Do you go to church? Care to share which one?

[demtenjeep]

I am tired of people thinking just because we vote the Democratic ticket, we must all be anti-God.


I was raised Baptist. I believe in God.


What are your thoughts?

[HeresyLives]

1. Nobody is anti-God.

[ironbark]

57. Karl was

“I wish to avenge myself against the One who rules above.”
Karl Marx.

[darkstar3]

64. Oh, but don't you remember?

The communists were atheists and anti-god at the same time. Forget about the fact that you can't be an atheist if you believe god exists and want to rail against him, that little bit of logic didn't matter to those evil communists who epitomize everything bad about secularism...:sarcasm:

Does that about cover what the "ignored"s will say?

[iris27]

66. That's a pretty good parlor trick.

Careful, or you might be providing evidence that some humans possess psychic powers! :)

[darkstar3]

67. Science and witchcraft have been conflated since time immemorial,

but this is pattern recognition, not psychic ability. :hi:

[Initech]

2. I tried religion, went to church for a couple years, didn't work for me.

The church I went to was the Orange County Church Of Christ. I met some cool people there but I finally came to the realization that religion just didn't work for me. It was just after 9/11 and people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson started coming out of the woodwork and saying that 9/11 was a sign of the end times, and I got to thinking - "Is this really a group I want to be a part of?".

[Maru Kitteh]

3. United Methodist. Very liberal church in a sea of Red.

[goclark]

20. United Methodist

[unc70]

68. United Methodist -- very liberal

The prayers today included against war, pro immigration reform as a "welcoming" people.

And a lot more social justice, etc.

[Critters2]

77. Not so "welcoming" of glbt people.

In fact, not welcoming at all.

[unc70]

86. Very welcoming of glbt at my church. Slowly changing the rest of UMC

We have a large number of GLBT in our membership. (BTW my son is gay, but not local.)

Unfortunately, the UMC as a whole is split nearly equally between those supporting GLBT and those strongly opposed. I hope and expect that we will overcome this in the next few years. Until then, we will keep up the pressure and can only respond as individuals and as a congregation.

http://www.chapelhilluumc.org

[WillyT]

4. Yosemite Valley... Glacier Point To Be Exact...

:hi:

[gateley]

13. Well, you've converted me. nt

[WillyT]

16. We Take All Comers

:evilgrin:

[WillyT]

18. On A Serious Side... Check Out THIS Photo I Found...

Don't know if that's a doudle exposure, a sandwich shot, or what... but it is one hell of a fisheye lens shot.

Way cool!!!

:shrug:

[ironbark]

56. Hey WillyT! You got the same church as me!

See #55

;-)

[leftstreet]

5. This thread is going places

:beer:

[demtenjeep]

6. I make no judgments I truly want to see the diversity

that is a beautiful photo

[HeresyLives]

8. Mmmmm, downhill.

[sakabatou]

7. Nope. Grew up Jewish and currently an atheist

[LeftyMom]

9. I'm an atheist. No dues and we get to sleep in on Sundays.

:thumbsup:

[demtenjeep]

11. our church is pretty casual. Not your typical baptist

infact, they changed their name and are more "non-denominational" we have 4 services over saturday and sunday Quite the change from the church of my youth.

[JerseygirlCT]

81. I'll admit

though I am a regular at church, I do wish we had a much later service. Sleeping in on a Sunday would be lovely! :)

[FreeState]

10. I got to a very small Buddhist Sanga n/t

[Dinger]

12. I Teach A 1st/2nd Grade Sunday School Class

And swear like a sailor on DU whenever I get a chance. Mr. Dinger thinks that's weird.

[Jennicut]

14. I go to a Lutheran church in CT, Zion Evangelical Lutheran. My husband is the organist.

The Pastor is my husband's boss and married us. Very laid back, child-friendly, leaning leftward church. This particular Lutheran church, under guidance of the The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, believes gay pastors are allowed and some newer members are not happy about that and were thinking of leaving per my husband. Oh well, their loss.

[AlecBGreen]

52. Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

in Winchester, VA. We are also struggling with the issue of sexuality and the ordniation of gay pastors. Our pastor has become (to me) much more progressive in the last few years and has really come around on this issue. Its good to see that even ordained ministers can see the light :) Like your church, some of the members arent happy and are leaving for more conservative churches. I have no problem with that... Church should be a place where you can feel comfortable and while I personally believe homosexuality is NOT a choice, there are some who disagree and see it as sin. I think its our obligation to testify to them what we believe and why, but if they cant get over it, I say let them go.

[turntxblue]

15. United Methodist

I'm usually there every Sunday.

[emilyg]

17. Raised Catholic. Believe in God.

[regnaD kciN]

19. Episcopal/Independent Catholic

[Iggo]

21. Hell no.

[havocmom]

22. Many of us are ordained clerics

but that doesn't matter to those who denigrate people just because of political affiliation.

[Political Heretic]

39. .

misplaced.

[ScreamingMeemie]

23. I believed in God until I had a reason not to.

I don't judge people on their belief. I just can't wrap my head around a "kind and merciful" person.

[Initech]

26. Like George Carlin said - "I was Irish Catholic until I reached the age of reason..."

[tulsakatz]

24. I was raised Baptist too.......

....and I will never go back to it!! I believe in God too but not the fundamentalists definition of it.

I don't attend church much now, mostly because I have a weird schedule but am a member of Religious Science church.

[Staph]

25. Grew up Methodist (before the United part in 1968)

Pretty much quit attending in college -- not from religious sensibilities -- just wanted to sleep in on Sundays. I still had a good relationship with God; I just didn't worship in public on a weekly basis.

In my 40s, I started attending regularly again, generally a couple of times a month as my work schedule allows. I found that I missed the sense of community, the open-heartedness of the Methodist church in general and my church in particular, and, most of all, I missed the music. Where else can you get together weekly, in a room with fine acoustics, and sing to your heart's content?

[Chipper Chat]

27. United Methodist

[proteus_lives]

28. I'm a Deist.

I don't belong to any organized religion but I believe in God and the world after this one.

[xfundy]

29. Brunch. n/t

[obxhead]

30. No, I've reached the age of reason.

[cherokeeprogressive]

31. I do, and I don't.

My faith has been tested many times, once to the point of a suicide attempt over a failed relationship. I thought she was my soulmate, she thought I was just a stepping stone to something better. I sat on my bed with a twelve-pack and a bottle of pills in my lap. I slammed a beer, and took a pill. Slammed a beer, took a pill. I did that until the twelve-pack was gone, then I lay down to sleep believing I was checking out. At some point, I rolled over onto my stomach. I woke up in a pool of puke, and for the next week all I could keep down was water and Pepto.

I'll go to my grave believing that I wasn't supposed to check out yet, and that someone or something reached out and kept my ticket from being punched. My daughter who was two at the time and with her mom who I had divorced a year earlier might agree.

That said, I hold no grudge against anyone who denies the notion of "faith", and would hope that no one holds a grudge against me for feeling it.

I don't attend regularly, but when I do, I walk away with a sense that there is good in the world, and that all one has to do is look for it.

[New Dawn]

32. I'm anti-Easter Bunny.

[the other one]

33. Temple Beth Emeth reform

Because I like it there.

My personal philosophy is Taoist / Buddhist / Jewish .

My wife was raised catholic and she hates god. She does enjoy Beth Emeth because we are are a liberal branch that is open to interpreting and naming the eternal one as goddess in place of god if that is meaningful to you. Works for her.

[Jane Austin]

34. Episcopal.

Focus is on love, community, service and redemption.

[krabigirl]

35. Well, even if you believe in God, you don't have to go to a church.

I'm somewhat of a pantheist, but even if I was Christian, I don't think I'd go to church. I don't like labels, groupthink, and am pretty introverted and have to deal with groups all week long...my weekends are my down time. (I was raised Catholic and dreaded sundays)

That bein said, when my kids get older, I will be taking them to our local Unitarian fellowship. I've been there and I liked it, but not enough to go on my own :)

[JerseygirlCT]

82. I think that's true for some

For others, the sense of community is very important. I've seen that particularly when people in our parish are going through a tough time, and find all sorts of support and solace from people they might not even know all that well.

[Uben]

36. Don't go to church

But, I built my own! I have a small rock garden chapel. I built it after my wife got cancer. She wanted it, I built it! We live in a gated lake community where there is no church (unusual, since 90% of the people here are republicans). Several of our neighbors use the chapel to pray. Some have cancer, other have friends or relatives that are ill or in a bad way. It is not denominational, all are welcome. My wife is a stained glass artist and did all the windows a year before I built it. It is stunning! Neither of us are religious fanatics, we just happen to have been raised in Christian households. I no longer try to define religion because i have my own beliefs that do not fall in line with any mainstream religion. So....

I am opposed to those who use religion to divide. That makes me against most all mainstream beliefs.
I do not judge those who do not believe. It's their life. I just kinda do my thing and let others do theirs. If everyone did the same, the world would be a better place!

[AlecBGreen]

53. that sounds wonderful

do you have any pictures?

I hope this isnt too personal... how is your wife?

[JerseygirlCT]

83. That sounds just lovely. Bless you for doing that!

How is your wife?

[saltpoint]

37. Churchless and itinerant here.

Like What's-His-Face.

[JerseygirlCT]

84. Hey Saltpoint

You need a bumper-sticker that says: What's-His-Face loves you.

;)

[Blix Krieg]

38. Not me Baby.

As an Ex Minister I can tell you, I wouldn't give
a church a passing glance. Religion is pure enslavement.
Any religion. Got nothing against my God, but his
Fan Club is pathetic. Jesus said, do not pray before
men like the Pharisee, to which today's Christians
say "rubbish", and then fall over each other to
pray the loudest.

The bloody list goes on and on.

Turn the Churches into Cocktail Lounges, we would all be better off.

[Political Heretic]

40. not affliated with an organized religion, hold private beliefs of a non-theistic nature.

I respectfully chose not to share.

[mwb970]

41. I have not been to a church service since 1967.

That's when my parents stopped making me go. I am highly spiritual but not at all religious. I know what religion does to groups of people and I want no part of it.

[AsahinaKimi]

42. Technically Buddhist Shinto

My father came from Japan, and is Buddhist Shinto. My mother is Buddhist. She's half Korean and Half Japanese. I grew up hearing about Shinto and Buddhism, but I never really attended any Buddhist Temples in San Francisco, although I have heard there are plenty. I think the closest Shinto Shrine is in Washington State!

I don't really practice. I like to read up about Buddhism and Shinto, but I don't put anything into practice.

I was called a "Heathen" while I lived for a short period in Utah, and have been approached aggressively to convert to Christianity, but don't frankly think Christianity is for me. (This surely pisses off a few of those who have tried to convert me, for some reason. One even told me, when the END TIMES comes, it will be his delight to put me to death.) Of course the examples set by some extreme religious people is a pure turn off. So, I have no desires to covert.

[Skidmore]

43. I was raised in an evangelical church and married a Muslim

the first time around but did not convert. I attended church periodically over the next 20 years and grew to be very dissatisfied with it. At some point, abandoned the church of my childhood and joined the United Methodist church, then I left my marriage. I remarried and this time married the son of a Methodist minister. We do not attend church except by invitation for weddings, funerals, or christenings. I have a side to me that is fascinated by the spiritual and the mystical. Whether you need to focus that aspect of the great mysteries of the universe/the unknown/the unknowable in an entity with a name or address it in the terms I have just used, I think there is a need in humans to characterize it to make it understandable. I would include the pursuit of science as a belief system in itself which seeks such understanding of the greater unknown in my understanding of what constitutes spirituality. It is a great seeking of truth. However, I've come to believe that religion is a crudely wielded political tool, a construction manipulated to amass and exercise power. I don't consider myself currently to be either an athiest or a believer. I consider myself to be an individual seeking essential truths about the world around me and my fellow travellers. I see huge common threads and themes across all religions and cloaked in various mythologies. It is this quest that is the core of humanity. BTW, I have raised two children, both of whom are self-proclaimed athiests. My son, however, pursues scientific inquiry with the religous fervor of any zealot. :)

[mikehiggins]

44. Roman Catholic

more or less attend church weekly but it isn't too hard to dissuade me from making the effort.

Beleive in God, hope He/She/It beleives in me.

Had a hard stretch (no pun) as a teen since receiving absolution requires a sincere effort to not repeat the sin forgiven again.

The catholic church considers masturbation a sin. I consider lying to God a sin (espeically since God in omniscient in the first place, right?)

Do the math. ;^)

Finally went back because of my kids, both of whom ended up Deists for Chrissakes. Go figure

[sweetloukillbot]

45. Former ELCA Lutheran (the liberal branch) - now Episcopal

Got sick of the Lutheran attempts at praise band services and decided to go for more high church - and ended up in the most amazing, diverse, welcoming church community I've ever been in. It's also a joy to see so many Obama bumper stickers in the church parking lot, especially in the heart of a red state.

[Wizard777]

46. Mazdayasni. I consider myself a member of the religious left.

I worship in my home. There are some people here on DU that would just love for the democratic party to take on the Anti God moniker. They seem to have a chip on their shoulder with people of faith. But because I have God behind me and since God also made me 6' 11". I won't hesitate to knock that chip off their shoulder.

[Silent3]

58. Ooh, tough guy!

Isn't it nice to have "God behind (you)" supporting your real or fantasized physical violence against people who annoy you?

As for the "some people here on DU that would just love for the democratic party to take on the Anti God moniker", who exactly are these folks?

I'm both an atheist and a realist. In my experience those two things go together more often than not. An "Anti God" Democratic party would be a failed Democratic party. I'd love it if more Democrats, more of all people everywhere, left religion and superstition behind, but I'm hardly for writing that into the party platform. As far as the Democratic party goes, I think most American atheists would be happy just to see the Democratic party be a party that supports strong separation of church and state.

Most atheists, even those who express vocal disdain for religion and superstition, don't support any sort of exclusionary or coercive agenda that could be called anything close to supporting an "Anti God" party.

There are, of course, a few Democrats who simply want atheists to shut the hell up and keep their atheism very quietly to themselves, for fear that those nasty atheists will chase away religious people who can't bear to here criticism of their beliefs.

Well, I'm not shutting up, even if you are 6' 11".

[beam me up scottie]

62. Oh, brother. You gonna beat me up, too?

I'm a 5'4" female in fighting shape, the only girl in my family, a former Marine and I know how to use weapons.

Bring it on.

:eyes:

[eShirl]

47. I go to the same church Jesus went to.

[old mark]

48. Since age 11, I have only been in a church when I was forced to go.

I was raised in religious schools and attended church many times every week, long after I stopped believing in any of it and came to really despise it all.

I see nothing good in religion whatsoever.

mark

[Vinca]

49. No. I'm an atheist.

[Confusious]

50. Don't go

Grew up seeing religious snake-oil salesmen swindle people out of their money, and neither "god" or other "religious" people do anything about it.

I have a less then stellar view on the entire operation.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

51. ELCA Lutheran

Time to get ready for church!

[MineralMan]

54. Anti-God? It's really hard to be against an entity you don't believe

exists. Really hard. I'm against religions that promote intolerance, though.

[ironbark]

55. I attend the Church of the Blessed Beach

Yup, that’s my front yard.

And the Forrest Rd Cathedral



Yup, back yard.

;-)

[JerseygirlCT]

85. I find little that's quite as spiritually "real"

to me as a quiet beach. The most beautiful and contemplative place. No stained glass quite reaches it for me.

[Maat]

59. Unitarian Universalist chuch.

I'm a UU that's into exloring New Thought, Transcendentalism and Ancient Wisdom (including primal drumming).

[saltpoint]

75. Hi, Maat. The UU folks are A-OK with this observer.

Carry on!

:thumbsup:

[Maat]

76. Thanks.

:)

[EvolveOrConvolve]

60. Grew up Mormon

And that ruined me for anything religious. I'm now an atheist, and I spend Sundays doing worthwhile things like hanging out with my family and working in the yard.

[Donnachaidh]

61. my religion is none of your business -- and I really don't care what others do

Because I don't *define* myself by religion.

[DeSwiss]

63. Well your problem isn't god, or being a believer and going to church.....

...or being a member of the Democratic Party.


- Your problem is worrying about what other people think. You'll never please "other people....."

[darkstar3]

65. I'm tired of the left being referred to as anti-god too.

You do realize of course that you don't have to go to church in order to NOT be anti-god? In fact, by definition, atheists are not anti-god. It's a dismissive ad hom moniker thrown at us because "liberal" doesn't scare people enough anymore.

[DeSwiss]

69. You make an excellent point.

If Christianity (or religion) is 1, then atheism is 0. Not -1.



(Addendum) "It works conversely as well....."

[beam me up scottie]

70. It is the default position.

Of course American christians wouldn't be satisfied with 1, their volume would have to go to 11. :evilgrin:

[DeSwiss]

72. They never could count that well.

For example, they still call them The 12 Disciples, but the only way that works is if they count Judas. The traitor.

- Of course counting Judas' among Christian disciples makes sense in my experience......

[beam me up scottie]

74. Damn! I was trying to pay homage to This is Spinal Tap.

Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbVKWCpNFhY">Spinal Tap - 11

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...

Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?

Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.

Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?

Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?

Marty DiBergi: I don't know.

Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?

Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.

Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?

Nigel Tufnel: These go to eleven.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven">Up to eleven

[darkstar3]

71. Actually,

I love the idea of atheism as '0'.

It's a starting point.
It took centuries to really make it into any real usage.
It is to this day very misunderstood and often forgotten.

Any other similarities to add?

[DeSwiss]

73. The null set....

...is everyone's starting point.

By leaping to 1, Christians are professing that they have all of life's answers located somewhere within their beliefs. Within their god. Which in a way, they do.

- Of course they're all made up.....

[Critters2]

78. Lifelong UCC. nt

[deutsey]

79. I'm a Unitarian Universalist. I believe in something I call "God"

but it's probably not the understanding of God that many Christians have.

[JerseygirlCT]

80. Raised Roman Catholic

received into the Episcopal Church about 16 years ago. Regular church-goer, raising my kids in my faith.