It’s an interesting little wrinkle in their strategies. On the one hand, many atheists are quite the mockers of religion and its trappings, imagining that they are far too intelligent to be seduced by such pageantry. Yet, one of the express purposes of the Atheist churches is to mimic the effects of the religious rituals that they view as silly and superstitious. They want to try to obtain the benefits of religion without giving up their high horse attitudes on the matter.
They’ve also been contending that religions are detrimental and not a benefit to society and communities. Yet, if that were true, then there would be no sense in Atheists trying to mimic any of the habits of the religious in order to build up their community. So it seems to betray the hidden truth that their atheism has left at least some void in their lives, even if they are not willing yet to admit that the void is a God-shaped one.
That was very, very well-said. Thank you.
And thanks to you, dear TOL, for the Ping.