Sep 13 2009
Why did the atheist go to church?
There are so many people in the world whom cannot stand going to church. It is so unbearable and uncomfortable. Even some of those who believe in God and think that they need to attend church regularly will say that they sometimes don’t want to go, or that they don’t feel like sitting through all that stuff. For those who spend a lot of time on their knees while in church? I’m sure you think there is a divine power that keeps you enduring the time and energy you spend in church.
Well, I don’t believe in God, and I go to church.
Whoa! How?
I’m sure you are thinking that I’m hypocritical, just as I say all of the religious people are hypocritical for all the actions they do all the time. Why is it different for me?
If my wife and I didn’t have kids, we would not even step foot into a church. It’s all about making sacrifices. I’m not selfish.
I have two fantastic boys, currently aged seven and twelve. They both have some smart little brains inside of them. They are at the age of learning all about life and what makes things go round in the world. My wife and I want them to learn about all sorts of religions, not just one view. With my wife being raised Catholic and me being (kind of) raised Presbyterian, we found a place where both of the types of religion, and all others are accepted.
We go to the local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.
Yes, it is like going to church. Yes, it has service on Sunday. Yes, there is a minister, and books to read from and sing songs from. Yes, there is a sermon each time too. What makes this more tolerable for me is that they know there are people sitting in the building who may or may not believe in God. They know there are people sitting next to you who accept you for who you are, what color your skin is, what you represent, and what your sexual orientation is. This is what I want my kids to learn. Even though other churches say that “everyone should love all,” the UU truly means it. My kids should love each other no matter who they are and what they believe in.
In fact, the sermon today was how the minister, who doesn’t believe in God, handled a situation with a visit from some Mormons who came to see her. It was a great sermon, and I’ll save my article on Mormons for another time. By the way, it isn’t called “church” by its members, but a “fellowship.” This all helps make it tolerable for me to sit and listen to sermons, listen to people sing about moral values (not just writings according to Jesus), while my sons get the education of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Muslim, Secularism, and all the other “-isms” there are in the world that even I haven’t learned everything about yet.
Therefore, the answer is…I go to “church” because I have kids.
