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Atheist 'mega-churches' take root across US, world
AP ^ | 11/11/13 | GILLIAN FLACCUS

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: atheism; atheismandstate; atheistsupremacists; culturewar; fundamentalatheism; religion; thenogodgod
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To: DallasBiff

It’s going to be rather boring to sit in a large with with a lot of people saying nothing.


41 posted on 11/11/2013 2:42:19 PM PST by Only1choice____Freedom (As long as America's tolerence of failure is not overwhelmed by a desire to succeed, we will fail.)
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To: DallasBiff

Speaking as an atheist, I haven’t the slightest inclination to attend this “church”.


42 posted on 11/11/2013 2:46:47 PM PST by Kip Russell (Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors -- and miss. ---Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: dhs12345

Seinfeld did (grin)


43 posted on 11/11/2013 2:50:48 PM PST by Salgak (http://catalogoftehburningstoopid.blogspot.com 100% all-natural snark !)
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To: Kip Russell

Same here. As an atheist, I find these people to be pathetic self-parodies.


44 posted on 11/11/2013 2:53:00 PM PST by Publius
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To: DallasBiff

A group of 400 atheists is hardly a mega-church. Ours has 3 services with 1500 worshipers.

Pray America is Waking Up


45 posted on 11/11/2013 2:56:58 PM PST by bray (Delay Obamacare)
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To: qam1

You can if you are a Christian, too!


46 posted on 11/11/2013 2:59:45 PM PST by lu shissler (ecause)
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To: SpaceBar

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!


47 posted on 11/11/2013 3:02:48 PM PST by lu shissler (ecause)
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To: a fool in paradise

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.


48 posted on 11/11/2013 3:09:50 PM PST by twister881
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To: twister881

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.


49 posted on 11/11/2013 3:21:59 PM PST by a fool in paradise (America 2013 - STUCK ON STUPID)
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To: lu shissler
Sounds dumb, one big advantage of being an Atheist is you can sleep late Sunday mornings

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...

50 posted on 11/11/2013 3:28:26 PM PST by Kip Russell (Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors -- and miss. ---Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: a fool in paradise
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.

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)!

51 posted on 11/11/2013 3:29:58 PM PST by Kip Russell (Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors -- and miss. ---Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: Publius
Same here. As an atheist, I find these people to be pathetic self-parodies.

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.

52 posted on 11/11/2013 3:32:12 PM PST by Kip Russell (Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors -- and miss. ---Robert A. Heinlein)
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To: DallasBiff

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


53 posted on 11/11/2013 3:37:22 PM PST by PATRIOT1876
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To: DallasBiff
they worship a big fat 0
54 posted on 11/11/2013 3:39:48 PM PST by dennisw (The first principle is to find out who you are then you can achieve anything -- Buddhist monk)
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If these atheist ‘mega-churches’ took root, how would we tell apart from the existing mega-churches?


55 posted on 11/11/2013 3:43:49 PM PST by Hayride
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To: a fool in paradise

“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.


56 posted on 11/11/2013 3:52:14 PM PST by heye2monn
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To: HiTech RedNeck
People who get so exercised about a God they insist isn’t there.
They think that “reason” (in the way they conceive it, which is a tight little knot of almost contentless tautologies) is enough for a good life on earth. Like surely bookkeeping will solve your problem with being broke!
Oh an atheist knows God’s there and hates Him. And will stoop to almost any depth to get his or her no-God world.

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.

57 posted on 11/11/2013 4:01:51 PM PST by cloudmountain
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To: Iron Munro

These are the folks that voted for the antiCHRIST currently infesting the White House.


58 posted on 11/11/2013 4:07:05 PM PST by The Sons of Liberty (Who but a TYRANT shoves down another man's throat what he has exempted himself from?)
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To: DallasBiff

There’s a comet coming, they’d better get their affairs in order before they hop aboard.


59 posted on 11/11/2013 4:20:38 PM PST by MaxMax (Pay Attention and you'll be pissed off too! FIRE BOEHNER, NOW!)
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To: DallasBiff

So if you don’t attend services you go to heaven?


60 posted on 11/11/2013 4:51:32 PM PST by Mike Darancette (Do The Math)
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