I’m starting to think that a lot of #atheist #leftist misunderstand #religion. I went to church today. It wasn’t amazing but I did enjoy it. I think that religion, especially in the west, largely isnt about faith anymore. I enjoyed going to church because I saw people I knew, I saw people I didn’t. There was music.
It was a reason to gather.
A lot gets lost in translation and debates. I don’t mind going to church when I do. I don’t mind the people usually. It’s the politicalization and money I don’t like.
Cut out all the bullshit and it’s basically about being respectful and living for building community. With every culture/subculture there’s going to be those people that abuse it for themselves.
You can have community and assembly without fantasy. Of course a large portion of the appeal of religion is the community. That’s a compelling reason to set up atheist meetups and communities to give atheists that some of community as well!
It’s not the sense of community or the music that’s problematic with organized religion.
It’s the fact that when you convince people that a virgin gave birth to the son of the creator of the universe, you can convince them to do horrible things too.
@sardaukar @finnbar_m Of course they try to indoctrinate them as children. Once the idea of a pervasive god is established, they can be easily programmed.
I guess this is why dictators use religion as a control mechanism…Putin is a big christian these days and so are all our leaders in the west…
I had the same upbringing in the Catholic church. Went to a couple services last year at a progressive christian church that’s queer-welcoming & non-denominational. I’m not all of a sudden a christian again, but it was actually really healing. Rather than focusing on how you’re going to (fucking) hell, it focused on the “love thy neighbour” aspects. I dunno, take what I’m saying with a grain of salt but it was nice to see religion being used as a positive force for good.
A lot of us atheists are so because of the church, not despite it.