Atheism and Fellowship

 “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs” - Steve Martin

My grandfather had a number of jobs in his lifetime.  He was a Methodist missionary, an English teacher at a Christian boys’ school in Japan, a professor of religion, founding director of the World Council of Churches World Literacy Program (“Lit-Lit”), president of the Pacific School of Religion and author of several books.  His best-known book “This Revolutionary Faith”, was written in 1956.  Writing a few years after Maslow developed his hierarchy of human needs, in this book Grandpa laid out a similar framework for missionary work.  According to my grandfather, people need food, shelter, health, education, and fellowship, and all of these needs come before religion.  A missionary must work to satisfy these primary needs before proselytizing for a particular faith.  Of course, by working to fulfill human needs and living an exemplary life, the missionary is building a foundation so that religious faith will be well regarded.  When religion is finally introduced to a group of people who have found fellowship together, it is much easier to find collective acceptance of the new faith.

Atheism cannot be a binding philosophy in the same way as religion.  It has been said that atheism is a worldview in the same way that not skiing is a hobby.  

Atheism isn’t a movement.  Atheism has no meetings, no music, no collective recitations, no study groups and no buildings.  Atheism has no particular associations or collective goals.  There is no institution that draw atheists together and provides the critical human need of fellowship.  Atheism does not and cannot provide the same social experiences that religion provides so well.  Atheism also does not provide hope for a better life or comfort in times of loss or death.  

Atheists experience social stigma and rejection, something I will explore further in a future post.  In an era of increasing acceptance of human differences, including a wider range of religious beliefs, sexual orientation and gender identification, atheism remains one of the last issues of personal identification to reach social acceptance.  Atheists are still in the closet.  I do not dare to reveal my atheism on Facebook among my religious childhood friends and extended family.  In part, this is because religious people consider any discussion of atheism to be an attack on their beliefs.  

“"I'm atheist. I know that when you die, there's no heaven, so that really bums me out.  I wish I could be Christian and say I'm going to heaven but I know I'm not.  It sucks to know the truth”
- Bree Olson, former pornographic movie actress

Why, then, would someone choose to be an atheist, rather than accept the happiness that comes from church fellowship, the joy in the music, and social support?  It is because religion has a single, fatal flaw.  It isn’t true.  

For those of us who hold the value of truth among our highest lodestars in life, it is simply not possible to accept the comfort of religion.  I think that for many people, there’s a mental compromise, attending church for the friendship, ritual, fellowship, music and activities, but retaining a private core of agnosticism.  They pragmatically avoid thinking about it.  Others struggle to find a comfort zone between their beliefs and the beliefs required by the church community.  

For me, at a certain point late in my life, it became necessary to decide my own belief as documented in this blog.  Luckily for me, my spouse and children agree with me, and each came to atheism as their own belief.  Family is does not replace outside fellowship and community, but at least this is not a topic for conflict.

Atheists need community and fellowship, like all humans.  We are social creatures.  For us, it is necessary to find that fellowship in other venues – book clubs, sports, cards or other games, music, etc.  We need to find fellowship in institutions other than church.  We will just not join others in reciting creeds that we know are not true.
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Atheists Don't Have Any Songs, by Steve Martin

“Christians have their hymns and pages.
Hava Nagila's for the Jews.
Baptists have the Rock of Ages.
Atheists just sing the blues.

Romantics play Claire de Lune.
Born-Agains sing “He is risen.”
But no one ever wrote a tune
For godless existentialism.

For Atheists,
There's no good news.
They'll never sing
A song of faith.
...
Atheists
Atheists
Atheists
Don't have no songs!” 

from “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs”, by Steve Martin
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Image credit: Runner1928 - Own work, in Wikimedia,
A Lutheran Divine Service in the United States, cropped.