the eBay atheist visits Old St. Patrick's Church

Here is Hemant's first entry into his blog. His next visit is Willow Creek Church, so his visits should provide a good variety of experiences...

Old St. Patrick's Church
I stepped into an Irish Catholic church yesterday morning for my first mass experience. I expected a sermon but I got very little of that. People were already silent when I walked in, praying, though mass hadn't started. This was admittedly a short service, but I think it encompassed what I expected. The pastor read a couple Bible verses, shared some stories, and then gave out communion. Somewhere in there, there was a lot of kneeling.

I did find myself listening pretty intently when the pastor talked about how we shouldn't value materialistic things (in lieu of god). He talked about how he had given up smoking decades ago, but he said the exact year, month, day, hour... he even kept the last ashtray he used. He had my complete attention. Then he talked about communion and I faded. But for a good 2 minutes, I was quite into it.

The idea in itself isn't a bad one. I mean, whether you're a believer or not, we should value family and friends before fads and trends. The Bible takes it a step further and says put your god before even your loved ones. Which makes no sense to me. The whole story about Abraham having to sacrifice his son Isaac never made me think Abraham was a good man. He was someone willing to sacrifice his family. And from an Atheist's perspective, he's having to do it due to voices that he's hearing in his head. Which is just frightening.

Otherwise, the service was pretty low-key. I did wonder if every person that attended actually knew why they did every ritual they did. Why kneel? Why do the sign of the cross when you enter? Why say the Hail Mary? I mean, I guess I have an idea of what they're supposed to mean, but like any ritual, if they didn't do it, would these people be any different?

Tonight, I'm going to change gears completely. I'll be going to Willow Creek Community Church, which is *the* megachurch near Chicago. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

-Hemant

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