Just saw this yahoo article and had to share ,raises pertinent questions

emk4lif: Atheist 'mega-churches' take root across US,
world
Associated Press - 4 hrs ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It looked like a typical Sunday
morning at any mega-church. Several hundred
people, including families with small children, packed
in for more than an hour of rousing music, an
inspirational talk and some quiet reflection. The only
thing missing was God.
Nearly three dozen gatherings dubbed "atheist mega-
churches" by supporters and detractors have sprung
up around the U.S. and Australia — with more to
come — after finding success in Great Britain earlier
this year. The movement fueled by social media and
spearheaded by two prominent British comedians is
no joke.
On Sunday, the inaugural Sunday Assembly in Los
Angeles attracted several hundred people bound by
their belief in non-belief. Similar gatherings in San
Diego, Nashville, New York and other U.S. cities have
drawn hundreds of atheists seeking the camaraderie
of a congregation without religion or ritual.
The founders, British duo Sanderson Jones and Pippa
Evans, are currently on a tongue-in-cheek "40 Dates,
40 Nights" tour around the U.S. and Australia to
drum up donations and help launch new Sunday
Assemblies. They hope to raise more than $800,000
that will help atheists launch their pop-up
congregations around the world. So far, they have
raised about $50,000.
They don't bash believers but want to find a new way
to meet likeminded people, engage in the community
and make their presence more visible in a landscape
dominated by faith.
Jones got the first inkling for the idea while leaving a
Christmas carol concert six years ago.
"There was so much about it that I loved, but it's a
shame because at the heart of it, it's something I
don't believe in," Jones said. "If you think about
church, there's very little that's bad. It's singing
awesome songs, hearing interesting talks, thinking
about improving yourself and helping other people —
and doing that in a community with wonderful
relationships. What part of that is not to like?"
The movement dovetails with new studies that show
an increasing number of Americans are drifting from
any religious affiliation.
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released a
study last year that found 20 percent of Americans
say they have no religious affiliation, an increase from
15 percent in the last five years. Pew researchers
stressed, however, that the category also
encompassed majorities of people who said they
believed in God but had no ties with organized
religion and people who consider themselves
"spiritual" but not "religious."
Sunday Assembly — whose motto is Live Better, Help
Often, Wonder More — taps into that universe of
people who left their faith but now miss the
community church provided, said Phil Zuckerman, a
professor of secular studies at Pitzer College in
Claremont.
It also plays into a feeling among some atheists that
they should make themselves more visible. For
example, last December, an atheist in Santa Monica
created an uproar — and triggered a lawsuit — when
he set up a godless display amid Christian nativity
scenes that were part of a beloved, decades-old
tradition.
"In the U.S., there's a little bit of a feeling that if
you're not religious, you're not patriotic. I think a lot
of secular people say, 'Hey, wait a minute. We are
charitable, we are good people, we're good parents
and we are just as good citizens as you and we're
going to start a church to prove it," said Zuckerman.
"It's still a minority, but there's enough of them now."
That impulse, however, has raised the ire of those
who have spent years pushing back against the idea
that atheism itself is a religion.
"The idea that you're building an entire organization
based on what you don't believe, to me, sounds like
an offense against sensibility," said Michael Luciano,
a self-described atheist who was raised Roman
Catholic but left when he became disillusioned.
"There's something not OK with appropriating all of
this religious language, imagery and ritual for
atheism," said Luciano, who blogged about the
movement at the site policymic.com.
That sentiment didn't seem to detract from the
excitement Sunday at the inaugural meeting in Los
Angeles.
Hundreds of atheists and atheist-curious packed into
a Hollywood auditorium for a boisterous service filled
with live music, moments of reflection, an
"inspirational talk" about forgotten — but important
— inventors and scientists and some stand-up
comedy.
During the service, attendees stomped their feet,
clapped their hands and cheered as Jones and Evans
led the group through rousing renditions of "Lean on
Me," ''Here Comes the Sun" and other hits that took
the place of gospel songs. Congregants dissolved into
laughter at a get-to-know-you game that involved
clapping and slapping the hands of the person next to
them and applauded as members of the audience
spoke about community service projects they had
started in LA.
At the end, volunteers passed cardboard boxes for
donations as attendees mingled over coffee and
pastries and children played on the floor.
For atheist Elijah Senn, the morning was perfect.
"I think the image that we have put forward in a lot of
ways has been a scary, mean, we want to tear down
the walls, we want to do destructive things kind of
image is what a lot of people have of us," he said. "I'm
really excited to be able to come together and show
that it's not about destruction. It's about making
things and making things better."
___
On the Web:
Sunday Assembly: http://www.SundayAssembly.com
___
Follow Gillian Flaccus on Twitter at http://
www.twitter.com/gflaccus

news.yahoo.com/atheist-mega-churches-root-across-us-world-214619648.html

Calling atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color. Atheism is more of an ideology regarding the lack of belief in a god or gods, nothing more. If we deconstruct the term ‘atheism’ we find ‘a – theism’ which means ‘without – theism’ which, in turn, means ‘without – belief in god or gods’. It is, therefore, not a positive belief or a claim to knowledge. Atheism is simply the lack of the belief in God.Atheists have no holy writings, no doctrine, and worship no one. Most atheists consider unsubstantiated belief a logical fallacy equivalent to deliberate willful ignorance. Many atheists are scientists and feel like they know that objective reality exists independently of human perception and consider the notion that mental experiences are real to be absurd.

Captain Obvious?

esauy: Calling atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair color. Atheism is more of an ideology regarding the lack of belief in a god or gods, nothing more. If we deconstruct the term ‘atheism’ we find ‘a – theism’ which means ‘without – theism’ which, in turn, means ‘without – belief in god or gods’. It is, therefore, not a positive belief or a claim to knowledge. Atheism is simply the lack of the belief in God.Atheists have no holy writings, no doctrine, and worship no one. Most atheists consider unsubstantiated belief a logical fallacy equivalent to deliberate willful ignorance. Many atheists are scientists and feel like they know that objective reality exists independently of human perception and consider the notion that mental experiences are real to be absurd.

I agree, as an atheist myself, always considered it as purely a viewpoint or a non belief system ,this article just raised certain questions because while one appreciates the need to organize as a community, I personally find the idea of organizing as a 'church' a bit hypocritical

booked!

Religion of Frustrated and Hopeless humans

Cofussion, hopelessness, pride and frustration is at work here. Always trying to imitate the godly in their pride and selfishness, but we all know, it is dead on arrival. Smh.

Lordlexyy: Cofussion, hopelessness, pride and frustration is at work here. Always trying to imitate the godly in their pride and selfishness, but we all know, it is dead on arrival. Smh.

That doesn't quite fit in your response. with so much disgust of other people and yet you include godly? lol...

Erm, actually it does fit. To be godly doesn't mean to be good.

Atheism is not a religion.

Those are not churches per se.....they are just a gathering of people who share similar opinions. Such gatherings are called churches because most of the atheists

Comic con or cosplay conventions are no different.


A church exists only in xtianity........a muslim church or pagan church is an oxymoron


Futhermore, deists agnostics and atheists would likely go to that 'atheist church'....is deism or agnosticism a religion?

Atheism - A Religion

Christianity - Not A Religion

Me - s.m.h

OP....the only problem you had which lead to your confusion is church.

You think church only mean place of worship? Nope bro.....there is this restaurant called church of boston. you can google it. Church mean place of gathering and not necessarily place of worship

While there is no question that atheism is not a religion in any sense, I worry about these people who feel the need to "borrow" from those Christian mega-church scam centres.

While Christians don't own the patent on common interest gatherings, there is a risk of validating the nonsense the Christians are doing in the eyes of the public. There's also the possibility of some opportunist leader using such a movement to scam people and enrich himself just like the scumbag pastors do. Being an atheist doesn't necessarily reduce your tendency to exploitative or criminal behavior.

It'll be a sad day when people can't see any difference between how athiest/secular organistations operate and what churches do.

Atheism isnt a religion but most of their members are ex christians,hence they tend to copy christianity

why else do they use names such as chursh and assemblies. Why not mosque?

aManFromMars: Erm, actually it does fit. To be godly doesn't mean to be good.

absolutely right.. i see what you did there

Wulfruna: Captain Obvious?

hey wulfruna ,