First, a tweet from @RichardDawkins: “Odd that one can be moved close to tears by a great cathedral such as Salisbury, while completely lacking belief in what it stands for.” Odd indeed. But unsurprising. Beauty is a powerful thing.

Second, The Guardian reports on the first wave of expansion for the Atheist Church. Founder Sanderson Jones writes,

“There is obviously a latent need for this kind of thing. People have always congregated around things that they believe in. I think people are going to look back at the fact that it didn’t happen as the oddity, not this part.”

Congregant Stuart Balkham explains that

‘Part of the appeal was the style of non-worship: “It’s unashamedly copying a familiar Church of England format, so it’s part of the collective consciousness.”’

And Theos’ Nick Spencer comments,

“This contemporary idea of people who are not religious but wanting to maintain some kind of church-like existence has got form. We’ve been here before.”

 

And third, @openculture tweeted the classic Atheist Song from Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers.

Ponder and enjoy.