My favorite antitheistic quote that I wrote out once, long ago, expresses the joy and benefit of losing religion:

"When I became convinced that the universe is natural, that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell. The dungeon was flooded with light and all the bolts and bars and manacles became dust. I was no longer a servant, a serf, or a slave. There was for me no master in all the wide world, not even in infinite space. I was free--free to think, to express my thoughts--free to live my own ideal, free to live for myself and those I loved, free to use all my faculties, all my senses, free to spread imagination's wings, free to investigate, to guess and dream and hope, free to judge and determine for myself . . . I was free! I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously faced all worlds."

It is from one of Robert Ingersol's writings, but I did not write down which. I have never been able to track down more than a few pamphlet length documents of his.

Care to elaborate? The congregation I grew up in did wonders in the community. The mission downtown helped the homeless gain work skills to get on their feet and the church was the primary institution organizing coat drives, food pantries, soup kitchens and helping to build homes. As with any culture, nationality or creed I think there are good and bad. A general comment like this does not contribute to a conversation and only serves to inflame.

For the record I haven't attended church in 8 years and don't necessarily plan to go back anytime soon. I don't consider myself atheist either, rather agnostic as some questions such as abiogenesis and the origin of the universe are too big to answer at the moment.

> Care to elaborate?

Not the OP, but I grew up in a place where churches influence politics. My niece is in high school there and I recently learned that she lost most of her friends when she decided she is an atheist (this broke my heart).

Private faith is probably not so problematic, and some church functions are undoubtedly beneficial to their communities. However, I see organized religion as a negative for society.

This, to me, seems like one of the central societal challenges today...how do we retain the community and social outreach programs that churches provide without the fairy tales, imaginary-friend-for-grownups and anti-science zealotry that churches bundle into their current offering?

I’ve often felt that life would’ve been easier if I’d been able to swallow the dogma without having to question. People who have that faith seem genuinely fulfilled by it, in an almost placebo-like way. And the decidedly local character of churches is a sort of armor against the internetification of the modern world that so often isolates us. But since I could never accept what I still see as a facile relic of a primitive culture, I feel like I missed out on the many ancillary benefits that members of that community so often enjoy.

I agree, but want to try and add a more substantive comment. I suspect that many of the people who don't attend church anymore in the US are doing so because they never wanted to be there, but society is nowadays more accepting of their absence. If you're a Christian, I hope you don't despair; there are indeed people you will never be able to reach. Better they feel comfortable leaving the church than attending for societal (rather than religious) reasons.

In the UK they get turned into pubs.

Incidentally, more than 25% of UK pubs have closed since 2001:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/nov/26/uk-pub-clos...

Not surprised. There are a LOT of pubs. You can live in the middle of nowhere and have a local pub nearby. And the big chain pubs offer cheap food/drinks and nice refurbished areas so it is going to be hard to compete I am sure.

Nope, it's a good thought. Churches are a tremendous waste of land that could be put to good use, often in the middle of cities. Many of our cities have affordable housing crises and churches sit empty all but a few hours of the week. I'd love to see the useless land re-developed for people to live in and put back on the tax rolls.

The town in which I lived in Minnesota had a few churches come up for sale. The price was not much higher than a typical home in the neighborhood. Some friends bought one, and it was a unique place to share between roommates. Definitely a nice building.

Interesting. Most of the churches I'm aware of around Philly that would fall into the 'for sale' category seem like they'd be utter maintenance disasters. (ie: very expensive to keep up up, heated, maintained, etc.)

Prepare to be inundated with anecdotal responses about how the church did this thing or another and it really made them feel great, while the responses completely, willfully, disingenuously ignore the net damage churches and religion have done.

None of them will ever illicit real, substantial, socially positive change. But they sure do love involving themselves sporadically for the branding.

OP's comment hit the nail on the head.

Was this in reply to my comment? As a scientist I think I would like to see the world altogether move into a science oriented way of thinking and perhaps even a community oriented around the idea of scientific and creative progress and achievement as a ways of being spiritually fulfilled. Instead of gathering at church on Sundays people can gather in a lecture hall or performance hall to hear about the latest breakthrough in Astronomy, Physics or hear a Concerto. In a post-poverty world we can start tackling other challenges. The church may lose its relevance in the future, but I at least acknowledge the important role it has played in our collective history. This is also another instance of not ALL religious folks are bad people and should not be demonized as a group.

I don't know what your comment was. My reply was a preemptive response to the inevitable course this topic always takes. It's always a nice take on academically Missing the Point.

>acknowledge the important role it has played in our collective history.

It has played an important role. Just not with the connotation you're thinking of.