Do You Go To Church On Sundays?

Like most who have posted here so far, I haven't been to church in a long time, since the early seventies.
 

No. My parents insisted that my siblings and I go when we were kids. They thought it would "do us good." It did teach me how to quietly indulge in any fantasy I liked while appearing to pay attention to some adult blathering nonsense I knew I didn't believe and never would. This is a skill that has come in handy throughout life.
 
Dame Warrigal said:
Jim, you seem to think that church is only for the pure in heart. In reality, first and foremost, the call is to the sinners and the hypocrites.

I do attend church on Sunday mornings and I also teach a class of the most delightful children that you could ever hope to meet. I hope to strengthen the lessons that their parents impart, to challenge them to think critically and to give them a framework on which to develop their moral principles. Oh, where ever possible, we try to enjoy the experience.
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I offer you my sincere admiration, DW, for your work on behalf of instilling "a framework on which to develop their moral principles". I attended a private school which included attending daily a mandatory morning chapel service delivered by the school's headmaster. His talks were very light on theology but very heavy on ethics and I credit this experience as being very important in the development of my character.
 

No, never have. Neither did my parents or grandparents on my mom's side, so it's not something I can take credit for figuring out on my own. I'm with Josiah about wasting Sundays. My parents always had to work on Sundays because my dad had a factory job 6 days/wk and Sunday was the only time they had to do the major projects related to the house.
 
Interesting. As we grow older we are supposed to become more religious. All your responses are so welcomed...for I have wondered about my lack of religiosity. Though very spiritual, am turned off by structured religion. Sounds like I am in the majority...thankfully.
 
Definitely in the majority, ndynt. Here is some data from Australia but bear in mind that Aussies are less overtly religious than Americans. At least, from our perspective we are.

Australia has more churches (13,000) than schools (9,500), and more Australians attend a church service each week (1.8 million***) than there are people in South Australia (1.6 million).

And while the latest Census results show that Christianity is the religion with which most Australians identify (61.1%), well above the second most popular religion in Australia, Buddhism (2.5%), less than one in seven of the Australians who ticked “Christianity” on their census form regularly attend a church.

Easter is a time of the year when church attendance increases, but what do the 92% of Australians who are not regular church attendees think of churches, and churchgoing in 2013? Here’s our latest infographic which shares the data.

church attendance.GIF

*** Australian Population ~ 23 million
 
I think people can have a fulfilling relationship with God, the infinite, or whatever you want to call the master of the universe without going to church services on Sundays. So, no, I don't attend church on Sundays anymore.
 
Rarely. Brought up strict Catholic but dumped that at 18 when I left home. I go for funerals and weddings, and when I'm on a holiday with my husband and sister who are both Catholic.
 
ndynt said:
Interesting. As we grow older we are supposed to become more religious. All your responses are so welcomed...for I have wondered about my lack of religiosity. Though very spiritual, am turned off by structured religion. Sounds like I am in the majority...thankfully.
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When I was a child, the church my parents took me to was very structured. The preacher was very firm in his delivery. I admit, that always turned me off. Today when I attend(which is sporadic), I go to a church which is way more laid back. The sermons are relaxed and much easier to listen to. And they have a more contemporary style of music. Traditionalist probably do like this style, but I see nothing wrong with it.
 
I remember even as a child thinking, this religion stuff is really far fetched and seems like another fairytale. That was very difficult because my parents and all the adults around me believed it.. (or pretended to) So I went along with the program, attending Sunday School and Catechism classes and making my Confirmation. Still deep inside knowing that I really had my doubts about what I was being taught and feeling very guilty and bad about it. I had no idea what an agnostic or agnosticism was back then. As a young adult, I was still hunting around for a religion or a Church that didn't feel silly to me.. I've never found one. Now I freely admit to "not knowing" for sure. I still have doubts, but I am much more comfortable having them. I have tried to live my life as a good and moral person. Sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing but knowing the error of my ways. If there is a Heaven.. I see no reason why I shouldn't be let in. If not.. it really doesn't matter.
 
Thanks for the stats, Dame Warrigal. Very interesting. Wonder why Easter, vs Christmas, is the time when church attendance increases.
 
QuickSilver said:
I remember even as a child thinking, this religion stuff is really far fetched and seems like another fairytale. That was very difficult because my parents and all the adults around me believed it.. (or pretended to) So I went along with the program, attending Sunday School and Catechism classes and making my Confirmation. Still deep inside knowing that I really had my doubts about what I was being taught and feeling very guilty and bad about it. I had no idea what an agnostic or agnosticism was back then. As a young adult, I was still hunting around for a religion or a Church that didn't feel silly to me.. I've never found one. Now I freely admit to "not knowing" for sure. I still have doubts, but I am much more comfortable having them. I have tried to live my life as a good and moral person. Sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing but knowing the error of my ways. If there is a Heaven.. I see no reason why I shouldn't be let in. If not.. it really doesn't matter.
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I was raised in the Baptist Church and I had doubts too growing up, I remember asking the preacher about something in the Bible one time, not understanding how it could be...he told me "we don't question what is in the Bible." ....I rarely go to Church now.
 
QuickSilver said:
I remember even as a child thinking, this religion stuff is really far fetched and seems like another fairytale. That was very difficult because my parents and all the adults around me believed it.. (or pretended to) So I went along with the program, attending Sunday School and Catechism classes and making my Confirmation. Still deep inside knowing that I really had my doubts about what I was being taught and feeling very guilty and bad about it. I had no idea what an agnostic or agnosticism was back then. As a young adult, I was still hunting around for a religion or a Church that didn't feel silly to me.. I've never found one. Now I freely admit to "not knowing" for sure. I still have doubts, but I am much more comfortable having them. I have tried to live my life as a good and moral person. Sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing but knowing the error of my ways. If there is a Heaven.. I see no reason why I shouldn't be let in. If not.. it really doesn't matter.
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QuickSilver, I can totally relate. As a child/young adult I was overly religious. "Religion is the opium ...of the people"? Then I became turned off with the doctrine of my religion. Tried every other religion I could find. Took many theological college courses. Never found a church that made me feel as close to my supreme being as I am cutting grass or digging in the dirt...or viewing one of his/her creations.
 
ndynt said:
Interesting. As we grow older we are supposed to become more religious. All your responses are so welcomed...for I have wondered about my lack of religiosity. Though very spiritual, am turned off by structured religion. Sounds like I am in the majority...thankfully.
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I still believe in God, I still believe in the teachings of Jesus but unless people live by those teachings then their "faith" means nothing. I know that there a a lot of good, faithful people that regularly attend church; unfortunately, in the same location are too many that are just there for "show".
 
Jackie22 said:
I was raised in the Baptist Church and I had doubts too growing up, I remember asking the preacher about something in the Bible one time, not understanding how it could be...he told me "we don't question what is in the Bible." ....I rarely go to Church now.
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I believe this is how organized religion damages people. When you are a child, you are indoctrinated almost before you can understand. If you, like me, had doubts, we are not encouraged to bring them up. Instead of being able to question and bring up our concerns, we internalize them and figure there is something "wrong" with Us.. That somehow we are inherently "bad" if we are having problems with the faith. I can't imagine what would have happened to me if I had said what I was thinking.. that being "Are you freaking kidding me??" or something to that effect. AND that's exactly what I was thinking. "How can this be true?" "Do these people actually believe all this stuff?" And of course I felt they did.. so I was the bad one.. The one with the problem.
 
QuickSilver said:
I believe this is how organized religion damages people. When you are a child, you are indoctrinated almost before you can understand. If you, like me, had doubts, we are not encouraged to bring them up. Instead of being able to question and bring up our concerns, we internalize them and figure there is something "wrong" with Us.. That somehow we are inherently "bad" if we are having problems with the faith. I can't imagine what would have happened to me if I had said what I was thinking.. that being "Are you freaking kidding me??" or something to that effect. AND that's exactly what I was thinking. "How can this be true?" "Do these people actually believe all this stuff?" And of course I felt they did.. so I was the bad one.. The one with the problem.
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Questions were not encouraged at all. Not even discussions. Just memorizing. I went to catholic school for 3 very long years. Grades 3, 4 and 6. I was 12 when I began to seriously question this stuff. Age 14 in catechism class our lay teacher told us there was no fire in hell, it's just the worse thing anyone could imagine and that was why we were told fire. She said hell was the absence of god. Hmm...okay, what else was a lie?! The end of catholicism for me.
 
Davey Jones said:
Sister Edith use to beat the crap outta me when I didn't do my homework...ahhhh those were the days.
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The terror of my childhood - 6th grade - Sister Mary Ethna. Didn't get beaten being a girl but did have to kneel down on the hard wood floor if I missed a question. The boys got the paddle.

The nuns at our catholic school had just come over from Ireland on the boat in 1960. Scary!
 
I do not attend Church. I really have tried. My conclusion= I don't seem to ever fit in and I'm not comfortable with public worship. Result=I keep my faith and worship private. It's between God and myself.
 
My sister and me went to Catholic school when we were in primary school. We were terrified of the nuns who were extremely stern. For some reason, being too scared to answer a question, my sister got strapped on her thigh which left a big red welt. When my parents saw it they immediately took us out of the school and we went to public schools from then on. The nuns came to our house to try and talk my parents into putting us back in and denying the strapping.

When my ex husband was a kid in New England, his aunt, who was a nun, frequently 'beat the crap out of him' (his words) in catholic school. Other abuses against other boys included rape by the priest. This was in the early 50s and early 60s, and I'm sure things have changed and there is no more of that physical abuse, since laws have been changed about beatings by teachers. There were some pretty crazy public school teachers in those days too who would hit the kids.

Catholic school teachers nowadays are not nuns thank goodness and its more secular in curriculum according to a friend of mine.
 
Cookie said:
My sister and me went to Catholic school when we were in primary school. We were terrified of the nuns who were extremely stern. For some reason, being too scared to answer a question, my sister got strapped on her thigh which left a big red welt. When my parents saw it they immediately took us out of the school and we went to public schools from then on. The nuns came to our house to try and talk my parents into putting us back in and denying the strapping.

When my ex husband was a kid in New England, his aunt, who was a nun, frequently 'beat the crap out of him' (his words) in catholic school. Other abuses against other boys included rape by the priest. This was in the early 50s and early 60s, and I'm sure things have changed and there is no more of that physical abuse, since laws have been changed about beatings by teachers. There were some pretty crazy public school teachers in those days too who would hit the kids.

Catholic school teachers nowadays are not nuns thank goodness and its more secular in curriculum according to a friend of mine.
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I got smacked with a ruler by a nun more than once. I must say though that my teacher, Mother Mary Helen was a stern but extremely insightful old lady. I loved her. I went back to the convent as a man a few years later just to visit with her a few moments. A little later I returned with a little gift and was told "the Lord had called her". Cancer. I basically hated Catholic school and church as a kid and haven't softened in that position as an old man.
 
Absolutely. I can't begin to tell anyone how many times I have said a prayer before going through a locked door while in the line of duty, or approaching a traffic stop at 3:00 a.m.
 
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