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Re:The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution by dd9990 on Sunday August 02, 2015 @02:36PM (#9991787)
I'm the opposite - I miss the community and its events. There's a growing Humanist community where I live precisely for that reason. The vast majority of the population are Catholic so life revolves around Catholic rituals, whether we like it or not. It's great to have secular alternatives for marriages, funerals and baptisms.
Re:The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution by brandonmenc on Sunday August 02, 2015 @02:57PM (#9991900)
I attend both religious and secular weddings and funerals, and no one seems to be missing a beat.

As an agnostic, I've never thought, "we need an alternative." That probably has to do with the fact that marriages and funerals, even religious ones, are already highly personal, custom affairs.

> secular alternatives for [...] baptisms

An initiation ceremony for secularism? I find that bizarre.

Re:The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution by dd9990 on Sunday August 02, 2015 @04:09PM (#9992216)
>An initiation ceremony for secularism?

Nothing of the sort. It's a secular christening, .i.e. a party for friends and relatives after the baby is born. I think some European Humanist groups call them naming ceremonies but I haven't been to anything that formal.

Re:The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution by ptx on Sunday August 02, 2015 @04:28PM (#9992319)
Yes, my parents (who are not religious) did that when my siblings and I were born – a "naming party". I don't think there was any actual ritual or any organization involved, though.
Re:The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution by rch on Sunday August 02, 2015 @03:08PM (#9991947)
secularism begins at conception :)
Re:The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution by hiphipjorge on Sunday August 02, 2015 @03:52PM (#9992151)
Where do you live? What are the alternatives for someone who's curious about these communities?
Re:The World Needs a Secular Community Revolution by dd9990 on Sunday August 02, 2015 @04:16PM (#9992252)
Ireland. The main humanist group [1] is in Dublin but there's a few smaller groups popping up, for example in Cork [2]. It's mostly an excuse for a chat over pints, but there's also some campaigning, e.g. for a secular education system.

[1] http://www.humanism.ie [2] http://corkhumanists.weebly.com/