Churchy Types
Well, we did it. We went to church yesterday. We woke up early, put on our Sunday best and loaded Lily into her carseat. We have been looking for a local community that shares the same values as we do. While browsing the Internet, I found the Universalist Unitarian website. Imagine how thrilled I was when I read that an upcoming sermon was going to focus on The Morality of Atheism! After reading on the web, how welcoming the UU church is, I was hopeful. I couldn’t wait to go to the church and hear what was being said on Atheism and morality.
My husband was not as hopefuls as I. We were very unfamiliar with the UU church’s philosophy and we were not sure how open it really was. As atheists, we have experienced bigotry and disdain, even from our own families. My husband even prepared for church by writing out passages from the bible that condone and even demand things that are not very moral by today’s standards, just in case. We just hoped that there would be were people who accepted us and believed that we could be moral people without religion.
The sermon was more than I had hoped for. I am fascinated by psychology, and how the brain works. I was thrilled that the speaker used psychological studies to back up her hypothesis that atheists are indeed moral. I have studied Kohlberg’s theory of moral development numerous times throughout my education, but this was the first time I ever thought about it in a purely religious context. It was so eye opening! I sat there in my chair and I couldn’t help but to get teary eyed, knowing that there are other people out there that accept atheism, even in a church.
The congregation was so welcoming and friendly too. We really felt welcomed, even with our noisy toddler! I am not sure if we will be regular church goers at this point. I felt a bit uncomfortable with some of the more “churchy” aspects like the hymn singing and offerings. The population of the church was older too. Lily was the only young child there. I was reassured that more kids are members, but in the summer attendance slows down. It was Memorial Day weekend so many people were out of town. We will definitely be keeping an eye on the upcoming services page.
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