I am not religious and have no desire to start being now but sometimes I just want the community people get with church. I am craving connection with the community and feel it’s very healthy for families and neighbors as well. The United States is seriously lacking in third spaces and communities. It’s leading to a serious loneliness epidemic… Just wondering if there is anything that can fill that need for non-religious folks?
It’s called a bar.
Rotary (or Rotaract depending on your age) may fill that niche for you? It’s been pretty good for me, personally, and has a huge focus on connecting with and doing good in your local community.
I knew a Unitarian. He described going to church as more like a weekly potluck.
There are also local political clubs you could look into as they will be focused on local community issues.
I wish something like the sunrise movement started a new religion about taking climate change seriously. No sky bully, just people gathering weekly to hear about the earth, what we can do to make it better.
What would the core tenements be?
- anti consumption
- probably encouraging people to eat less/no meat
- energy efficiency - home improvements that make a difference
- most importantly- opting away from big corporate polluters when at all possible. Buy local not Amazon. Individual choice doesn’t mean much compared to systemic environmental harm.
I’ve also thought about this a bit and this is my best pitch. But I don’t think it’s very likely to happen when it’s hard enough just getting by for most people now.
Team sports, volunteer work, social clubs, table top rpgs, choir or a band, basically any hobby you do offline in a group,…
Honestly the fact that you have to ask this question kinda shows how broken the society you live in is.
This is what’s called a “third place”. And they’ve been deliberately killed off or commercialized.There are all kinds of clubs out there depending on where you live. Even the rotary club is a way to connect and do good work while not being religious.
To give more details on kind of clubs (while being more EU focused, but I don’t see why the same wouldn’t exists in the US)
Sport clubs, avoid the commercial Gym where everyone lift their own weight, but a team-sport, an outdoor sport requiring to travel means you’ll spend time with other. Some more traditional martial-art even have this drop of oriental philosophy about respecting and helping the others
Political group, you’re on Lemmy, so you may be interested
Volunteer group, stuff like the red-cross, and many more look for volunteers you’ll spend a lot of time with others. Actually when I’ve made my 1st aid course, the trainer told us a couple of time that they look for volunteer to go further, and at a point dropped that the red-cross is a massive dating club.
Rotary club is just a masonry recruiting program.
Those bricks aren’t going to lay themselves my guy
Hard working bricks if you know what I mean… 😁😁
Check your local Unitarian Universalism (UU) branch.
https://www.uua.org/uuagovernance/committees/article-ii-study-commission/about-article-2
"Section C-2.1. Principles.
We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote
The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all;
Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."
I have a couple of friends who go to one of the UU churches in Dallas. I think maybe Roe came from it.
…getting some very religious vibes from this text
I mean, the UU church is still a church after all, but without a lot of the toxic trappings. You aren’t going to get anyone telling you the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus for example.
https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/beliefs/christianity/views-jesus
"UUs may view Jesus as a moral exemplar, practicing the compassion, generosity, and mercy that he preached. In his own life and in stories like the Good Shepherd and the Good Samaritan, Jesus calls us to connect: to transcend pride and selfishness and choose instead to love and serve, to do good, and to care for each other.
For some, Jesus is a prophetic leader and an instrument of the divine. They may or may not believe Jesus was the son of God or was resurrected but share with Christians a conviction that his witness has the spiritual power to redeem mistakes and save lives. Many describe a personal relationship with him that strengthens and inspires. Jesus calls us to discover new life and truth by following him.
Others view Jesus as a reformer and dissident, an underdog and ally. He was executed as a political criminal because of his teachings, but his life made an impact, then and now. He called out injustice in his own community and in the government. He stood with and spoke up for the most vulnerable, and he challenged his followers to feed the hungry and visit the imprisoned. Jesus calls us to transform, to resist the unjust systems that divide us, and reshape them for good."
Personally, I wouldn’t be comfortable with any field of thought other than “Jesus was a literary fiction, constructed by the early church as a method of control over an illiterate populace.” but then that’s why I don’t go to church. 😉
Interesting, how you suddenly make that switch from some super abstract, nebulous nothingness to a lengthy framing of Jesus.
Yes, Quakers. They sit reflectively with one another instead of listening to services (generally speaking)
Some prominent non-theist Quakers out there, like Charlie Brooker, creator and head writer of Black Mirror and the various Philomena Cunk series Cunk On…
TIL, Charlie identifies as Quaker.
Been watching his content since Oink! Comics, highly approve.
Imagine if the west had been dominated by the quakers during colonialism, instead of the puritans, how different the world would be.
Volunteer work is probably your solution.
Other than mere social activities, people work together towards common goals, and all of them considers them good goals (different than between you and your boss at work). This gives strong feelings of becoming a community etc.
It’s not all hardcore hate thy neighbors claptrap. In my experience Methodists are chill AF. Still gotta listen about Jesus but they really do love everybody.
Vancouver had some groups, they may have them where you are at.
One was an atheist group meeting weekly to do what churches do as a community gathering, helping out in the local area etc.
Another was the Processions, which was (from what I gather) a church that didn’t talk about god, as trying to describe or talk about god takes away from what god is. So they’d just meet as a community with an understanding they believed in a higher creator.
Nope, nothing else offers an out from the fear of death.
Nor the forgiveness sans accountability.
Yep, there’s another one.
That’s what builds the community. Or binds it. Those things at that level that aren’t offered elsewhere to ordinary people.
You can usually find community and some cool people at local mutual aid groups, here’s how to find those.
Sunday Assembly is what you’re looking for.
Yeah that’s why people go to the pubs, boat clubs, gardening groups, art groups, workshops, etc.
