Church of No, Thanks Celebrating Personal Liberty since 2008

I was talking to someone at work about CoNT, and he asked what the point of a religion is if there's no god.

That's a very important question.

At The Church of No, Thanks, we don't demand that you put faith in anything but reality. If you believe in a god, that's OK, but please keep it to yourself. The Church of No, Thanks does not acknowledge miracles, paradise, life after death, life before life, reincarnation, or a host of other superstitious and/or metaphysical notions as being valid in the reality we humans occupy. You are free to believe in them, but you're on your own as far as The Church is concerned.

So, if you're going to have a religion, you have to have a god, right? Wrong. While most religions do have gods (and demand that you acknowledge their god or face eternal damnation) ours doesn't, and that's fine, because:

1. if you look closely at the gods of other religions, you find that they're inconsistent, capricious, ornery, and cruel. Who needs that?!
2. If you remove the gods from other religions, what you have is a set of kind of ambiguous, but rigid rules, and a group of mystics to interpret them for you. Who needs that?!
3. if you take rules and the mystics out of the religions, you find you're left with a group of lay people feeling around in the darkness for meaning and direction in their lives, and a sense of belonging to something worthwhile and, somehow, satisfying.

At The Church of No, Thanks, we recognize that people are generally hungry for "meaning" and "purpose" in their lives, and some are so hungry for it, they'll even take lies over honesty. While we recognize this, we don't like it. So, what are we gonna do about it?

Well, we think that Individuals of sound mind are capable of finding and/or creating their own "purpose" and "meaning" in their lives. We're perfectly willing to answer questions, and give advice, but it is up to the Individual Member to make any determinations.

We also think that Individuals of sound mind are capable of developing their own moral codes without the need for an invisible imaginary friend passing judgment in the sky.

Further, we think that Peer-Pressure is a force generally working to undermine the integrity and worth of Individuals. Peer-Pressure subverts Individual judgment and Personal Liberty and supplants them with a mob mentality. Ultimately, Peer-Pressure appeals to people's innate hunger for acceptance and belonging, and preys upon their willingness to trade their own Personal Liberty for them.

Therefore, we in The Church of No, Thanks resolve to subvert the mob mentality and restore the esteem and worth of the Individual by offering guidance and support without dogma and blind faith. You and I can be cooperative, productive, and moral without cranky invisible friends peering in on us at all times. Each of us can build a workable moral compass without the questionable influence of people in hospital gowns and funny hats.

How does one construct his or her own moral compass without commandments, and without mystics? Easy. Well... in principle, it's easy. In practice it takes a little time and effort, but it's well worth what one invests. The value of a self-made moral code comes from its defensibility. If you arrive at your moral code through personal reflection and reason, you will be well-prepared to defend your position in the face of challenges from "the faithful", because, ultimately, all they have to back up their position is "because God said so." This defense is a cheaply tarted-up version of the third-grade playground justification, "Just because." You can start your personal journey by reading "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins, "god is not Great" by Christopher Hitchens and "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris. Yes, these authors are all atheists, but they splendidly discuss the flaws in religious doctrine, and multiple approaches to arrive at one's own sense of right and wrong. Another good one is "The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff.

So, if you like being in the company of decent, fun-loving people, and have no taste for fire and brimstone, hospital gowns, funny hats, and invisible friends, The Church of No, Thanks may be just what you're looking for!