A few announcements: what's to come, what went. Review on the atheist convention, preview of Scientology Church, mormon series status

Hello Everyone!

Sorry to take so long to put this one together. It has been another crazy week last week with work and all the fun activities I have been participating in. What a week it was! Not only was it Salt Lake City's second annual Comic Con (which unfortunately I was unable to attend), but also the 2014 National Convention for American Atheists!

There I was able to meet such prominent bloggers, podcasters, and YouTubers as Mr. Diety, Seth Andrews, AronRa, Beth Presswood, Matt Dillahunty, and David Fitzgerald! I even had the opportunity to meet the president of American Theists, David Silverman, who can also regularly be seen on the Fox News religion discussion panel representing the atheist position on issues they cover on the show.

I was able to participate for three of the four day convention and thus, there is much to cover. And may have to do it in a series, I haven’t decided yet. So my next blog will cover my experience with the Atheists.

Other exciting announcements:

1.      My science rant is nearing completion! I am just making some final edits, it will be a long entry but I will possibly have a video to go with it. It should tie in really well with the church we visited only a few days after the atheist convention (see item 2)

2.      The church of SCIENTOLOGY!!! Yes that’s right, you’ve heard a lot about it now I will share with you my experiences with them. Chad and I visited not once, but TWICE in the same week! Once during the week as a sort of preliminary scouting to find the place and see if they had a Sunday service (which they didn’t really advertise on their website) and again on Sunday to witness the service itself. We made a few videos the day of both visits that way you can see our reactions and see what was going through our minds. Yes this entry should be very promising so look forward to it!

3.      The Mormon series:  Well folks, I know it has been a couple of months and earlier when I visited the Mormon Church I said I would do a 3-part series. At present, I am not sure I will be able to make that happen due to life and responsibilities outside the project. I am stretched pretty thin sometimes and already have a lot of catching up to do so we will have to wait and see what happens. But for now you have two very exciting, two very mysterious demographics to look forward to!

Get up to date HERE!!!

Stay tuned!

COMING UP…….
My Godless  Sunday at the 2014 American Atheist National Convention in Salt Lake City Utah!
BBQ baby? Satanic rituals? Human and animal sacrifices? Or normal people getting together to have a good time? What do these people do when they gather? Find out in my next chapter!

It's really coming: I haven't forgotten the rant I promised!

Don't worry folks I haven't forgotten the rant I promised you on the Christian Science church. Had a lot on my plate these last weeks. Also look forward to my review of my visit to the American Atheist convention in Salt Lake City!

Don't worry, it's coming, it's really coming....

Preservice blog: exploring atheism

Hey folks, 

A bit of a twist in the blog this week, I have for the last 3 days been attending the American Atheist conference 2014 in Salt Lake City! 

There is as many of you may know, much stigma around the "A" word. This especially being the case in a highly religious country such as America where the overwhelming majority of the population identifies themselves as Christian. In a 2007 Pew Research study,  78.4% identify as Christian, 4.7% other religion, and 16.1% don't identify with any religion and these are what are known as the nones or the non religious; this includes atheists and agnostics. 

The study can be found here if you want to see the more specific numbers:

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports

I had been planning to attend this event even before I started the blog. This is the first time American Atheists have held a national convention in Utah and this the first one I have ever heard of in Utah, needless to say that this is the first time I have ever been to one so it has been a very interesting experience thus far. 

Hear more about it in the coming days, I  am looking forward to the next entry. Maybe I will make it in parts, I am not sure yet. I will talk about the event itself, the atheist community, myths around atheism and why we are really not that bad bunch o' folks.

Stick around!

Not Your Usual Catholics: Glory to God Old Catholic Church

Last Sunday, Chad and I visited the Glory to God Old Catholic Church in Ogden. It was a lovely little church full of fun and interesting people. It had its own unique charms as well as some of the traditional aspects one would find in any Catholic parish; crucifix, incense, priests, pews, atler and tabernacle, and the like.

This is the outside of the church. They have a little bell tower that sounded the beginning of today's service.

Another view of the tower looking east towards the sun rising over the mountains.

There were some things we expected to be different from the mainstream Catholics, but there were quite a few surprises in store for us at this little church. 

We knew that this was a pro Gay rights congregation which deviates oh so slightly from the catholic consensus. In fact there were many openly gay members including one of the deacons and I think the priest. I even saw a cute gay couple greet with a kiss and hug. Come to think of it, much of the congregation were huggers, including myself. Very warm and open environment.

As for the unexpected.... Here's the breakdown:

ATMOSPHERE: 8/10 candles

Like I said, warm and inviting. The outside of the church was basic and pretty and I loved the church bell. The inside was not as ornate as some of the other catholic chapels we've seen but still characteristic of catholic decor: stained glass, idols of the patron saints, and even a portrait of Guadalupe donated by one of the congregants. The place was filled with incense and organ music on an electronic synthesizer (not really my favorite styles of auditorial ambiance but that's just me). 

Next door was a smaller building where the post service refreshments were held. They were having a charity bake sale there as well so various sweets and goods were laid out, tempting and taunting us with their sweet smells and glistening sugar glazes. We even had the opportunity to try a piece of delicious pumpkin cake which was just phenomenal!

COMMUNITY: 10/10 candles

I could definitely feel the love. This was a congregation that new each other well and were welcoming of new visitors. We were greeted warmly and it's Chad was even complimented on his hat by one of the priests. He even jested that by the time the service was over he would convince Chad to give him that hat, this priest apparently really liked headwear. 

Many members of the congregation were openly homosexual. I found it reassuring that they could worship as they are and not as a doctrine says they should be. I watched them interact so naturally and comfortably open that I thought about the other services I had been to where there may have been people who were closeted because their faith contradicts their lifestyle. Here it was not the case. 

Today they were trying to meet fund raising goal where, if met, one of the men in the congregation would shave his head, he was a middle aged man with long, thinning hair that came down to his shoulders. With enough money, he would be chopping off about a years worth of growth. The priest made a donation large enough during the post service to meet the goal and so they shaved him right then and there in  the back of the room. This building was also the book store where you can buy literature, rosaries, and candles. They had set up a chair and a razor in the back of the room near the back door. I had considered seeing if they would shave my head too because i was overdo for a haircut and the fellow cue-ball-to-be had said that they would shave me too if I asked. Chad and I had to go and get pictures of the chapel and I had chores at home to do so I wasn't able to stick around. Would have been a blast though I am sure!

Yes, this was a lively bunch of people that I really came to like.


SERVICE: 6/10 candles

This is where things got the most interesting. There were parts where I was thinking ",oh yeah, sure, this is pretty catholic alright",  then there were the moments where I thought "uh... where am I again?"

This Sunday was Palm Sunday so we did the palm service and were led around the Church grounds, the congregation singing a short hymn repetitively in unison all the while, and another member (with a very colorful and flamboyant neck tie) was sounding a long spiral horn called a shofar  (an instrument used by Yemenite Jews, made from from an African spiral-horned antelope of sorts probably a Kudu, one of two members of the Tragelaphus genus ) in long bursts, resounding across the neighborhood which I am sure pleased the sleeping residents at ten in the morning.

After the short march we made our way back into the main chapel and began the service with a song. This is where I got confused, I could have sworn I was in a Catholic church, but what I saw next made me wonder. Most of the songs from this point on were recorded and played on projector screens with animations and lyrics VERY much like we had observed in Evangelical and baptist services. The songs were led by the priests, up front and singing the loudest with the microphones. The songs were not your usual mass hymns, they were more like christian rock or pop songs than anything.

Things became much more traditional once communion rolled around. They used wafers and non-alcoholic wine. The wafers were placed directly in the mouth and the wine was shared among the congregation with a single chalice being wiped clean with a very ornate cloth between uses. This is a practice dating back over six hundred some-odd years and still widely done in Catholic churches throughout Europe.

There were also prayers for people of and withing the congregation. Prayer requests have been a recurring practice in many of the churches we visited, I think the thought and sentiment is nice. Even here we saw some of the members joking and having fun, one asked the congregation to pray for his sanity, that gave everyone a bit of a chuckle.

MESSAGE: 3/10 candles

Didn't get much of a message here. A lot of it was song and ceremony with a reading of the passion. The only message I got from the sermon and song itself was to break yourself down, be humble, and submit yourself to god. The usual message I have gathered from my visits to the Christian denominations. Not really much else was said here, much less something that would apply to non Christians. I don't really like the guilt messages that say you need to belittle yourself, I am all for humility and being humble, but I don't agree that you need to rest everything on Jesus.

OVERALL: 7/10 candles

I loved the people and the service was interesting.  I would love to go back and hang out with these guys again! If you want to experience a unique angle of the Catholic Church pay these guys a visit!

CHECK THEM OUT HERE!

Christ, Caffeinated: A visit to the Alpine Church in Ogden

Today Chad and I visited a nondenominational Christian church, Alpine Church. They are an Evangelical church and are quite modern in their approach to worship in that they use electronic media and video sermons that they show in their service as well as provide links to the lessons on their website http://alpinechurch.org/. videos of their sermons may also be viewed here if you are interested.

This was taken from their website:

"Our beliefs are rooted in the Bible and centered on Jesus Christ. Our mission is very simple: to help people pursue God. That means we’re not about a denomination or a building or some complicated religious system, but about helping people from all different backgrounds discover the joy and freedom that comes from knowing and connecting with God."

They also use this nondenominational christian site: http://www.pursuegod.org/

 They have video lectures and sources called "series" that cover a variety of topics including:

• marriage
• women's issues
• attonement
• and much more, many of which are broken up according to audience. 

Work looking into if you are curious. I went through the site briefly and it offered a bunch of different christian viewpoints on several issues including divorce and remarriage, in this case they listed four different view on the issue which I thought was pretty cool that they show how others feel about hot topics. there wasn't a lot that they pointed out that they specifically subscribe to at least in this example. They do welcome all Christ followers to attend the service regardless of their denomination so I don't figure they would really take sides. Following and accepting Christ is the unifying factor it would seem.

ATMOSPHERE: 10/10 candles

I rather enjoyed the experience. I was not expecting the interior to be as it was, though I guess it would not have been an off guess based on the outer appearance. Coffee was a huge HUGE bonus for me as I had worked a late shift the night before and really needed the pick-me-up! In all honesty, that is why I choose to visit this church on that particular day; because I knew before hand that it was going to be a long day at work and this was a 10:30am service so the only way I would be able to make it through would be to make use of the good ol' black gold!

The building was modern and quite cozy on the inside. It had a lodge-esque feel to it

Complete with fireplace and flat-screen TV!!

 

 Coffee was served in the lobby and drinks were allowed in the service.

The auditorium, as it was called, was the place where the service was held. Music was played live on electric intruments and it gave the feel of a sort of christian rock concert. there was really nothing too outlandish or extreme here. No speaking in tongues, no over-enthusiastic red-faced pastor; just a stage, a band, and two silver screens with projectors. This place was decked out with technology.

COMMUNITY: 7/10 candles

In al honesty, there wasn't much interaction between us and the people here. Chad ran into his cousin, who was very friendly, but that was about it. This area was difficult to rate due to the lack of interaction but those i met were friendly enough.

SERVICE: 7/10 candles

The service was interesting. Live music, video lessons, lights, and a guy up in the front with a microphone. It was a short service, only about an hour, which is always nice because Sunday is my only day off. The service is structured somewhat like a lecture you might find in a university, in fact Alpine Church refer to their locations as "campuses". We were attending their Riverdale campus near the Larry H Miller car dealership on Riverdale road.

Something else that was interesting that I wish I had thought to have taken pictures were the green, city street signs that were giving directions to the church. I mean these things were the real freaking deal! The sort of signs that need to be approved by the city, they were the green, reflective, street signs you see on traffic signals only they were bolted to speed sign posts. Those are not cheap I would reckon, but I digress.

In the service they made an announcement for a marriage prep class, I was curious so i marked it in my notebook and haven't been able to find anything specific on the site about it; however I did check out a few pages on their site regarding marriage and divorce, etc that I mentioned earlier.

Today was the first Sunday of the month which meant that they were to have communion today and the announcement went as follows though I am paraphrasing "We invite all of you to join us in communion today. If you are a follower of Christ please come on up, if you are not a follower of Christ YET, please feel free to join us as well, all are welcome to participate."
There was even a gluten-free table! For those who may not be familiar with communion, that is the part of a service where people will symbolically (or in some cases they believe literally) eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus Christ to remember his sacrifice to humanity.

"the service of Christian worship at which bread and wine are consecrated and shared"

Some sects use bread, others wafers or some form or another and wine, juice, or water. This is the first time I have ever seen a gluten-free option.

The service lesson was about the origins of the word "scapegoat" and the speaker talked about the practices of blood sacrifice of livestock to God on the ark of the covenant. Every year sacrifices had to be made first y the priests to absolve their  sins and then they would make another sacrifice for the sins of the people. the sins were somehow transferred to a goat which was then driven off and made sure never to return. "This practice", he said, "required two goats. One to be killed for purification, and another to carry the sins of the people."

MESSAGE: 5/10 candles

I'll sum it up, this is really nothing I haven't heard before:

1. Jesus already sacrificed himself for us. Salvation comes to those who accept his gift
2. Jesus is the ultimate high priest. He is perfect and only had to make one sacrifice. Others had to make a sacrifice every year

OVERALL: 7/10 candles

Simple service, great atmosphere, and best of all... COFFEE! The music wasn't unbearable and the service wasn't long. It didn't leave me in awe or disdain, I was rather neutral about it to be honest but it was not a bad experience by any means so if you are looking for a different approch to worship I recommend giving these guys a visit.

They have several campuses here throughout Utah: Layton, Riverdale, Logan, Brigham City, and West Haven.

For more information visit their Alpine Church website HERE.

The Good Shepard and Singing of the bells at the First Presbytarian Church

Last Sunday's service was at the First Presbyterian Church. This was a bit more enjoyable than the last week's visit to the Christian Science Church and left fewer marks on my head from face-palming. I will admit that at first I was a bit apprehensive once I saw the congregation file into the church building, a few of them lazily dragging oxygen tanks behind, it didn't look like a very lively crowd. I wasn't too familiar with this sect and didn't know what the service would be like, worried that it might be a long and boring one but I was wrong in both cases. Here is the breakdown.

ATMOSPHERE: 8/10 candles

Beautiful inside and out, the church was comfortable and inviting. Outside in the back, in the alleyway of the horseshoe-shaped building was a decorative stack of square slabs of marble, twisting like a staircase with a concave bowl atop that would be a fountain in the warmer months.

 The inside was also very nice. The chapel lined with new stained glass windows on either side of the chapel and in the front was a raised platform with the pulpit and a row of tables with bells and sheet music. We entered the building to the sound of the bells being played, it was different in a good way. This was not something I had yet seen during this project. Several of the members were up front with their bells, some of them with one in either hand playing together and reading the music, flicking their wrists to sound the appropriate note and occasionally picking up a different bell or striking it gently with a padded rod to get a short muffled note from the polished brass. There was more of this music later in the service with the Reverend himself in the bell company playing his part in a tune or two, twisting his face in deep concentration as he played, shuffling his feet, and rolling his shoulders and neck. He seemed to be having some difficulty but he held his own as the other players effortlessly moved through the pieces.

One song I found particularly beautiful was the opening song Celtic Farewell which was played on the bells in place of lyrics and a piano. The bells were hung, handle straps laced through one another on a branched rack and played in percussion fashion by tapping and striking the bells with padded sticks.

COMMUNITY:  10/10 candles

The people were very friendly and hospitable. Chad, Lisa, and I were even invited to their spaghetti brunch after the service, were I not already so full from breakfast i may have taken them up on that. We were greeted by an usher and chatted him up for a bit and we were shown into the chapel. There was a nice lady who came to sit with us. She was kind enough to share her hymn book with me and help me follow along to the hymns when it was time to sing and held open her scriptures so that I may read along when passages were read during the service.

There was a point in the service where the congregation got up and shook hands with and greeted their neighbors, with some of the members walking about the chapel to meet and greet every person in the room. This reminded me a lot of the comradery I had seen in the old Faith Baptist Church I had attended with my father as a child, it was a bit nostalgic. I felt that these people were sincere in their exchange of pleasantries, a genuinely friendly group of people.

SERVICE: 7/10 candles

Like I said, the music was wonderful! Being played live with real instruments and the Rev taking part in it. made it all the more fun.

There were two main speakers a male and female Rev. Both lively and entertaining covering each different messages for the congregation (see messages section).

There was a prayer for people affected by natural disasters on the east coast landslides and the missing flight over Malaysia. There were also special prayers for members of the congregation that were going through personal struggles as well a a moment for silent prayer and reflection. They took a moment for everyone to pray for one another and their loved ones this took only less than a minute or so.

MESSAGE: 5/10 Candles


The Female Rev spoke first:

• you don't have to do anything! The work have already been done for you, by Jesus when he died on the cross. For salvation all you have to do is accept the gift he gave you and live a good life.

I thought that this was an alright message to be honest. It was not guilt inducing nor was the mention of hell or damnation brought up, just be a good person and help others and you're good. I can get behind that, sure. This would, I assume, imply that this is a faith based rather than works based religion as opposed to the LDS faith where your works determine how well you will be off in the next life.

The Male Rev spoke next and for the remainder of the sermon:

He spoke about Jesus being the only good shepherd. this was a metaphor saying that he is not just a hired hand, that he is the only true good shepherd in that he cares for the safety of the flock and would die for them. Hired shepherd are in it for their own gain and if danger arose they would take care of themselves first or else they won't be ale to collect their paycheck. This also transitioned nicely into how the government works.

The hired shepherds put their needs first and would even live off the sheep, eating them, sheering them at bad times of the year when the sheep needed their wool, and taking more than the sheep could afford to give at the time instead of waiting for the right time to shear. The shepherd is supposed to see that the needs of the sheep are met and taken care of and the sheep in turn provide for the shepherd. Without the sheep the shepherd would have nothing.

• We are sheep, Jesus is the good shepherd
• Sheep are dumb and follow the flock. They only need to know one thing: what is in their best interest... which side of the bread has butter?
• the government is supposed to work for US. They are being ad shepherds.
• Know what is in your best interest and follow the one who has your best interest at heart (this can only be Jesus)

Some good points were made but I didn't really like being called a sheep that needed to follow anyone in general. Now maybe I misheard it, maybe he meant that it is human nature to follow the crowd. I wouldn't support a message saying that it was our duty to follow the crowd, however.

OVERALL: 8/10 candles

This was a pleasant experience and I really enjoyed it overall. the music of course being my favorite aspect of it. The messages were pretty hit and miss but there was nothing particularly abhorrent about them. Most of them applied mainly to Christians, which is appropriate being that this is a Christian gathering. Sometimes though you can find things applicable to everyone such as live a good life, be kind to others, and so on. I might recommend this church if any of you are interested in checking out a more liberal Presbyterian sect.