.. to start to go to church even though I dont believe in God?

[severnofnine]

DH thinks I am BU, but I can't decide
I took the children and dog for a walk before lunch. We live in a small village and even though we've been here for 5 yrs we are still the "new people". I work during the week but our children go to the local school and we have some friends from there. anyway on our dog walk I met a lovely lady church warden she invited us in to the church show us a display some of the children had done.
And now I feel like I'd like to go next week. The only problem is I'm a very scientifically minded rational person. I dont believe there is a bloke somewhere sitting on a cloud directing us. I dont believe in god. I went to church when I was little with my grandmother but my parents werent particularly religious. I wasn't christened neither were my children. I got married at a registry office.

So does that make me a major hypocrite for wanting to go to church, feel like a part of a community, do a bit of singing???? DH wont go- definitely not, but wouldnt mind if i took the children.

am I being unreasonable?

Go, keep an open mind, whats the harm

YANBU.
You would be very welcome at my church. Nobody would quiz you about your beliefs, they would just be happy to see a new face. I think congregations are also often pleased to see new children.

If you go along and decide it's not for you, for whatever reason, just don't go back.

I'm Scottish episcopal (part of the Anglican church) and there's part of our service which is something along the lines of 'this is the house of god and all are welcome' in the liturgy. You have as much right as anybody else to go along to church, whatever your reasons.

what somebody has said, science cannot explain everything, there are still mysteries in this world.

I used to go to church and Sunday school as a child with friends. Apart from the sermon where the vicar addresses the whole congregation, I don't remember anyone talking to me about God.

YANBU, go, meet people, have a good sing. Hymns are uplifting.

By the sound of it the church has a very nice sunday school - if they have displays up of what they have done and so on - and I suspect your children will love it. It also brings them more into the community as well so that will be nice too.

Depends why you're doing it. If it's to get intonthe school, then yes, you are being unreasonable.

Yes totem there's nothing like a good sing. I don't think we do enough singing in this country!

seeker she says in the OP her children already go to the local school.

"and bunbaker I didnt mean to imply that I thought people with a faith were gullible"

No you didn't at all. In other threads I have seen about religion the implication is there. I hope I didn't offend you.

I like going into churches, like the buildings, the smell, etc. if I don't listen to the words then I can enjoy being at a mass (remembering the prayers from childhood), but once I engage my brain I can't. my atheist takes over. yanbu to be interested in going to church. go, see if you like it. but you may, like me, find you enjoy the peace of a church when there's no service on rather than when there is, iyswim?

I go to church most Sundays despite being an atheist. DD and DH are both RC and as DH isn't in England it falls to me to take DD. It's part of her school requirements.
TBH, it is no skin off my nose, an couple of hours on a Sunday are hours that I can well afford to waste, the priest knows I think it's a load of hooey, but isn't fussed.
DD also gets to see her school friends so it's a win win situation for me.
OP, go and sing your little heart out.

just to clear it up children are already in the school. It has links with church but it is also our catchment area school and is under rather than over subscribed. It is a C of E church

Quite fancy going for the singing alone. DS1 who is 8 says he'll come with me if I want to go

Go for it I bet your DS will love it as well!

All this from a rampant athiest funny old world isn't it!

YANBU I think you should go, it is not hypocritical.

It is for no one else to judge what you would or should get out of it.

Faith and worship is a very personal thing.

Go for it, it is a church there for you and everyone else in your village.

Your husband does not need to go or understand why you wish to go.

I go to church regularly with DH and DCs and don't believe in god. I go because they do.

I love the ritual and atmosphere, and have made some good friends in the process! No one has ever asked me if i believe, they're just glad the 5 of us add to the congregation! :o

Nobody is going to ask you if you believe in God at a CofE church!

Looking at it logically, surely the minister/congregation ought to be more pleased if an atheist + child comes along than a devout believer, on the grounds that the latter is already saved, whereas the former are more in need of their help.

Not sure if that helps I know my mum used to go to church occasionally and the vicar definitely knew she was an atheist & didn't mind. (She says its because its the only place where she can sing in public and people are morally obliged to be charitable about it and not complain.)

I want to believe and as such attend most weeks with DD, who enjoys going to Sunday School. DS is being baptised very soon and the congregation have made us feel very cared for and have gone out of their way to make DS's day special.

DD hit send - grrr!

It has made me realise exactly how welcoming they all are - no-one asks about my beliefs or questions that I am one of the few in the congregation not confirmed, they just smile, say hi and ask if I'm coming for a coffee.

That sounded patronising and wasn't meant as such - sorry.

I toddle along once in a while, Harvest Festivals, Christmas, beginning of Advent - once every 6 weeks or so. I like hymns and it's a big part of village life where I live Dibley.
The local school is a faith school and I think it's important that DD knows how to behave in church.

I get round it in my head by deciding that I believe very much in some of the teachings and I think it's important to mark certain occasions and passing of seasons. I'm not 100% on board with the whole thing but that's good enough for CofE, ime.

YANBU, I'm sure god (if he/she does indeed exist) would be delighted to have you in his/her 'house'. Any positive feeling is a good thing, whether stemmed in belief of an invisible deity or not!

Are you prepared to accept the possibility that, by going to church, you may well start to believe in God? If yes, then YANBU. If No, then YABU.
Either way, God would be delighted to have you in his Church and would welcome you with open arms whether you believe or not.

YANBU, and I would be very suprised if anyone ever asked you about religion! Go, and enjoy it. Oh and by the way, I believe in God and science - I don't believe that God is an actual person sat on a cloud either, so I think it might be a good way to understand people's spirituality more as well!

If you are scientifically minded (as I am) then you could always consider the viewpoint that the science is the "how" and the God is the "why.