve as evidence of my former argument that not all people who claim to be Christian are in actuality 'Christian'. So, that page would also support the idea that there are perhaps many impostors behind the pulpit normally reserved for men of faith. Subsequently those that are impostors have likely ministered false messages to their congregation, thus promoting things that are not scriptural nor the teachings of Christ, though they might have been spiritual messages.... spiritual messages coming from the other side of that spiritual realm. Thanks for the information.
In fact it is hard to declare in public since atheism is often taken vehemently and in my society atheism is tantamount to sin. I am not totally siding with atheism though at times I find atheists more convincingly rational since if I declare my interest in atheism my relatives look down on me as if I am somewhat of lowliness in character. I find the theory of evolution or Darwinism highly rational and scientific but 99 percent of people I inhabit with support creationism. Even medical doctors believe in healing powers in prayers at times more than in medicines. I do not believe in idol worshiping, prayers or visiting temples or in congregations but one way or another I am participating in all ritual religious functions. It is really hard to acclimatize myself to such oddity in my society. Rich people in my community are willing huge sums on building temples or arranging rituals but they are deaf to the voice of the downtrodden. I often like to argue with some of the educated or intellectual in my society on the worthlessness or baselessness of the the creeds they are wholeheartedly sticking to but I refrain since it will stir up them to aggressiveness.
Spiritual messages are not found in churches or temples. They spring from heart not from business. Churches and temples have been commercial centers to raise massive funds. The end use of funds is put to some useless things.
Absolutely. On the other side of the coin: The messages of the minister springs from the heart of the person delivering the message and the recipient is usually the congregation whether it be in a "church or temple" or even on an internet forum such as this one. Therefore, those messages are spiritual and can originate from varying sources within the spiritual realm.
My wife and I just spent an eight year stint living and working in Laos, a predominately Theravada Buddhist country. We are both non religious. We attended most of the Buddhist festivals and celebrations, mainly concentrated in and around the Buddhist Wat. This interaction was one of our links with the culture. We mainly attended with our Lao friends. We found these celebrations incredibly vibrant, colourful and a heap of fun. Vientiane is dotted with temples. At the end of our street where we lived in Vientiane is a little temple. I would often walk up the street find a shady spot and just chill out. We also give alms some mornings. It these things locals just do without giving it a second thought.
I from time to time go to Church with family (from time to time meaning perhaps once every 5 years or so). I do it on special occasions because it is important to them and they asked me to be there with them.
I attend mass a few times a year by choice. I also visit masjids (mosques) and Buddhist temples at home and abroad. I have jewish family members so I'm down with that stuff too. All of these places are escapist havens of poetry and delicious human ritual, in my opinion. I love a fully sung latin mass as much as I love Thai monks chanting at sunset. I love the call to prayer at dawn, and the colour and texture of hindu ceremonies. We humans have refined the triggers for trance and trance-like states over the millennia, and it's easy enough to see this in action in religious services. It's fascinating, funny, marvellous, sometimes profound, and all stops in between. but it IS just human stuff, and I've never had the least impression that it's magical or divine. we're all as susceptible to these triggers and cues as each other (else stage hypnotists wouldn't make a dime), and no one culture has the monopoly on being able to drum up a little hysteria and call it god. - - - Updated - - - It's hard to see the people you love corrupted by religion this way. The intolerance and fear it promotes is truly awful.
I go to religious events for and with family. My beliefs are mine, theirs are theirs. Supporting and being with family at a religious event gives me no qualms.
I attend religious ceremonies because I often participate in them playing piano, and because there's free food afterwards, and because it's nice to listen to a sermon once in while even if not religious, and because the ceremonies can be beautiful, and because it's fun to listen to religious people say lots of illogical stuff.
no problem, that was my point, people pretend to be the majority religion.... if you think America is really 78% Christian, you would be wrong, be lucky if we were even 30% in reality, most are deistic imo .
Most ministers at the churches live double standard lives. They taboo sex but they are pedophiles; they are not charitable in practice whereas they deliver lectures on charity. They talk in public with so much confidence as if they have seen Jesus but they are real liers. They behave as if what they say is prophesy. We simple people are far purer and cleaner than these arrogant zealots
All of the above said as though the anti religion people are any different. Talking about arrogance.... wow. LOL.
Wow. What world do you live in? You are making generalisations from your knowledge of high profile cases. There are far more genuine Christian Ministers than the reverse. And I am agnostic. There are problems with certain types of ministers. The real problem is the gullibility of the public and their reluctance to recognise and call out so-called 'religious' men.
