Monthly Archives: November 2009

I’m pretty comfortable using the label “Humanist” to describe where I am right now. And the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University has put together a new online magazine called The New Humanism. So far, I’m loving it. It speaks directly to the things I’ve been thinking and feeling since I left the church.

One article in particular reassures me that I am not alone in my longing for community. In Come Together, Emily Cadik has spoken about many of the desires and hopes I have as a nonreligious person.

In fact, it is not the religious doctrine, but rather the social aspect of churches that knits the religious community together in a way that worship and sermons alone cannot achieve. Many churches schedule mandatory mingling before and after services, in addition to a range of social activities throughout the week. Few institutions offer membership in such a strong, active community with such a low barrier to entry. All it takes is openness to a widely accepted faith.

Yes! And it’s not my faith that I miss; it’s the community that I experienced in church.

While the decline of churches is in part contributing to the decline of social capital in America, social capital may actually be growing in the secular community—despite vast challenges. A subset of active nonbelievers is ramping up efforts to build social capital in institutions that parallel religious ones—but lack the God component. In many cases, the growth is modest, and still does not nearly rival the size and quality of communities formed through religious organizations. But in addition to lobbying Congress and publishing books, nonbelievers are now meeting online and in bars, adopting highways, holding their own secular holiday celebrations, and volunteering en masse like never before.

To show the world that nonbelievers are harmless (friendly, even) and to combat the isolation in the atheist community, atheists are coming out of the closet.

Where can I sign up?

Deliberately addressing the lack of social capital and organization in the nonreligious community, Freethought Churches, ethical societies, Humanist congregations and similar institutions have sprung up around the nation. Offering the same services as churches, but without hymns or baptisms, they are an answer for nonbelievers who would rather not, as they see it, throw away the good along with the bad.

Finding a place like this near me would be amazing. I did a quick google search, and found zip. Figures.

Even the most passionate atheist convert—who not only denies God, but resents authority and sermonizing and can hardly sit on anything resembling a pew—would be unlikely to reject meaningful social interaction. And to the extent that religion can offer this interaction, and secularism cannot, the nonreligious community will remain at a disadvantage.

Religious institutions have mastered the art of building on private beliefs to create vibrant public life. If nonbelievers can learn from their religious brothers and sisters, unnatural though it may seem, the secular community will become a prominent, energetic force in civic America.

There’s definitely no lack of Christian churches here in the Bible belt. But what about nonreligious churches? Even the meetup groups are geared towards being anti-religious rather than just a gathering of like-minded people in a social setting. Let’s hope that more people start to “come out of the closet” and choose to spend time doing more than just trying to discredit those with opposing beliefs.