Where do secularists or non-practicing religious adherents go to focus on being better people? Attending religious services gives members an opportunity, at least once a week, to focus on the question: How can I be better?
I think there is an answer to this question; it is not rhetorical.
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6 replies on “Where else?”
I don't go anywhere except into conversations with the people who know me well enough to understand what I'm trying to say…
I was wondering if art can play this role, or perhaps therapy.
Church is a time and place that poses questions of what it is to be a good person and live a good life. This doesn't mean that you automatically are a better person just by attending. The individual has to consciously take action to emulate these ideas.
In that sense, I agree that art/film/literature can also introduce ideas and characters that are Good, and that people can learn and grow from.
The big difference is that Church is not done for entertainment. So it would be easier to miss or ignore the moral lessons in film/art/lit, if done only for entertainment.
Another place could be philosophical conversation circles, such as in the book "Socrates Cafe"?
Some day I'm going to open a coffee shop called Church of Reason Coffee. It will serve this purpose. I'll be looking for folks with a variety of life experiences and skills at facilitating discussion and some training in critical thinking to act as the "clergy."
Do this after you move back to Chicago.
Jae and I long for this. Every so often we consider attending church, despite the fact we are non-believers and don't see that changing. My impression of the Unitarian Church is that it is almost this, but the watered down religion is even less attractive than something more traditional.
This happens in Albuquerque. We haven't checked it out, yet.
http://www.churchofbeethoven.org/