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GAF, ever gone to church?
- Thread starter Skiesofwonder
- Start date
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Jamesfrom818
Banned
LaserBuddha said:
I think it depends on the homily. From 7th grade up until the end of high school, my church had 3 awesome priests and they all gave great homilies. The head priest has since moved on and the two others are no longer priests but they actually prevented mass from being a total borefest.
BronzeWolf
Banned
dudeworld said:
Chopper Dave
Member
TacticalFox88 said:
If you were born into a family with strong belief in an organized religion chances are you have some memories of going to church. My faith was only present in early childhood and fairly short lived but there are plenty of good memories worth recalling. The nicest group of old people I will ever meet
Might be more laughing smiley worthy if you said vampire GAF instead
<_<
>_>
...I know they're out there
BronzeWolf
Banned
My good memories of church are actually from my adult atheist life, racking hundreds of dollars playing classical music @ weddings.
GO CHURCH!
GO CHURCH!
Skiesofwonder
Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
I don't LOVE the singing, but nothing wrog with a good ole' sing along! Some of the songs I like, some... not so much. Not too bad overall. But I actually like some country music so kill me. :lol
close to the edge
Member
Yup, that's pretty much it.Buckethead said:
I went to church relatively regularly for about one year, during Confirmation (is that how you call it? not sure), when I was about 13. For me, it was mostly a good experience. It was a small church, liberal and even though I'm an atheist, I don't regret doing it.
I'm from a secular family (as secular as you can get). I've been to church maybe 3 times in my life, usually with a friend who happened to be religious.
It was extremely dull--I was either standing for 30+ minutes, singing (or rather, trying to sing) ridiculous songs, or sitting down for hours and listening to a boring, detached old geezer. I bet he was an atheist.
I also put a coupon in the money-hat once for the lulz.
It was extremely dull--I was either standing for 30+ minutes, singing (or rather, trying to sing) ridiculous songs, or sitting down for hours and listening to a boring, detached old geezer. I bet he was an atheist.
I also put a coupon in the money-hat once for the lulz.
VelvetMouth
Member
I was forced into going to church and sunday school until I was 18 even though my parents didn't go to church. I did enjoy going to a couple of latin services at Catholic churches in Europe. They felt epic and I couldn't understand a word.
I'm against most organized religion especially the catholic church and the terrible mega churches but there are some really good churches out there. My mother-in-laws church is full of elderly people. The congregation takes really good care of these old folks. They have classes, dinner clubs, trips abroad. A lot of them don't have family around and even some have family members that just don't care about their elderly parents. They are driven around by other parish members, taken out to eat, help them to get to the doctor. They are also very open minded and gay friendly with openly gay men working in the church. I don't see how anybody can be againts such a church.
I'm against most organized religion especially the catholic church and the terrible mega churches but there are some really good churches out there. My mother-in-laws church is full of elderly people. The congregation takes really good care of these old folks. They have classes, dinner clubs, trips abroad. A lot of them don't have family around and even some have family members that just don't care about their elderly parents. They are driven around by other parish members, taken out to eat, help them to get to the doctor. They are also very open minded and gay friendly with openly gay men working in the church. I don't see how anybody can be againts such a church.
BronzeWolf
Banned
Skiesofwonder said:
Boy, you don't have to ask twice
Monocle
Member
Yes, as a kid I attended a Catholic school for one year. It was profoundly dull to sit on a hard bench and listen to droning voices for hours on end. I'm sure I would have had a better time if I'd attended Mass in a decent cathedral, but no such luck. Also, I never got any fucking wine. Not so much as a sip or dribble. As though a thimbleful of whatever bottom shelf vineyard Jesus transubstantiated that day would have done me harm.
Church Going:
Once I am sure there's nothing going on
I step inside, letting the door thud shut.
Another church: matting, seats, and stone,
And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut
For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff
Up at the holy end; the small neat organ;
And a tense, musty, unignorable silence,
Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off
My cycle-clips in awkward reverence.
Move forward, run my hand around the font.
From where I stand, the roof looks almost new -
Cleaned, or restored? Someone would know: I don't.
Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few
Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce
'Here endeth' much more loudly than I'd meant.
The echoes snigger briefly. Back at the door
I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence,
Reflect the place was not worth stopping for.
Yet stop I did: in fact I often do,
And always end much at a loss like this,
Wondering what to look for; wondering, too,
When churches will fall completely out of use
What we shall turn them into, if we shall keep
A few cathedrals chronically on show,
Their parchment, plate and pyx in locked cases,
And let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep.
Shall we avoid them as unlucky places?
Or, after dark, will dubious women come
To make their children touch a particular stone;
Pick simples for a cancer; or on some
Advised night see walking a dead one?
Power of some sort will go on
In games, in riddles, seemingly at random;
But superstition, like belief, must die,
And what remains when disbelief has gone?
Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky,
A shape less recognisable each week,
A purpose more obscure. I wonder who
Will be the last, the very last, to seek
This place for what it was; one of the crew
That tap and jot and know what rood-lofts were?
Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique,
Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff
Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?
Or will he be my representative,
Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt
Dispersed, yet tending to this cross of ground
Through suburb scrub because it held unspilt
So long and equably what since is found
Only in separation - marriage, and birth,
And death, and thoughts of these - for which was built
This special shell? For, though I've no idea
What this accoutred frowsty barn is worth,
It pleases me to stand in silence here;
A serious house on serious earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognized, and robed as destinies.
And that much never can be obsolete,
Since someone will forever be surprising
A hunger in himself to be more serious,
And gravitating with it to this ground,
Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in,
If only that so many dead lie round.
Once I am sure there's nothing going on
I step inside, letting the door thud shut.
Another church: matting, seats, and stone,
And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut
For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff
Up at the holy end; the small neat organ;
And a tense, musty, unignorable silence,
Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off
My cycle-clips in awkward reverence.
Move forward, run my hand around the font.
From where I stand, the roof looks almost new -
Cleaned, or restored? Someone would know: I don't.
Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few
Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce
'Here endeth' much more loudly than I'd meant.
The echoes snigger briefly. Back at the door
I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence,
Reflect the place was not worth stopping for.
Yet stop I did: in fact I often do,
And always end much at a loss like this,
Wondering what to look for; wondering, too,
When churches will fall completely out of use
What we shall turn them into, if we shall keep
A few cathedrals chronically on show,
Their parchment, plate and pyx in locked cases,
And let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep.
Shall we avoid them as unlucky places?
Or, after dark, will dubious women come
To make their children touch a particular stone;
Pick simples for a cancer; or on some
Advised night see walking a dead one?
Power of some sort will go on
In games, in riddles, seemingly at random;
But superstition, like belief, must die,
And what remains when disbelief has gone?
Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky,
A shape less recognisable each week,
A purpose more obscure. I wonder who
Will be the last, the very last, to seek
This place for what it was; one of the crew
That tap and jot and know what rood-lofts were?
Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique,
Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff
Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh?
Or will he be my representative,
Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt
Dispersed, yet tending to this cross of ground
Through suburb scrub because it held unspilt
So long and equably what since is found
Only in separation - marriage, and birth,
And death, and thoughts of these - for which was built
This special shell? For, though I've no idea
What this accoutred frowsty barn is worth,
It pleases me to stand in silence here;
A serious house on serious earth it is,
In whose blent air all our compulsions meet,
Are recognized, and robed as destinies.
And that much never can be obsolete,
Since someone will forever be surprising
A hunger in himself to be more serious,
And gravitating with it to this ground,
Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in,
If only that so many dead lie round.
Jason's Ultimatum
Member
In sixth grade, I went to this thing with my friends where you stay at the church over night. It was like a sleep over party. Pizza, games, etc.. Another time we all went to this funzone place with go-karts, games, pizza, etc.. My friends ended up getting pissed saying that I need to stop attending these "fun" events and go to church on Sundays. I said fuck that.
BronzeWolf
Banned
Jason's Ultimatum said:
LOL yeah, my version is like the grown up version of that. LOL
Yeah well a couple of times, my brothers wedding and some funerals. But what I remember most is the funeral service of my grandfather in some small church in the town I grew up in. Everything was so surreal..like some weird cult signing and acting all I don't know.. well weird. I never ever set foot in a church ever again. I guess it was normal for people who are used to it but for me who only sees the inside of it once in like 10 years, I was completely shocked. I couldn't wait to get out of that hell hole with all the people acting in unison and all those shitty songs and I'm pretty sure my grandad would've felt the same.
I would however attend church if it's really like in the Blues Brothers movie, with all the dancing and getting blessed and whatnot.
I would however attend church if it's really like in the Blues Brothers movie, with all the dancing and getting blessed and whatnot.
Chet Rippo
Member
The weekends are my sleep in time, so I rarely go, unless someone forces me to.
Like the hat?
Banned
as in an actual church service? once when I was a boy scout, and I guess you can count my wedding since it was a catholic mass.
Only time I ever went to church as a child was when the parents of a friend dragged me to one in El Salvador. I was 6 and I remember finding it highly disturbing and unsettling to the point I asked to never hang out at that friend's house again.
Even though I'm an atheist, I go to a Lutheran church once a year for Christmas. I usually enjoy it as part of my Christmas tradition, but the church now has a pasture with a style that I hate. He'll do things like read a bible verse, hold the book up and yell "that is the word of the lord!" Shouting something doesn't make it any more true, guy. >=^[
I would like try services from a few different denominations (mostly unitarian and society of friends) but I'm too shy to go by myself and I have nobody who would go with me.
I would like try services from a few different denominations (mostly unitarian and society of friends) but I'm too shy to go by myself and I have nobody who would go with me.
Cosmic Bus
pristine morning snow
I went to church every Sunday for around 17 years, and have ended up there now and then over the years since. My beliefs never changed much, but I didn't feel the compulsion to continue going on a regular basis.
GillianSeed79
Member
The Sedlec Ossuary, better known as the bone church, is creepy and bad ass at the same time.
VGChampion
Member
I used to go every Sunday. I've been bad about it in the past decade though.
Also I am jewish and come from a non religious family so that made it even weirder for me.
Oh and I used to go to a club that was built in a huge old multistory church, kind of like the church in sphagnum's pic. So I guess that kind of counts. I was drunk, listening to techno and making out with girls most of the time though so it was also blasphemy.
edit: how did I not recognize the Hagia Sophia :lol "the church in sphagnum's pic" lol, I am an idiot.
Oh and I used to go to a club that was built in a huge old multistory church, kind of like the church in sphagnum's pic. So I guess that kind of counts. I was drunk, listening to techno and making out with girls most of the time though so it was also blasphemy.
edit: how did I not recognize the Hagia Sophia :lol "the church in sphagnum's pic" lol, I am an idiot.
Sure it does.Trurl said:
speculawyer
Member
Many times. But not for years.
I just can't make any sense out of it.
I just can't make any sense out of it.
Dude Abides
Banned
For 18 years. I think forcing kids to go to Mass every week (more during holy weeks) is a great way to make lapsed Catholics.
lunarworks
Member
My cousins dragged me to church a few times when I was a kid. I was bored out of my wits. I also had to go to sunday school with them those times, and even as a kid I saw past everything they preached. :/
Oh, and I went to Catholic church with my girlfriend, once. It was a bit uncomfortable when the preacher went on a tirade against "secular society".
Oh, and I went to Catholic church with my girlfriend, once. It was a bit uncomfortable when the preacher went on a tirade against "secular society".
CF_Fighter
Member
I go to church when I feel like it, maybe once a month or so. My parents know that as a young adult I have other things on my mind than going to church every Sunday so they rarely push me into going unless there is something important like all of us being together and even then its not an ultimatum type thing. They have always raised my sister and I with the belief that a part of becoming a stronger Christian, in terms of your personal relationship with God and Jesus, is to question your faith and why things are the way they are. My dad is even in seminary right now getting his Master's of Divinity so he can become a priest in the Episcopal church. Even though religion is an important thing to me I've been lucky enough to be raised in a very open religious community. No politics from the pulpit, allow questions of faith and how it relates to every area of human life and society, welcome every walk of life (my uncle is an Episcopal priest and in a Civil Union with his partner that their own bishop blessed). I personally love the culture and beliefs of my denomination and feel like it is what Christianity should be. Love, peace, and forgiveness for all fellow man.
speculawyer
Member
I'd like to see more such conversions . . . it once was a church, then it was a mosque, and now it is a museum.sphagnum said:
Hagia Sophia is still the best, I think, at least in the interior. The Ottomans actually made the exterior better with the minarets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagia_Sophia
Mr. E. Yis
Banned
I'm an atheist, but I still go to (catholic) church most sundays with my parents.
For a lot of reasons:
1. Seeing family/friends that I otherwise would very rarely see.
2. So many hot church girls.
3. Very relaxing and calming compared to the rest of my week.
4. My parents would think less of me if I came out as an atheist or stopped going.
5. I help out the church community (one of the main ushers).
It's not too early (noon), but still sucks when I have a hangover from the night before (this past weekend). And it's very boring, and our current priest isn't that good, but that makes it even more relaxing.
For a lot of reasons:
1. Seeing family/friends that I otherwise would very rarely see.
2. So many hot church girls.
3. Very relaxing and calming compared to the rest of my week.
4. My parents would think less of me if I came out as an atheist or stopped going.
5. I help out the church community (one of the main ushers).
It's not too early (noon), but still sucks when I have a hangover from the night before (this past weekend). And it's very boring, and our current priest isn't that good, but that makes it even more relaxing.
electricpirate
Member
Grew up Episcopalian, at church every Sunday for 15 years, I'd get a subway footlong meatball and a coffee roll after every service. Went hardcore atheist, then agnostic, then deist, and now I'm a reform Jew. Shortly After I converted I actually went to Church because a childhood friend was leading a service.
I really like the community that forms around organized religion.
I really like the community that forms around organized religion.
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