Mike Dulak grew up Catholic in Southern California, but by his teen years, he began skipping Mass and driving straight to the shore to play guitar, watch the waves and enjoy the beauty of the morning. “And it felt more spiritual than any time I set foot in a church,” he recalled.

Nothing has changed that view in the ensuing decades.

“Most religions are there to control people and get money from them,” said Dulak, now 76, of Rocheport, Missouri. He also cited sex abuse scandals in Catholic and Southern Baptist churches. “I can’t buy into that,” he said.

  • cjthomp@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Join a bowling league.

    Do anything every week with the same group and you'll establish that same community…but without the grifting and shaming.

    • mechoman444@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Exactly I started playing pool at a local hall right by my house. Great way of meeting new people.

      Getting out and doing stuff in public is a great way of communicating.

    • SourWeasel@lemmy.today
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      1 year ago

      Sounds great, but the local bowling alley in my rural redneck town was just sold and converted to a community church. 🫤

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        Go bowl down the isle of that church.

        Not like they need it on any day except Sundays.

        • SourWeasel@lemmy.today
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          1 year ago

          Actually, I quite like the idea of secretly setting up some pins and rolling the ball down the aisle on a Sunday.

    • Resonosity@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Love the idea here, but I wonder if there could be an alternative to religion/churches that still allows us to congregate and deliberate about meaningful, philosophical affairs that religion poked and prodded at.

      I know The Satanic Temple seeks to do this in a way, but I wonder if our universities and colleges held more opportunities to engage with the general public on meta/physics, epistemology, ethics, etc., topics also challenged by religion, we might fill the rational void people might be seeking.