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[Dutchling]

According to Wikipedia we have one Unitarian Universalist church...
...for Americans

[GlyphGryph]

So - do you not have atheists over there in large numbers, or is there just not the cultural power of church-based-communities to make them appealing even to the non-religious?

[Dutchling]

I honestly have never heard of an Atheist church before.

Also why would atheists want to attract non-religious people? They're practically the same anyway.

[GlyphGryph]

Well, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, and some types of Hinduism are all atheistic religions, so any "services" they offered would be atheistic services, and I know your country has at least a couple Buddhist temples - and temples are churches in everything but name.

[Dutchling]

Yeah that's true but not relevant to this discussion at all.

[GlyphGryph]

Well, it's an atheist church. I was under the impression that was at least part of what we were talking about.

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "why would atheists want to attract non-religious people? They're practically the same anyway."

What does that mean?

[Dutchling]

Okay, let's just pretend that whenever I said "atheist" I meant "someone who does not believe in god(s) and is not part of a non-Western religion"...
I assume that also answers your question.

[Levi]

I think Atheist churches are less about religion and more about just getting together and socializing.

I've know a few people who aren't religious go to church regularly just because they enjoy the services and singing and such.  Its probably essentially the same thing.

[Korbac]

I think Atheist churches are less about religion and more about just getting together and socializing.

I've know a few people who aren't religious go to church regularly just because they enjoy the services and singing and such.  Its probably essentially the same thing.

This sounds like a job for... MISTER PUB!

[Flying Dice]

I think Atheist churches are less about religion and more about just getting together and socializing.

I've know a few people who aren't religious go to church regularly just because they enjoy the services and singing and such.  Its probably essentially the same thing.

This sounds like a job for... MISTER PUB!

Ah, but that runs into problems in the U.S. with minors (and also with calling any alcohol dispensary in the U.S. a pub). It'd have to be a job for MISTER FAMILY RESTAURANT WITH BAR ANNEX AND OUTDOOR SMOKING AREA.

[Frumple]

... though those would probably cost notably more per trip than the normal church donation. To boot, it wouldn't have that delicious tang of denying the government tax money that comes from donations to a church. And you'd have to deal with the other patrons of the family restaurant.

Sounds like a loss all around.

[XXSockXX]

So - do you not have atheists over there in large numbers, or is there just not the cultural power of church-based-communities to make them appealing even to the non-religious?

I guess it's a cultural thing, church attendance in Europe is generally low. Even among the religious people less than 10% attend church services regularly. Where I live churches are closed or merged, with one priest/pastor covering 5 or 6 towns.
That doesn't mean that all these people are not religious, but for many religion doesn't play an important role in their everyday life and religion works slightly different here, in that the community aspect is not as pronounced and does not translate into church attendance.

So yeah, most people I know are either areligious, atheists or agnostics, but I've never heard of an Atheist church here. Seems like an American thing for ex-Church-goers.

[GlyphGryph]

Basically, American churches serve the role of Formalized Community Centers in many places, and atheists would like their own community centers too.

[XXSockXX]

Basically, American churches serve the role of Formalized Community Centers in many places, and atheists would like their own community centers too.

That is really not the case here. I read an interesting study on pewresearch.org about these differences between US and European churches, but of course I can't find it now.
One interesting thing I remember from that study was the idea that religious people here are content with "representative" church attendance, which means they worry about declining chuch attendance, but think it's still ok if at least some people go. That sounds pretty plausible to me, since most churches are just attended regularly by 10-20 old people, except on Christmas and perhaps Easter.
Community is mostly a secular and private thing here. There are of course religious community activities too, that just doesn't take place in the form of religious services.

[Steelmagic]

The garbage dumpster outside was taken away about a week and a half ago. They still haven't brought a new one.