# Is church worth going to just to socialize?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-church-worth-going-to-just-to-socialize/478746>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [December 26, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-church-worth-going-to-just-to-socialize/478746 "2008-12-26T17:25:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 55

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**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-church-worth-going-to-just-to-socialize/478746/55 "2008-12-29T19:27:41Z")

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> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> Well thank god for that (wait, I mean …).

Hmm. Yeah, what did you mean? That question is one of the reasons I go to church. And yes, it really is part of our vernacular, isn’t it?

> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> Also, I’m surprised there are any beneficial social aspects of your experience given your outspokenness about your lack of belief.

Perhaps that’s because you’re reading some of the atheists here who say, ‘if I did x, then Christians would do y’ without really having tried it.

> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> Seems like most people there would hold you at a distance once they realice you aren’t converting.

If that happens, I’d walk away. But it’s the same for people who require I join their groupthink about anything. . . atheism, political party, message board pet ideas, some other viewpoint.

> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> One could draw certain inferences about your motivations for surrounding yourself with people that have views with which you disagree, but I won’t be so indelicate as to address this directly.

So you imply it instead without enumerating what you’re discussing? And that’s better because. . . ?

What inferences do you draw about your motivations in participating in debates where your opponent disagrees with you?

ETA: What inferences do you draw about people who surround themselves with only people who agree with them?

And I don’t _only_ surround myself with Christians. I socialize with them\* also\*.

> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> I also don’t understand how you avoid groaning or rolling your eyes during the sermons.

Of course I do, but not any more than I do while reading some of the posts on this message board (and sometimes significantly less than while reading posts on this message board)

A well-reasoned argument is a well-reasoned argument wherever you find it.

The pastor at the church I attend has a doctorate degree and was a professor of philosophy (and logic). His sermons are thoughtful, well-reasoned and quite a bit more sophisticated than many of the posts I see here. We don’t agree because I start from different presumptions and assumptions, but I’m often interested to see how he reasoned his way to the conclusion. In addition, to me, religion is about asking questions. . . the core questions everyone asks of life. The answers to those questions are markedly similar reqardless of the religion or non-religion for the simple reason that we all exist in the same culture and society.

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