Answer 129

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Question129

If you ever attend a religious service for any reason, how do you spend your time? What goes through your mind?

The last religious service I attended was a wedding. I sat in the back pew and played with my two year old granddaughter. I enjoyed the music tremendously. Instead of organ music or a soloist, there was a string quartet. It was quite beautiful. (Liz Huth #658)

Funny you should ask these questions when I've just attended a Lenten choral concert and I've been thinking about these same things. I have a friend, Betty, who has lung cancer, she's been through a lot but now seems to be in remission. Her husband died last year, the same week she found out she had lung cancer. So, when she asks me to do something with her, I usually don't question it too much, I just go. She didn't mention it was a Lenten concert, just hat she is very impressed with the accomplishments of this fledgling choral group. Not realizing the Lenten theme, I asked another friend, Marion, who is Jewish, to join us.

So there we sat, a Presbyterian, an atheist, and a Jew listening to dreary pre-crucifixion music in an Episcopal church. I thought that at least, we were an ecumenical little group. I whispered to Marion that I didn't know it was Lenten. I felt embarrassed that I had asked her and I was also feeling annoyed at Betty for not being more specific about the program, and at myself for not asking. The music was so depressing that I whispered to Marion that this was enough to put you into to the doldrums. Marion and I gave each other - what the hell are we doing here- looks.

The church had glass panels at the top of the walls where the roof beams joined. A bird outside kept flying around bumping into the glass. I worried about the bird, hoping it would find its way out from under the eaves before it knocked itself out on the glass. I looked at my watch - only 20 minutes had gone by - I hoped the program wasn't longer than an hour. But, there was another diversion - a member of the choral group didn't sing. She stood aside from the group and interpreted the words into sign-language. She was very graceful and used her whole body. It was almost like watching a modern dancer. She was fascinating and I divided my focus between her and the bird. I learned a few signs - love, in my heart, all over the world, and a few others. I did occasionally listen to the words and thought, why don't Christians listen to themselves sometime. Especially when they were signing about messengers of peace. The second half of the program was a lot more lively signifying the resurecction and that segment wasn't too bad. It went a lot faster than the first part.

After the program we talked outside for a few minutes and I asked Betty (with a smile) if she realized that an atheist and a Jew where her companions to a Lent thingy. She said she didn't realize that herself. She thinks the choral group is wonderful and that they need the support of the community. It's true they are a very good group. So what's an annoying hour or so among friends? Marion and I think the world of Betty, she is a very lovely lady.

Being the only atheist in my family, I get roped into going to pageants where a grandchild is either an angel or a wise man if I'm visiting when these things come up or in going to a church service now and then. I live in Florida and 3 of my children live in New Jersey and the other in California so these things don't come up that often. When they do, my time with my children and grandchildren is so precious that I don't feel that it's appropriate to bring up this difference of views. (Eileen Camilleri #948)

It must be close to 30 years since I attended any religious service. I remember the last one I was at, which was at my old church. I've never been able to understand how people can believe in supernatural religion. It's hard to put in words exactly how I felt at that last service. I guess I'd have to say I regarded the entire congregation as idiots in a compartmentalized way, since I didn't regard them as idiots necessarily in fields other than religion. I'm very leery of supernaturally religious people in general though. No matter how benign a particular one of them might seem, If he/she has creepy stuff like that going in his/her head, what else is there that I just haven't observed yet?

Non-supernatural religion though is no problem. I regard my own humanism as a non-supernatural religion. One has to have a basis for living, and that basis is inevitably arbitrary, whether by "belief" or just by "acceptance". (Rumplestiltskin)

I've had the 'pleasure' of attending a religious wedding or two. I felt like an anthropologist observing the primitive rituals of a newly-discovered jungle tribe, complete with ritual cannibalism, magic gestures, and incantations. (Landis Ragon #45)

I tend to look through whatever prayer book or Bible they are using for commentaries and other laughs. Actually, the last time I attended anything was at a Reform temple in our town. I noticed how they did things so differently from my Conservative temple that I was not nostalgic. Their ibles had commentaries about how the Bible really didn't mean the stuff it said. The one I remember said that the prohibition on mixing fabrics was to prevent people dressing up as priests - which was what drag meant in those days, I guess. (Scott Davidson #1045)

Actually, I'm surprised that no one has come up with an on-line church as of yet. Just go to gawdamighty.com, open an account and receive salvation, blessings, the sacraments, right over the internet. All major credit cards accepted.

Seriously, I live in San Diego, and there are some fine old churches around here. I would be especially interested the colonial era churches because of the art work. Mexican religious art is a curious blend of old world and new world mythology. Apparently some of the artists who decorated the colonial churches incorporated some of the old gods into paintings and statues depicting the xian saints. I wonder if the priests knew what was going on. (John Hachmann #1782)

Yikes! I try to avoid that as much as possible, but it does happen occasionally. For the most part, I just sit and behave, and try not to get frustrated at the sheer stupidity and bigotry often displayed by the priests during homily. I also try not to look at my watch too much.

The one exception was last year at the funeral of a co-workers child. During that service, the only thing in my mind was the angelic little face that would never grace the world again. It was only later that I became outraged at how horrifying and selfish the priest's homily was. (Paul J. Koeck #360)

Since most of my relatives are jewish, I often attend weddings, bar-mitzvahs and bat-mitzvahs, and their ancillary ceremonies (for a wedding, there is an 'oif-ruf' the thursday before where the groom goes and reads the Torah, thereby guaranteeing he has bar-mitzvahed; traditionally, candy is thrown at him at the end; this as way of example).

I usually am silent, or speak softly to my dad (also an atheist). I stand respectuflly silent when it is required to stand, and sit otherwise. I wear a kippah inside temple, but I do not wear a talit or te'filim. In the one or two occasions when someone has apprached me and asked me to wear them, I have respectuflly refused. My dad was threatened once that if he didn't wear a talit he would be thrown out, so he left; I would do the same.

What goes through my mind varies. Being a mathematician, I usually have one or two problems to play with for which I do not need pencil and paper, and I can think about them. (-: I often count how many pages are left in the service, or point out to myself the logical flaws in the sermon.

Going to services is not my favorite occupation. (Arturo Magidin #257)

Having quite a variety of religious relatives and a lot of natural curiosity, I've been to rather a lot of 'em. Weddings, funerals, christenings, bar mitsvahs, and even the occasional Mass. Often, I must admit, what goes through my mind is "Well, this is *boring*." (As a kid, I got ribbed by my Mom because, when invited to a sermon by a theist friend who wanted to convert me, I brought a book to read during the boring bits. She told me later, with a laugh, that this is Not Done. ;) However, I do occasionally have more productive thoughts.

Usually I treat it as a cultural event; I get to watch folklore in action, so to speak. I mentally cross-compare it to other services I've been to, and note the points of doctrine. If it's a group I know the history of, like the Catholics, my mind usually wanders off down paths of historical speculation - how much of the Mass is similar to the medieval ritual, how much is new? That sort of thing. I enjoy services with a lot of pomp and pageantry, for these reasons - Eastern Orthodox is nice that way. :) When the musical offerings are superior, I get the same type of exalted feeling that I do from good music in a concert hall, or even on the radio.

But I still don't believe a word of it. (April #1723)

I had to attend my mother's funeral last September. The preacher droned on and on with his god drivel and all mom's friends lappd it up like cheap whiskey. Afterwards, I discovered two cousins and one of mom's former caretakers were atheist. ;-)
I couldn't read a book as I normally do when I am forced to go to church (weddings only) because I was sitting the front row close enough to feel the wind of the preacher's breath. (Erikc #2)

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