Isn’t that sort of like believing that people who don’t collect stamps really should join a club that has the express purpose of discussing their “shared interest” of not collecting stamps?

Your general point is correct, but the key difference is that we don’t live in a country where a president will say he doesn’t consider you an American because you don’t collect stamps. Many atheist groups have activism as their focus, like any other activist group. Atheism is “negative” but the groups can have positive goals like the separation of church and state, education, and civil rights for non-believers.

If religion faded away or at least became private and no longer had its oppressive hold on public policy, atheist groups might also fade away. (I suspect Mothers Against Drunk Driving would also go away if everyone stopped drinking and driving.)

If such an unlikely event were to occur I could see atheist groups changing into general philosophy clubs, since most members have a general interest in such discussions. (The philosophy meetup here in NYC is about 10x more popular than the atheist meetup.)

Karen said,
LOL – you could write a thesis on this someday!

Practically every post in my blog at religiouscomics.net is a reaction to things I’ve heard either at this particular Baptist church or the accompanying small group I attend.

I’m like a cultural anthropologist observing an alien society.

LOL – you could write a thesis on this someday!

K said,
…If you’re in the wrong and constantly having to justify a god, then yeah, you would feel better with a large group to support your craziness but Atheists don’t need other people to make them feel sure of themselves…

I’ve found this to be the case. I’m actually in a fairly fundamentalist Christian small group that meets weekly at one of the members houses. The group is not preoccupied with back-stabbing (although a little occasionally occurs). Its main purpose seems to be to prop up and support the wacky beliefs of the members. Bible literalism, young earth creationism, demons, Satan, gospel miracles, etc. The church pushes the small groups as a mechanism to use peer pressure to keep the members from back-sliding and becoming integrated secular members of society.

As an Atheist, its been an interesting experience being a part of such a group. I kind-of “play along” as if I’m one of them. Its the price of admission. I’m like a cultural anthropologist observing an alien society.

I can’t really picture an Atheist small group organized along the same lines as a Christian small group (for peer support of beliefs). Atheisms is really all about not needing peer support for your outlook on the world.

Has anyone here ever been to one of those “small groups” in the christian churches? The “community” there is usually (not all the time) kept together by a general dislike of and backstabbing of the other members.

Yes, and that’s totally not how I remember it. It was just like a friendly get together, of coursed based on the Bible. We usually had some part that was a Bible study, and then “fellowship,” where we’d just chat and eat and enjoy each others company.

Has anyone here ever been to one of those “small groups” in the christian churches? The “community” there is usually (not all the time)kept together by a general dislike of and backstabbing of the other members.

I was in small groups all my life before deconverting and I didn’t find this to be true. Yes, there might have been some gossip and backstabbing, but no more so than in most groups – indeed probably less because there was always self-censorship operating in the small group bible studies or prayer groups.

My experience with Christian small groups is that they are mostly support and social oriented. Yes, you’re typically reading a certain book of the bible or studying a workbook or commentary, but the main purpose of the group is to provide “fellowship” – i.e., having a meal together, catching up on family members, and praying for certain things (new job, wayward kid, sick relative, etc).

Currently, my small atheist groups are all virtual, since they are online. I did meet another former fundy online and we wound up meeting in person and have started getting together regularly. That’s really been great – we bonded instantly. But mostly what we have in common is being deconverts, not being atheists.