Atheists Meet-Up in St. Paul, MN!

[MineralMan]

You already missed it, though, I'm afraid.

Yesterday evening, five people who are atheists gathered at my home for dinner. I pulled out my best chefly talents and whipped up some bruschetta appetizers, a major salad and wowed them with a brand new seafood pasta recipe. One of the atheists in attendance demanded recipes, which I will have to write up later, since I don't work from recipes.

She's funny. She always asks for recipes, and then makes them for her other friends. She's an OK cook, but not an imaginative one, so my recipes get used by her for her own dinners for guests. It's a compliment. One time, she even served a meal I had made for her and her husband when we came over. She remembered that after we sat down to eat, and got embarrassed for forgetting. Everyone roared with laughter. She did a good job of the meal, too.

This gathering of atheists consisted of two men in their 70s, their 60-something wives, and a millennial daughter of our guests. We sipped wine, munched garlicky bruschetta, and polished off dinner, all to a background of lively conversation. It was a great meeting.

The single subject that was never mentioned in the evening was religion. That subject never comes up at these meetings. None of the five people has any connection to a religion. So, why would we talk about it? We also never mentioned atheism. Why would we? There's nothing all that interesting about disbelief. It's not really a useful topic for conversation.

We talked about politics, the weather, the news, old times, work, and many other topics of interest to one or more of us. Then, after about four hours, the dinner meeting broke up and our guests drove off, full of yummy food, a little wine, and time spent with friends. Hugs were exchanged all around.

That's the great thing about atheists. They talk about real stuff. Stuff that actually has something to do with life. So, if you want an interesting evening, make a nice dinner for your atheist friends. I recommend that highly.

[Bluepinky]

1. That sounds like a delightful evening, nothing like good food and good conversation.

[MineralMan]

2. We don't do it as often as we used to. I'm getting older, and

spending a long time in the kitchen is harder than it was. Still, dinner at home with friends is my favorite thing to do. I used to throw big dinner parties for a dozen people, but no more. We still have a dining room that will seat that many, but I just don't have the endurance for preparing such dinners any longer. I stopped after one dinner that left me too tired to enjoy it.

Usually these days, such events are usually exchanges with other couples on a reciprocal basis. We have several couples as friends who get together a couple of times a year at each other's homes. It's a favorite thing to do, and someone in each couple enjoys putting together a special meal. In the some cases, it's a chance to enjoy gourmet cooking that is unaffordable at a restaurant. In others, it doesn't really matter what food is on the table.

[Bluepinky]

3. The camaraderie is as or more important than the food.

One of my friends from work hosts a “game night” at her house every so often, where we meet up with a few others to eat a meal and play a few games, such as Apples to Apples. But the real joy of the night is the the conversation, about everything from politics to past events in our lives. It makes for a very memorable time.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Was this a meeting of atheists who make a point of not talking about religion,

or was it just a dinner with a bunch of friends who incidentally happen to be atheists? I have Christian friends with whom I socialize and who never bring up religion either; we hang out and talk about politics and music and a lot of other stuff but nobody mentions Jesus. I know about their religious affiliation only because I know which church choirs they belong to, but we never discuss the merits or demerits of any religion or non-belief. I'm not sure why having friends over for dinner and not talking about religion is significant. Not talking about religion during social interactions is quite commonplace in my experience. On the other hand, if people wanted to discuss religion that would be fine too.

[MineralMan]

5. No. There simply is no point in discussing that. Only on

discussion boards does anyone bother to talk about non-belief.

[bearsfootball516]

6. I was going to say the same thing.

I have a few best friends that I see on almost a daily basis. Two of them are Catholic, go to church every Sunday, etc. We've hung out over the past few years literally hundreds of times, not a single time did we ever talk about religion or anything of the sort.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. So that's why I'm a little puzzled by the OP.

Is there an assumption that atheists don't talk about religion? That would be incorrect, because at least some atheists like to talk about how stupid and superstitious religion is, and how stupid and superstitious the people are who believe in some form of it. Is the assumption that if your dinner party includes churchgoers the conversation is likely to turn to religion? Obviously that's not true either. If, however, the people at a dinner party should choose to discuss religion, why shouldn't they? It can be an interesting topic. I would much rather talk about religion than football.

[guillaumeb]

8. Football can be a religion for some. eom

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. True. But I am not a sports fan, and neither are most of my friends,

so if I invited them over for dinner we probably wouldn't talk about football. Likewise, a group of atheists probably wouldn't talk about religion in general terms (although they might decry the influence of fundamentalism on the current government) because it's not an important thing for them. It's just that I probably wouldn't find it worth mentioning to others that my friends and I did not discuss football over dinner.

[guillaumeb]

10. True. I followed the thread.

I worked for the USPS for 37 years and never asked anyone about their religion. At one point, I was having a discussion in my office with a co-worker who is a youth Minister. Another worker came in and left, but came back when I was alone. He expressed some surprise about the conversation and said he had no idea that I was a Christian. My response was that I saw no reason to discuss the topic at work. It was simply not germane to what I did.

I also have friends who are atheists, and we never discuss religion.