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 ...
It’s going to be rather boring to sit in a large with with a lot of people saying nothing.
Speaking as an atheist, I haven’t the slightest inclination to attend this “church”.
Seinfeld did (grin)
Same here. As an atheist, I find these people to be pathetic self-parodies.
A group of 400 atheists is hardly a mega-church. Ours has 3 services with 1500 worshipers.
Pray America is Waking Up
You can if you are a Christian, too!
They probably talk about all those golf courses and Sunday football games they think they will find in hell! Imagine all those golf courses and not a single golf ball in hell!
As a traditional Anglican, I can vouch that many atheists all over the country gather on Sundays to meet, sing, speak, and reflect...it’s called the The Episcopal Church.
I think the difference between an agnostic and an atheist is that the agnostic couple will drop off their kid(s) at Sunday School while the parents duck out the read the weekend paper at Starbucks.
You can if you are a Christian, too!
Not to mention if you're a Jew, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Zorastrian, 7th Day Adventist, Bahá'i, Shinto, Taoist...
If it gets rid of the kids for a couple of hours, that's perfectly understandable, no matter what one's faith (or lack thereof)!
Not to mention that when the "sermons" drift into politics (as I'm confident they will), it will almost certainly be far-left collectivist statism.
Do they sing about how great it will be in Hell and how God is a liar, but only THEY know what real Truth is?
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked”
~Galatians 6:7
Someday, they will all bow at the name of Jesus, whether they believe it now or not:
“For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.”
~Romans 14:11 and 12
If these atheist ‘mega-churches’ took root, how would we tell apart from the existing mega-churches?
“Already exists. It is the modern Democrat party.”
The Democrat party — and many RINOs, too. Such as those ten disgraceful Republican Senators who a few days ago voted for the ENDA act that will inevitably force churches to hire homosexuals.
By the way, which tautology were you using?
From the Internet:
Tautology (grammar), the use of redundant words
Tautology (logic), a universal truth in formal logic
Tautology (rule of inference), a rule of replacement for logical expressions
Tautonym, a species name where both parts are identical
Tautology (rhetoric), a self-reinforcing pretense of significant truth
Side-note: off topic
There is a lesbian church nearby, painted purple and lavender. Their huge signs reads: welcome all to HER CHURCH.
Barf.
These are the folks that voted for the antiCHRIST currently infesting the White House.
There’s a comet coming, they’d better get their affairs in order before they hop aboard.
So if you don’t attend services you go to heaven?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.