It's religion not politics that makes church-attendance undesirable for most non-church-goers. Having said that, I agree that we are missing something that modern secular society is missing something that used to take place in churches.
I'm not so convinced as you that the religious aspect is required to make it work. Shared purpose maybe, but there are lots of ways of creating that. In another comment you mentioned "might as well be a community centre", which I think is interesting because community centres are one of the other places I've this sense of well... community.
One thing that churches have other than religion which I think often gets overlooked is money (in particular they generally own the building they use). I've seen more than one excellent community centre closed down because they ran out of funding and couldn't afford to keep paying the rent. I would love to see a concerted effort at government funded secular churches designed to serve a parish-sized community.
I doubt I'd participate in a secular community center, so I'd be interested in seeing this as an outside observer. But honestly, I doubt it'd work. Without any common values, it'll be hard to get a diverse set of people.
In my experience, when secular people start this, it ends up being a club for other secular people 'like them'. In America the starkest examples of this are when these community clubs founded by whites end up being essentially white only, or black-only if founded by a black. Not due to any racism on part of the founder but simply that, without an explicit shared value system, no one quite knows what to believe except those 'already in the know'.
I notice this with my own in-laws, who are white WASPy types. I am a Catholic obviously, and not white. Sometimes, they'll talk in ways that make me feel out of place and that I can't relate to. On the other hand, when white Catholics talk about Catholicism, I feel we're on the same wave length.
> I would love to see a concerted effort at government funded secular churches designed to serve a parish-sized community.
I think it's sad we have to replace grassroots decentralized community efforts with centralized government funded ones in this day and age. It's like we've regressed.
That's my observation. I'd be interested in seeing this thing come around, and i'll continue to watch from the sidelines with interest. Maybe I'll even show up after church.
You have gone to very different churches than I grew up in. The secular groups I was in at public school, college, and then as an adult were all MUCH more accepting and diverse than the churches I was in as a kid, and the private school I went to for the first 9 years of my education.
"If you stay Catholic you're going to hell" was a memorable thing one of my teachers told one of my classmates...
They really didn't like me much when I started asking questions they didn't have answers for other than "you just have to have faith," either.
No doubt. If it were not for one teacher who was clearly trained in Catholic apologetics in middle school, I don't think i would have remained Catholic. The church does a terrible job of catechesis, which is a shame, since it's spent a lot of time thinking about it.
> Without any common values, it'll be hard to get a diverse set of people.
The fundamental premise of the United States is that a body of people can have shared values without shared religion.
A supernatural deity is not required to believe that all people are created equal and deserve the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The fundamental premise was not an absence of religion. Most of the founders and certainly all of the original colonists were religious. The premise was no state-endorsed or mandated religion.
There's a big difference between living in the same country as people I don't share deep values with and actively seeking out their company.
I sincerely doubt most hn readers are seeking active companionship with someone from rural Alabama.
Of course I have shared values with almost every american. That small set of values is just not enough for deep friendship even if it's enough for civic patriotism.
I'm not so convinced as you that the religious aspect is required to make it work. Shared purpose maybe, but there are lots of ways of creating that. In another comment you mentioned "might as well be a community centre", which I think is interesting because community centres are one of the other places I've this sense of well... community.
One thing that churches have other than religion which I think often gets overlooked is money (in particular they generally own the building they use). I've seen more than one excellent community centre closed down because they ran out of funding and couldn't afford to keep paying the rent. I would love to see a concerted effort at government funded secular churches designed to serve a parish-sized community.