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I think it's a fantastic idea and I can see it catching on. However, I would hate for these ideas to turn into some kind of 'big society' scheme.
It sounds refreshing and, yes, inspirational for people to meet and celebrate life, but also put their heads together to see how they can benefit the community around them.
Thumbs up from me! -
If the atheists are going to call it a church then they might as well suffer too, so maybe they should get cracking on the laundry :
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Pointless and inspirational.Originally posted by Sally View Post
The absolute lack of any clear objective inspires an increased sense of purpose (life's too short for that sort of thing).Comment
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On a more serious note, there are some people in the US Army agitating for Atheist pastors.
Having been in the Army, I can tell you this is a real need.
Ever since the Army got on it's "spiritual fitness" kick, it has been "suggesting" that soldiers maintain a spiritual life, and a "suggestion" from your sergeant is not the same as a suggestion from your boss in the civilian world.
Of course, the whole idea of spiritual fitness is based on flawed research anyway. Soldiers who attend church report more satisfaction with the military, complete trainings, re-enlist, etc., because they have a community that provides a social life, and a social life for their families, if they have one. It's doubly important if they are stationed overseas, where they don't speak the language, and take their families with them. Having organized outings fr the children on base is huge, and it's the religious groups that end up doing that. In fact, it's usually specifically one of the wives of a very active church member.
Also, pastors do all the social work and counseling on the base, and they are pretty much the only source of confidential counseling you can get, because soldiers can't expect exactly the same level of dr./patient privilege that civilians in the US are entitled to.
Now, I will say that military pastors are not there to convert, or even to try to get people within a faith to move to their denomination, and part of their training military pastors is learning about other faiths, and how to counsel people of other faiths: for example, how to help a Jewish soldier who has lost a family member, and can't go home, but wants to sit shiva on base. It should be the soldiers job to explain shiva to the pastor, no matter what his denomination. If a pastor can't deal with that, he (or she) isn't right for the job.
But there are still problems.
I used to go to church on Sunday when I was in training, because people who didn't got yard work and cleaning detail. Everyone knew I was Jewish, and why I was going to church. I'm sure lots of other people went to church for the same reasons.
There are lots of other reasons. But atheists need to be able to find one another in a stressful environment, just like any place else.Comment
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