First Church of Atheism?

So there's this “church” now, called The First Church of Atheism, I've read a few bits of reviews on it and I can't decide what I think.

On the one hand there is a benefit. The church allows atheists to become ordained ministers so that they can perform various ceremonies usually held by the religious.

One could argue that a person could simply go to the courthouse to have their wedding rather than getting an ordained atheist minister. But that doesn't fly where I live.

I don't know about other states, to be fair I don't truly know about my own (Alabama), but I've always been told that even at the courthouse the judge must be an ordained minister to perform a marriage ceremony. Minister in these parts typically means a Christian minister who is going to work god into the ceremony.

I personally have no want to get married, but if I were to at some point I certainly wouldn't want a minister of any Christian church doing it, even if it were at the courthouse. In that respect, for people like me in my situation, an atheist church could be a good thing.

However, there seems to be a lot of hubbub about how Christians would come back with "See I told you atheism is just another religion" thereby lumping us in with them.

First off, why do we care what they think? They believe in a great magic genie that nods his head and BOOM!, existence.

Secondly, and this is only my opinion, I think there should be some type of organization like a church for atheists to attend.

Part of the reason that the right is so powerful is their infrastructure. The tops of denominational hierarchy can send a message thru regional heads who pass it on to state overseers who pass it on to individual churches. In this manner they can be fairly assured that a singular message will go out to at least 70 to 80 percent of their followers nationwide.

Atheists, at present, cannot compete with that. We have tons of websites and books and groups but there is no head group of atheists that were elected by the masses of atheists who can help us to mobilize and become a stronger minority.

Further, an organization like an atheist church would also provide a community setting. I know I would look forward to going to be with like minded people every Sunday (or whatever day) so that I could become "recharged" and not feel so alone in my beliefs. (Again, I live in Alabama so I am very much alone most of the time.) Yes I do belong to a local atheist group, and have atheist friends, but none that meet so regularly.

This also harkens back to my days as a Christian. I loved knowing everyone in my church, I loved that I grew up with friends, I loved the pot luck dinners, I loved being a part of something like that. I miss it, not the beliefs, but the community we created.

Further, I think it would be a great place for atheists to get together and have a "sermon" of sorts. They should all be scientifically based, or at least philosophically based even though that's more of a pseudo-science.

To have these "sermons" would allow atheists to learn more about the very world they live in, to learn more about the cosmos, the big bang, evolution, and any other scientific subject thereby strengthening our belief system.

I do have to admit, atheism is very religious like. It may not be in the strictest sense of the word, but atheism is, at the least, a path, much like Buddhism.

We have faith, not in science, that would be stupid and unreasonable since science proves itself, but I do have faith in the scientific method. It is not a law, or a rule, it is a guideline that continues to serve humanity well.

More importantly I have faith in mankind, that we will learn and progress and evolve and eventually get to a more positive place for the world as a whole.

We have dogma as well. Science, reason, and logic require evidence, proof, a testable hypothesis, something, some reason to believe. We are required to use the scientific method to discern what is correct and what is not. That is our dogma.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, the way that the major religions grew to their current bloated sizes was by stealing followers from other religions. The disciples allegedly went around proclaiming Jesus as the "unknown" god of paganism, telling pagan followers that he is the one they were worshipping in that temple and that he is the one true god.

People are sheep, I hate to say it, I truly do. But we are a vastly undereducated nation. It disgusts me that the greatest library of information not only exists in our society, but access to just about anything a person wants to know is readily available on their desk. Yet we use it for porn and commerce and little more.

People love their religions, they want them, they need them, it is their security blanket, and if you can't give them something else to put hope in, even if ultimately that hope is in themselves, they will never change.