# Atheist Churches, Good or Bad Idea. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 7, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579 "2013-02-07T12:10:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 29
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/561 "2013-02-13T00:41:54Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > Why hasn’t this thread died off. Because you keep posting to it with ignorance that we don’t want to leave unchallenged. Oh, yeah, there’s also the hookers and blow. I’m being paid (in free hookers and blow) by the **Immaculate and Holy Apostolic One True Church of Atheism** [sup]®[/sup] (I-HAOTChA™), to keep fighting the ignorance, so there’s the ‘self-interest’ angle, there, too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/562 "2013-02-13T01:26:32Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > When I recently re-read the NT, I basically said I’ll throw out 20% of the passages and it will be perfect for me. Maybe I’m wrong but it works for me. And the good thing about churches is that they don’t give me a test every month to see if I adhere to every tenet. You know, Thomas Jefferson read the NT and basically said – by which I mean _“literally did”_ – throw out the parts where Jesus fulfills prophecies and performs miracles; the sermons and parables remain, but one razor later there are no angels at the big guy’s birth and no resurrection after his crucifixion. So there’s your answer: throw out all the passages that conflict with atheism, and maybe what’s left will be perfect for you! ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/563 "2013-02-13T01:45:42Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > My experience with attorneys is that they’re very precise with language. Maybe they’re not all **Bricker** , but I thought that was a critically important part of the job. Not being Bricker is critically important? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/564 "2013-02-13T13:32:02Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > Hello Mon, > > Welcome to the beginnings of the atheist church that never got started. Why hasn’t this thread died off. Your use of the word Church is incorrect. Jewish religions don’t have a Church they have a Synagog, Muslims have a Mosque, Buddist have a temple, the word church as I was taught the meaning, is a group of people that share the same beliefs, Atheists have no beliefs in any God, or Gods, so why on earth would they need or want a church. Athiests are not united, except to state they have NO BELIEF IN ANY GOD!!! I guess one of the reason’s it hasn’t died off, is that maybe there was someone who could open your mind enough to understand the non beliefs Athiests have? ---
**Author:** ![pchaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/258eb7/32.png) [@pchaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pchaos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/565 "2013-02-13T14:39:40Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > I guess one of the reason’s it hasn’t died off, is that maybe there was someone who could open your mind enough to understand the non beliefs Athiests have? Monavis, how are you this morning. I doubt if anybody can open my mind to atheism. I’m simply one greedy b\_\_\_\_\_\_\_d, I just want to live my life to fullest and leave a legacy to the next generation, now your telling me that atheists have nothing more to offer than there’s no God. Give me a break I have no time for this. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/566 "2013-02-13T14:40:56Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > Monavis, how are you this morning. I doubt if anybody can open my mind to atheism. I’m simply one greedy b\_\_\_\_\_\_\_d, I just want to live my life to fullest and leave a legacy to the next generation, now your telling me that atheists have nothing more to offer than there’s no God. Give me a break I have no time for this. No one is asking you to convert, just to understand. (One trick pony get boring quickly.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/567 "2013-02-13T14:43:13Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > Monavis, how are you this morning. I doubt if anybody can open my mind to atheism. I’m simply one greedy b\_\_\_\_\_\_\_d, I just want to live my life to fullest and leave a legacy to the next generation, now your telling me that atheists have nothing more to offer than there’s no God. Give me a break I have no time for this. Would lacking a belief in God stop you from living your life to the fullest and leaving a legacy to the next generation? ---
**Author:** ![pchaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/258eb7/32.png) [@pchaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pchaos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/568 "2013-02-13T14:44:26Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > No one is asking you to convert, just to understand. Okay, there’s no God, and atheists can’t decide on which restaurant to go to…so what is it that I don’t understand? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/569 "2013-02-13T14:56:13Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > I doubt if anybody can open my mind to atheism…\… Give me a break I have no time for this. Asked and answered in one fell swoop. Willfull ignorance pared down to it’s simplest form. Well done. > [@pchaos](#): > > …so what is it that I don’t understand? A lot. ---
**Author:** ![pchaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/258eb7/32.png) [@pchaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pchaos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/570 "2013-02-13T14:56:15Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Would lacking a belief in God stop you from living your life to the fullest and leaving a legacy to the next generation? It could, throw out God and other deities, I’ll be stumbling around for a while like Human Action. Just joking, among the Godless heathens here, I appreciate your ideas the most. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/571 "2013-02-13T15:06:30Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > Monavis, how are you this morning. I doubt if anybody can open my mind to atheism. I’m simply one greedy b\_\_\_\_\_\_\_d, I just want to live my life to fullest and leave a legacy to the next generation, now your telling me that atheists have nothing more to offer than there’s no God. Give me a break I have no time for this. > [@pchaos](#): > > Okay, there’s no God, and atheists can’t decide on which restaurant to go to…so what is it that I don’t understand? This is why you are beginning to persuade me that you are trolling. You move from the utterly silly remark that “atheists have nothing to offer” you to a snide comment (intended, I understand, to be flip, but failing), that atheists can’t pick a restaurant. If you are so blinded by your odd choice of beliefs that you do not recognize, simply because they do not share your belief in a god, that Alan Turing, Bertrand Russel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould, Warren Buffet, Isaac Asimov, or even Katherine Hepburn do have something to offer, then you are probably out of your depth posting on this board. If you do recognize that they have something to offer but need to respond to efforts to help your undrstanding with flip responses, then you are being disingenuous to the point of trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/572 "2013-02-13T15:07:56Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > It could, throw out God and other deities, I’ll be stumbling around for a while like Human Action. Just joking, among the Godless heathens here, I appreciate your ideas the most. How I am stumbling around? I have a well-sorted worldview, which I previously articulated. I already pointed you to a coherent, fulfilling philosophy with no elements of theism: secular humanism. You can accept or reject such a philosophy, but not maintain that it doesn’t exist. Here’s the[Humanist Manifesto III](http://www.americanhumanist.org/Humanism/Humanist_Manifesto_III) again. It’s short and to the point. You should believe whatever appeals to you; but you may never find that if you don’t approach others’ beliefs with openness and honesty. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/573 "2013-02-13T15:09:20Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > so what is it that I don’t understand? “What more does monotheism have to offer than there’s only 1 god?” Do you not see how the implications of this statement make absolutely NO SENSE? ---
**Author:** ![pchaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/258eb7/32.png) [@pchaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pchaos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/574 "2013-02-13T15:12:12Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > You should believe whatever appeals to you; but you may never find that if you don’t approach others’ beliefs with openness and honesty. I know I’m flippant at times…but I meant it when I say that you are one of my favorites on this board. And it is simply because you have been open and honest with me. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/575 "2013-02-13T15:12:54Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > Okay, there’s no God, and atheists can’t decide on which restaurant to go to…so what is it that I don’t understand? Don’t, or won’t? I can’t think of any other ways to state the blindingly obvious to you that hasn’t been said by others in this thread. You willingly refuse to understand, so I guess the reason for us to respond to your attacks is to inform _others_ of your errors. ---
**Author:** ![pchaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/258eb7/32.png) [@pchaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pchaos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/576 "2013-02-13T15:18:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Don’t, or won’t? I can’t think of any other ways to state the blindingly obvious to you that hasn’t been said by others in this thread. You willingly refuse to understand, so I guess the reason for us to respond to your attacks is to inform _others_ of your errors. Okay, what is it I refuse to understand? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/577 "2013-02-13T15:20:34Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > Okay, what is it I refuse to understand? Sorry, Bucky-Game’s over. I’m only posting to inform others of your mistakes and deliberate ignorance from here on in. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/578 "2013-02-13T15:23:04Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > Okay, what is it I refuse to understand? “What more does monotheism have to offer than there’s only 1 god?” As previously requested, answer that, if you will. ---
**Author:** ![pchaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/258eb7/32.png) [@pchaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pchaos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/579 "2013-02-13T15:28:10Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > “What more does monotheism have to offer than there’s only 1 god?” > > As previously requested, answer that, if you will. A Universe in which we belong. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579/580 "2013-02-13T15:30:03Z")
> [@pchaos](#): > > A Universe in which we belong. Non-answer. We belong in the universe no matter what we believe, including polytheism (!) and atheism. So, I ask again, “What more does monotheism offer than there’s only 1 god?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-churches-good-or-bad-idea/649579.md?page=30)