Posted on 11/11/2013 1:55:11 PM PST by DallasBiff
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
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Worked for Seinfeld for years.
Who says Atheism isn’t an organized religion? HA!
Only 100,000 turned out for the MILLION MAN MARCH so liberals are prone to inflation.
>>That would be an intersting sermon. What do they talk about? Nothing?
The same thing as many mega-sized “Christian” churches: I’m awesome, you’re awesome, we’re all awesome. Global warming is real. Humans are a virus. Everyone would have more if we all “shared”. Gay is OK. Abortion is a necessary evil. Obama loves the little children, all the children of the world.
The atheist church adds a little: They recite their Apostles Creed, which is the party planks of the CPUSA and ask the non-existent diety to damn the USA.
“Do as thou will shall be the whole of the law” - Alister Crowley.
That headline made my husband laugh and laugh.
In the 1960s, with Time declaring God Is Dead, we saw the rise of $cientology, the Manson Family (Manson even had an e-meter at his ranch), the “Church of Satan(TM)” (actually an atheist cult/coven/orgy club), and Jim Jones’ Democrat Liberal “People’s Temple”. Also militant sects like SDS/Weather Underground, Black Panthers, Nation of Islam, etc.
What filled the void in peoples’ lives was worse than what they claimed was so bad that it had to be replaced.
PCUSA seems to be trying to fall more in line with CPUSA as the years roll on.
AP wishes.
I don’t believe half of this article.
Yes nature abhors a vacuum and will fill it with whatever comes!
Do Republicans ever credit God’s word with any of their platform positions?
Seems like faith in nothing to me.
How about Communism?
What usually ends up happening is the “faith” eventually becomes faith in one man: Hitler, Stalin, Jim Jones, etc.
A show about nothing... :)
They gather to celebrate a happy event of undetermined nature.
Humans are a virus.
Then maybe we can only hope for a Jim Jones type of event. Yes, drink the coolaid. Cherry or grape???
Guess what? “hundreds” is NOT a “mega-church”.
Heh. Never underestimate the ability of the huckster to find flocks to fleece.
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