Atheist church spreads to Paris

[cbayer]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/28/atheist-church-sunday-assembly-paris

First Sunday Assembly in French capital gathers 130 people for singalongs, party games and to ‘celebrate life’

Anne Penketh in Paris
The Guardian, Sunday 28 September 2014 11.31 EDT


Sunday Assembly in Islington. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

In a festive atmosphere evoking a French holiday camp crossed with a Gospel service, Sanderson Jones, the evangelist of a godless church, brought his message of joy to Parisians for the first time on Sunday.

Jones, a British standup comic, announced in French that the city’s first Sunday Assembly would “celebrate life”, before a young woman read a poem and the French philosopher Charles Pépin spoke about the cosmic nature of joy without God.

The gathering of 130 people jumped to their feet and waved their hands in the air when Alexandrie, Alexandra, a hit by the late pop star Claude François, rang out in a small hall beside the boulevard periphérique.

The hour-long event, punctuated by more singalongs and a party game, ended with a moment of silent reflection before coffee was served. A collection was organised to pay for the hall.

more at link

[edgineered]

1. Well, well.

Anyone wondering what the topic for the next not-a-sermon talk will be?

[cbayer]

2. Not a clue. what do you think?

[edgineered]

3. The need to organize is a good start.

One of the most important things that we can do with our time while here is to spread our message. To do that we need to do more than rent a hall for our functions. We will need to have professionals handle our future needs and the future needs of the community we hope to better serve. ??

[cbayer]

4. Sounds good to me.

I know there are some who do not find anything of value in these "meetings" but I am hopeful that they could lead to organized efforts to do good deeds and promote good causes.

[trotsky]

5. But here's the deal - why?

Why is it so important for you to want atheists to somehow organize into a church and do church-like things? Do you think we're incapable of doing good things on our own? Or via secular groups like the United Way?

The way you post (repeatedly) on this topic suggests you view people - and atheists in particular - as rudderless and incapable of behaving optimally on their own, and if they can't do religion (which you view as overwhelmingly positive and good), then they should at least try to mimic religion as much as possible because that's obviously the best thing going.

I (obviously) disagree.