That hasn't been my experience in the Episcopal Church. We're pretty liberal and don't do a lot of telling people what to do. People may come for the doctrine, but they stay for the ceremony and the fellowship.

That's my perception of church-based community. The doctrine is really just an excuse to get together and form community bonds. By your analogy, I think it's more like switching to, say, track and field, not gathering in an empty football stadium--a very different sport, but still a reason to get together and cheer. I'm not sure how that can be translated to the secular world, but it seems like there should be a way.

(I think a lot of modern atheists don't realize that liberal Christians exist. The awful fundamentalists dominate the news cycle so much. Most of us are happy to mind our own business, do charity work in the community, etc., but none of that makes headlines.)