I beg to differ. The reason there aren’t more UU churches is because there aren’t more congregants who want to attend them.

I’m reminded of the Simpsons episode where Lisa, I think, had city hall build an opera house in Springfield. No one attended and they had to shut it down. I think the Opera house ended up a XXX theater.

That just goes to show you: You have to offer people what they actually want, not what you think they should want. That’s how McDonalds and Walmart do so well. They actually track what people are buying and adjust their inventory to match the latest trends. Some people complain about the McDonaldization of the world, but Christ any businessman that offers his customers what they actually want is a good businessman. If people aren’t buying gold-plated toilet seats, don’t sell em. And if people aren’t attending UU churches, don’t build any more of em. The extras will just wind up as XXX theaters

This is a double-edged sword as far as organized atheism goes. Church attendance has been exaggerated and on the decline for years. While a certain segment goes for megachurches, the overall trends are clear: less church attendance. And of those who attend church now, at least half of them go because they feel obligated to go, not because they want to be there, or because their parents force them to attend. So whatever churches are selling, most people aren’t buying.

Atheists usually see this as positive, but it does not bode well for atheists who want to organize. The same social forces lowering church attendance will minimize attendance at atheist meetups, too.

As for communities, I see two problems. First, not everyone is as into community as some think they should be. High school spirit comes to mind here. Some people think that their high school is the bomb, while other people think that if they lived 10 miles east, they’d be at some other school, or 10 miles west, a different school again, and so the school they attend is just a historical accident and no more special than any other school. Same deal for community–if I didn’t live in this town, I’d live in some other one, so this town isn’t special, but I have to have some place to live. Any one community is no more important than any other. If I don’t participate in all those other communities, will it make any difference if I don’t participate in my local one? One might well think that if Alaska Atheists can get by without me, so can Neighborhood Atheists.

I’m talking geographically here, but this leads to my second point. Unlike in my first point, pretend that I am into community. Even locally, there are more local communities I could potentially join than I could actually join. So why join an atheist meetup? Maybe I care more about soccer than atheism, and would enjoy coaching soccer much more than joining a local atheist meetup. Why should I bother with the atheist meetup, when I can coach soccer, send kids off to school, go to work, and do other things? Maybe I’d rather go jetskiing or kayaking or mountain climbing than sitting around a table talking religion and politics while sipping a cafe latte.

1. Social gathering
2. Joining together to do social justice work (e.g., gather and provide food/clothing for the poor).
3. Like singing church music so join the choir
4. Play the organ (aren’t many positions for organ players outside of churches)
5. Rest of the family goes and want to be with the family
6. Like talking to Christians.

Note that Jensen is not unique. There are other Christians whose concepts of God are so different that they can’t even really be put in the same category as the concept that is generally taught to children or held by many adult Christians. Try understanding Bishop John Shelby Spong’s (a retired New Jersey Episcopal bishop who the conservatives consider a heretic) concept.

Excellent point, Miko, that we need to press the issue of church-state separation. The conflation of religious beliefs with political agendas must be stopped. The vocal minority of fundagelicals has held sway for too long already, and we’ve got our work cut out for us just undoing 50+ years of propaganda.

The good stuff was tea and cookies, people to socialize with, projects to work on (such as charity bazaars or nativity theatre), something to direct my energies towards. While I do think that many people – and pardon if I generalize, but I think this mostly applies to men – see little to no value in this, I do find a NEED in myself for this kind of community and for this kind of project into which I can devote my energies.

The fact that he feels forced to join a Christian church and to start talking about “mystery” (*gag*) is a tragedy as far as I am concerned. We need to see the value in what churches provide and fill that void if we hope to grow. Otherwise, the world could be full of Jensens, of people who nod and play along, who “get through” the sermons so that they can have access to something that they need in their lives.

Makes about as much sense as joining a church to discover the deeper meaning of tennis.

Oh… and don’t let a UU person hear you say “UU church” — they get offended. It’s a “UU fellowship.”