to be amazed at people going to church

[Hullygully]

I really didn't think anyone still did the whole church on Sunday thing (this is not meant rudely, am just genuinely amazed).

Why do you go?

Don't you go out dancing and drinking on Sat and have a terrible hangover?

Or don't you want to have a lie-in with the papers?

Do you have roast dinner after?

Where do you live?

I think I would like to visit a Quaker one where you just sit in silence and have thoughts.

Hahaha at the idea of Hully just sitting quietly...

Why do you go?
Because I have a faith and have always been. Besides the nuns look after DD and feed her sweets so she always reminds me on a Sunday and loves going (even though there are some times I don't want to go...) I used to enjoy the peace before I had the DDs to supervise.

Don't you go out dancing and drinking on Sat and have a terrible hangover?
Not usually (no opportunity these days) and if I had a hangover I probably wouldn't go (or go to a Saturday night service).

Or don't you want to have a lie-in with the papers?
I never have a lie in with the papers I've two toddlers

Do you have roast dinner after?
Very rarely. The service I usually go to is at 10.30 which is a pain for Sunday lunch prep. We usually have our family meal at tea time anyway.

Where do you live?
East Anglia

Hully - there are some non-believers who not only go to church but lead them ... a few vicars who don't believe in a real god but evidently do still believe the church has value! (google Sea of Faith).

Thank you so much Paggy.

I bet I could be quiet for at least three minutes.

Three?

All right. Two and a half.

On a good day.

You could take a colouring book and some pens, Hully?

I do not go to church.

I am not any label.

I do not believe any one religion is nuts except scientology

There are good people.

There are nice people.

Mumsnet is a great example of that with its blankets, stamps for strangers etc

This thread is illuminating.

I'll look at Sea of Faith.

What is the atheist equivalent to church? Community centres? They never really took off, did they?

I do very much like the idea of a centre for the community, all coming together and helping each other etc, in fact everything about church apart form the religion!

Can I ask believers, were you brought up that way? Did you discover a faith later? How does it work, if you know what I mean?

Sorry, I haven't read all the posts on here, came on to look based on the other thread about people with no faith.

I suppose really it's just like anyone having any other hobby/activity they take seriously. Of course faith/belief/religion goes deeper than, say a love of the England football team (??) But some people make time to go fishing every weekend, or go geocatching, shop for clothes, or drive their DCs to endless activities. Isn't it just a case of what people chose to do and how they prioritise their time?

I would love a lie in with the papers, but even though I don't go to church, that isn't possible with 2 small DDs (and no access to English papers even if I farmed the DCs out)

Oh, and I say that as a non-believer who rarely goes into any place of worship.

Go to church, enjoy it if that's right for you. It's not for me.

DH and I have opted out of the organised church here in Sweden and do not pay 'church tax'. I would object to subsidising other people's faith (mainly because it is only the state christian religion that is subsidised)

I had a 'flirtation' with the church. Two of my close friends are committed church-goers, and I wanted to know more about it. I had been brought up in a definitely atheist household, and religion was truly alien to me (despite years of school assemblies!).

I ended up being sort of railroaded into Confirmation classes by our very, very scary vicar - basically once I'd expressed any vague interest there was no getting out of it - and I ended up being confirmed at around age 24/25.

But I never really felt that I belonged, nor shared any real sense of community with the other people in the congregation. That probably says more about me than it does about them.

And I still didn't come out of it with much more of an understanding, just a feeling that I had been pressured into 'believing'. But I also never really felt I believed - I had just had a curiosity that I was trying to explore.

Ultimately, for me, it didn't fit into my lifestyle at all. (The early morning + hangover combination!). So I gradually stopped going to church.

Looking back, it was an interesting experience - and I now have three Godchildren, which I wouldn't have had otherwise if I hadn't been confirmed (as I was never Christened). But I still can't really reconcile my rational view that there can be no such thing as God with any emotional desire to believe.

I go to church because I follow and love Jesus and I like to get together with others who do the same to worship together. That's it really.

I think mine comes from childhood, that church parade brownies thing. I have a very clear memory of sitting in the church and looking round at everyone and the man at the front and feeling very odd, thinking that you are all gathered in an empty building, built to worship something that isn't there, and a man in a dress is talking about something that doesn't exist and you are all going along with it in a kind of mass agreement to pretend. And you are grown-ups!

I was about ten at the time and I have never lost that sense of amazement and bafflement.

That's why I'm so interested in people that DO believe. I can't imagine what it's like.

What is the atheist equivalent to church?

There isn't one. If you want to get together with philosophically likeminded people then there are humanist groups round the country, and events such as Skeptics in Pubs. These are of course aimed at adults - there's no equivalent of Sunday School for kids - atheists tend not to want to indoctrinate their children. And we are short of songs - we don't have Huxley's Arch Community Songster of Canterbury... though actually, if you want to do something which can generate the same type of experiential feeling as some sorts of worship, go to the sort of gig where everyone sings along and waves their arms around. I know there are other sorts of worship which are entirely different but I was quite suprised when I first went to a concert which had this effect.

I agree with Jesus' teachings and I think he was obviously a very cool dude, like Siddhartha or Nelson Mandela or Gandhi or Aung Sang Suu Kyi, one of those rare individuals who genuinely tries to help the advancement of humanity, but not the supernatural element of it all.

Do you belong to a humanist group grimma?

I'm a member of the BHA but have only ever been to one meeting (it was quiz night followed by pub, just a social thing) because its in the evening and DD isn't quite old enough to want to be home alone then. DH goes to quite a few humanist meetings and events, and Skeptics in Pubs. When DD is a bit older I'll go.

I have a good friend who is a humanist celebrant and I went to a meeting she was speaking at, but it was ever so dull. Not a good area for humanists perhaps.

Hi Hully,

You should go along to your local Quaker meeting if you're interested - you can find out where it is through the national website quaker.org.uk

If you can sit quietly for 2.5 mins that's a good start

There are even non-theist Quakers ( like me ?) ( that's the friendly way of saying atheist but still think there's something to be said for a spiritual life within a faith community ) I'm not definitely non-theist - like my friend the Rabbi Lionel Blue my beliefs vary depending on my mood and circumstance and other indeterminate factors

I value being included in people's prayers on the MN christian prayer thread, and praying for others there too,
or "holding in the light" as Quakers often say.

I value the wise thoughts of those who have trod this path of life before us (and like to read and collect wise sayings that I come across as inspiration) and I enjoy being part of a faith community (especially in a town where when I arrived ten years ago I didn't know a soul. Now I know many souls and have made some very good friends ) These are the main reasons I go to my local Meeting House.

I also attend evensong at my local church for some of the same reasons, again a warm, welcoming, and supportive community - and to add further to the complication - also to help my DCs get into a good school.

Truly hope that hasn't put anyone off, or upset anyone. Life is complicated sometimes. I wish it was less complicated and that I was able to walk my life's journey with more integrity. I am seeking to do that by following the Quaker path more which feels like the right place for me to be.

I have a friend who is a Quaker. I'm going to ask her about it.

I'm going to look at Alpha/Emmaus/Quaker and Humanist things.