People downvote, but you’re not wrong and it’s probably the most common example in rural areas
Comment on Did it really used to be common for guys to go to a bar every night like in Cheers or The Simpsons?
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 day agoChurch
SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 day ago
It’s just an example- I’m not saying it’s the only alternative. Although the declining church attendance possibly causes people to seek third places (although I believe the declining church attendance is that it’s more socially acceptable to be a non believer these days. Would rather if someone come to Church that they’d be at least open to believing)
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Even if you find one where there isn’t an emphasis on tithes or donation, that’s not exactly a space set up for public socializing. It’s a private space, used by a dedicated and defined group, for socializing within that group. Outsiders may be welcome, but they’re only welcome within that structure.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 day ago
Aye, was just an example.
MolochAlter@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Depends, lots of churches welcome lay members of the community to the ancillary activities they organise. Catholic churches in my experience are much more embedded in their communities in southern europe regardless of the status of the people participating. My father has been lapsed for 40+ years, never shows up for church and doesn’t participate in any of the religious aspects but he still runs arts and crafts workshops in the parish buildings, for the local kids whether they’re part of the congregation or not.
JeSuisUnHombre@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
We need church without religion
idiomaddict@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Depending on the community near you, Unitarian Universalists sometimes have basically that. I’ve been an atheist since I was four, but I have no problem with other people being religious and it was perfect for me. If you’re the type to be annoyed by people talking about the universe in a way that suggests the supernatural, you might not want to deal with even the UU’s very mild language. When I went as a kid, we learned about volcanoes in Sunday School, as a gauge for how religious they are.
Or if you want evil church without religion, can I interest you in crossfit?
Skullgrid@lemmy.world 1 day ago
There are several non religious ethical groups to spend time with.
I tried to get you links but I ran out of time before having to do other responsibilities.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 day ago
That’s like a car without wheels
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 1 day ago
We have those, they’re called boats.
Flax_vert@feddit.uk 1 day ago
That’s not a car
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I jokingly asked my wife if she’d go to basically church but reading from Marx instead and despite neither of us being marxists it actually sounded like something we’d go to
But also seriously look into if you have a local community center or library and what events they host. Stuff like that often struggles to find attendees
JeSuisUnHombre@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
I do think there’s a special thing about church that is this bigger than yourself experience that you share with your community that just isn’t quite replicated in events like art clubs or whatever, volunteering is probably closer
MolochAlter@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
It’s the fact that church comes with an actual presupposition that it isn’t optional, while de facto being optional.
Going to church (in contexts where denomination shopping isn’t a thing at least) means going to a place where a person is not there to validate your particular perspective but instead often to tell you and everyone else in the group to do better, publicly, not because they’re better but because they appeal to higher principles whose correctness is taken for granted buly the congregation.
See also: the absolute brain lottery winners on the internet bitching that the pope isn’t a real catholic for telling them they’re bad catholics (arguably bad christians in general, definitely bad people) for dehumanising poor people and immigrants legal and illegal.
I’m far from a catholic (that is, I’m actually a lapsed catholic if you ask the church, but I was never a believer, just born into it) but there just isn’t a space where you’re going to participate, respect the ethics and morals, still fall short of them, be chastised, and be forgiven, that doesn’t involve some religious aspect.
merc@sh.itjust.works 17 hours ago
I’m pretty sure that’s only the case if you’re a believer. And, in general, people who aren’t believers don’t go to church, so you’re selecting for a group of people who want to believe in something bigger than themselves.