Sean McManus writes in the April 21th issue of New York Magazine, Do Atheists Need a Church of Their Own?
Many atheist sects are experimenting with building new, human-centered quasi-religious organizations, much like Ethical Culture. They aim to remove God from the church, while leaving the church, at least large parts of it, standing. But this impulse is fueling a growing schism among atheists. Many of them see churches as part of the problem. They want to throw out the baby and the bathwater—or at least they don’t see the need for the bathwater once the baby is gone
Source: Do Atheists Need a Church of Their Own? -- New York Magazine
This is further proof that I have a limited awareness of what is going on in the world around me. I set in front of my PC and pound out a few posts each week. I occasionally attend an Atheist meetup group meeting. I correspond with my fellow atheists, I even promote the cause via the Atheist blogroll. But I'm stumped on this atheist Church thing.
Do I know of the equivalent of atheist churches? Do I hear this topic discusses in my travels or when reading other bloggers? No. Do I want to go to a church for atheists? No. Meetup groups are hard enough to attend. I can't imagin joining a group that meets every Sunday, like a Church. But somebody wants this, or at least that's what Sean McManus tells us. New York City Atheists, a group quoted in the McManus article, seems to aspire to the goal of an atheist church. I just don't understand why. My reaction is like... eww. If the meeting is a well organized exchange of ideas, perhaps with an open bar, then count me in.
BTW - New York City Atheists are proud Atheist blogroll members.
