Can you believe this???

[pinkputter]

I went to an on campus Athiest/Agnostic meeting. These meetings are open to Christians and all other religions as well to attend.

Something that was said at this meeting really shocked me.
One of the members said if he lived in a big city he would never go to church (of course cause he's athiest) but that if he had a family and lived in a small town he would go to church!

It made me wonder how many people at my own church could be athiest and just go for social reasons.....

I dont understand athiests for so many reasons but especially ones who so adamantly share their disbelief in religion yet say they would go to church.

[rejectreality]

I don't know......If someone claims to be an atheist, and still goes to church, I'd consider them to be a Diet Atheist. They want to not believe, but part of them still does, kinda sorta. Besides, how do you go to church as an Atheist for social reasons?? They're gonna know as soon as they talk to you that you aren't a believer!! That's like me going to a women's support group!! They might be supicious! Oh well I guess. This world is funny sometimes.

God bless

[snoochface]

You don't have to be a Christian to go to church. In fact, I often think church does non-Christians more good than it does us. They need to hear the message more than we do, and we can grow in other ways. Church might be the only way they ever get to hear the gospel in a way that they can relate to.

I know someone with two kids who has wanted to get involved in a church because she recognizes the values and morals her kids will be taught there. She is an atheist. If only for her kids' sakes, who might see church and what is taught there in a completely different way than their mother, I am glad that atheists are (or at least should be) welcomed in Christian churches.

[jazzypooh]

I went to an on campus Athiest/Agnostic meeting. These meetings are open to Christians and all other religions as well to attend.

Something that was said at this meeting really shocked me.
One of the members said if he lived in a big city he would never go to church (of course cause he's athiest) but that if he had a family and lived in a small town he would go to church!

It made me wonder how many people at my own church could be athiest and just go for social reasons.....

I dont understand athiests for so many reasons but especially ones who so adamantly share their disbelief in religion yet say they would go to church.
most people that are atheists have become atheists because at some point in their lives they felt that God disappointed them in a huge way. so they got so angry at God that they reasoned in their mind that God must not exist otherwise He wouldn't have allowed this to happen to me... that was their way of dealing with tragedy...

God has created every human being with a desire to serve God. the question is just which one are we serving. everybody is serving something. if a lot of atheists are honest, they're religious themselves. like during my freshman year of high school, my biology teacher told all of us that he was an atheist. but then when the pope died... he went to his funeral... :confused: :scratch: oook??????? that makes a lot of sense.... for an atheist to go to the pope's funeral?

anyway, they need to be ministered to just like everybody else

[twistedsketch]

Makes me wonder if he really came from a small town or not.

Whether it is a big city or a small town, a family's reaction to their child's "turning" atheist is going to be varied. Some parents will say "my house, my rules" and those rules include everyone in the house going to church. Other parents will allow them to not attend.

[WarEagle]

36572852]I went to an on campus Athiest/Agnostic meeting. These meetings are open to Christians and all other religions as well to attend. [/COLOR]

Something that was said at this meeting really shocked me.
One of the members said if he lived in a big city he would never go to church (of course cause he's athiest) but that if he had a family and lived in a small town he would go to church!

It made me wonder how many people at my own church could be athiest and just go for social reasons.....

I dont understand athiests for so many reasons but especially ones who so adamantly share their disbelief in religion yet say they would go to church.

You know, I don't know why he said that or what the context of his statement was, but I've lived in a big city (Philadelphia) and it's awfully hard to find a good Bible believing church there. All of the churches when I lived there were either Roman Catholic or liberal.

[MewtwoX]

Most likely what he meant is that in a big city there isn't much religious pressure and he wouldn't have to worry about causing too much of an uproar by not going to church.

In smaller communities, the simple expression of atheism is a risque action itself. Not going to church would cause much friction between himself and the town and with a family it would drag them into it as well.

Being an "outsider" in a small community would lead to a very unhappy life for both yourself and your family. The minor chore of going to church is nothing compared to the trouble in not going.

I know quite a few Atheists who actively go to church and engage in serious theological discussion (Bible Studies) in small communities for this exact reason.

[heymikey80]

For me it was as easy not to go to church as it was to go. I grew up all over, big town and tiny.

To me, in the US, it doesn't cause trouble at this point. The problem is now just a question of trying to find a basis to trust someone else. People look for overlapping thoughts. If there's no overlap, then there's distrust. There's actually good reason for distrust in general if the overlap can't be found. The non-overlapping person isn't predictable. And so there's a general social distrust of the person.

But there are plenty of other natural overlaps. Families are normally a great overlap. In small towns family-oriented activities are often led by the church. In small towns social activities can be led by the church, but can also be led by the townspeople independent of the church.

In virtually every small church there's also more than one church. It's not a hard thing to get lost in that grouping by simply attending around, and then ... not.

And there are plenty of people who don't attend church. Even in the Bible Belt. It's really a question of who you're trying to connect with more than some social necessity.

[Mistoffelees]

"most people that are atheists have become atheists because at some point in their lives they felt that God disappointed them in a huge way. so they got so angry at God that they reasoned in their mind that God must not exist otherwise He wouldn't have allowed this to happen to me... that was their way of dealing with tragedy... "

Yea that would be the once egoistic Christians who haven't realized that people die, at least not thier people. As for the Atheist going to church thing a lot of Christians will hate an Athiest for going/or not going to chruch. "Oh gosh that Athiest is going to church what a hypocrit" "Oh gosh you don't go to church? No wonder your an Athiest your so closed minded" Ethier way the minority loses.

[snoochface]

"most people that are atheists have become atheists because at some point in their lives they felt that God disappointed them in a huge way. so they got so angry at God that they reasoned in their mind that God must not exist otherwise He wouldn't have allowed this to happen to me... that was their way of dealing with tragedy... "

Yea that would be the once egoistic Christians who haven't realized that people die, at least not thier people. As for the Atheist going to church thing a lot of Christians will hate an Athiest for going/or not going to chruch. "Oh gosh that Athiest is going to church what a hypocrit" "Oh gosh you don't go to church? No wonder your an Athiest your so closed minded" Ethier way the minority loses.
If you read some of the other posts in this thread, I think you'd see that most Christians would not hate an atheist for going or not going to church. The ones that would have a lot to learn about grace and what it means to be a Christian. That is not a typical Christian attitude.

[ephraimanesti]

Yea that would be the once egoistic Christians who haven't realized that people die, at least not thier people. As for the Atheist going to church thing a lot of Christians will hate an Athiest for going/or not going to chruch. "Oh gosh that Athiest is going to church what a hypocrit" "Oh gosh you don't go to church? No wonder your an Athiest your so closed minded" Ethier way the minority loses.

MY FRIEND,

You need to be careful in who and what you define as "Christian." A Christian--and, by extention, Christianity--is defined as "Christ-likeness." Read the Gospels and you will see that our Lord accepted any and all into the sphere of His Love--except those who were spiritual hypocrites.

Given that only spiritual hypocrites would act the way you describe, they--not atheists or agnostics--would be the ones to be rejected by TRUE Christians.

Read the Gospels and get to know our Lord--then you will be able to better evaluate who are His TRUE followers and who are not worthy of the name Christian.

The old song--"They will know we are Christians by our Love"--contains a great eternal truth and is the best description of both Christians and our Lord that i know. MAY YOU COME TO KNOW IT TOO AND BE BLESSED!

A BOND-SLAVE OF CHRIST,
ephraim

[heymikey80]

"most people that are atheists have become atheists because at some point in their lives they felt that God disappointed them in a huge way. so they got so angry at God that they reasoned in their mind that God must not exist otherwise He wouldn't have allowed this to happen to me... that was their way of dealing with tragedy... "

Yea that would be the once egoistic Christians who haven't realized that people die, at least not thier people. As for the Atheist going to church thing a lot of Christians will hate an Athiest for going/or not going to chruch. "Oh gosh that Athiest is going to church what a hypocrit" "Oh gosh you don't go to church? No wonder your an Athiest your so closed minded" Ethier way the minority loses.
ROFL!

Actually I got the exact push back from friends when I went to church as a Christian. "Isn't there alot of hypocrisy in the church? Do you think you're closer to God? You're no better than us." I bet they had something similar to say about hypocrisy if I didn't go to church, too.

Either way someone's going to criticize you. But in reality most really don't worry about what you're doing.

And most really aren't Christians.

[Ishida]

Rural settings and urban settings have different ways of doing things, and in a small rural community, it is likely that going to church would probably be beneficial. So it's not hard to understand that person's decision there. But you can do that in the city as well. Many kids go to youth group just to play basketball. I don't like to admit it, but I did "religion" to get out of the house mainly. So, yeah, it's beleive-able.

[WebbAcres]

Maybe if they go enough it will change their mind.
Only good can come from attending church.