Blog idea - would you take offense?

[tomato1236]

Yeah, I realize that. I'm not planning on sneaking in or trespassing. One thing I thought of doing was taking suggestions from people to check out their denomination, so hopefully there will be a bit of self-selection in the process that will gear it toward churches that accept visitors anyhow.

Edit: For instance... I have no plans to weasel my way into a Mormon temple, but I may check out one of their meeting halls. However, it'll probably wait until early Movember so that I'm clean-shaven - from what I gather, a goatee is like a big flag saying "non-Mormon over here!"

Haha that's true. There are mormons with goatees, but if a guy with a beard walks into the chapel and I don't know who he is (especially if he's also dressed casually) I assume he's a visitor. The bishop of the ward pretty much knows everyone, including those who are LDS but don't come, so you might expect at least a "welcome" handshake regardless of the hair on your face.

 

[tomato1236]

I don't see the point, honestly. Churches vary too much, from one denomination to another AND from one city to another AND EVEN one preacher to the next. Even the members of the congregation make a huge difference in the atmosphere of the church itself. The only audience that your blog would be useful to, in my opinion, would be people in your general neighborhood who might actually consider visiting one of the specific churches you mention. That's a pretty small audience. Anyone else would be reading it for entertainment value only, and it seems to me that's not what you're going for. Once it becomes entertainment, it becomes insulting.

The LDS church doesn't vary much from city to city or state to state. I bet if you even went to an LDS service in Japan it wouldn't be any different, with the exception of cultural differences.

 

[no-body]

It would be a challenge to keep it informative rather than exploitative.

 

[Quiddity]

I would definately visit your blog if you did and would highly encourage you did it. I can see it being fruitful for anybody reading. Especially if you aren't being sneaky about it.

 

[Herr Heinrich]

It sounds like an interesting idea. I think it wouldn't be very interesting to readers though. I think it would need to be directly experienced to be really interesting. If you are doing it for your own benefit though, I say do it. If it gets you writing and doing interesting things then why not?

 

[SarahRuth]

I'd totally be interested in hearing his experience, both with my own church and with all of the others.

You have to realize, though, that this particular audience (on this website, in this forum) is entirely comprised of people interested in this topic. The general public? Not so much. Getting a whole lot of "I'm interested" and "I would read that!" comments here will not translate into the greater public audience.

Just thought that worth mentioning.

 

[Storm]

First, I should say that I'm just considering this idea right now. I may not do it.

I had an idea for a blog that I thought I'd run by people here to see what everyone thinks: an atheist (i.e. me) visits different churches/temples/etc., sits through their services, and then writes about the experience.

The idea wouldn't be to be sensationalistic (i.e. no freak show of "hey! Look at the weird stuff that these people believe!"), but I wouldn't plan on glossing over negatives, and - judging by my experiences in church - there's likely to be some negatives. Instead, the idea would be to give a different perspective on what goes on.

I've seen writing projects where atheists or other outsiders actually joined a church and participated as members, only to tell the congregation later that they'd been duped, and that a book or blog was about to come out. It seems like that approach causes a lot of hurt feelings - it wouldn't be the approach I would take.

Instead, each blog entry would be on a single visit to a place of worship. My plan would probably be to not advertise what I was doing... I'm still deciding what to say if asked. Either I could come clean right away and say what I'm up to (which would probably make people change how they behave around me) or I could give them a cover story: either that I'm considering the denomination/religion (which would also probably affect how they would behave around me, and be misleading if not a full-out lie) or that I'm a member of the denomination/religion visiting from out of town (which would create a huge workload of studying beforehand, as well as be, well, a bald-faced lie).

So... what would you think if your church showed up in my (potential) blog?

What would you think if, on reading it, you realized that I had lied to you when I told you that I was "one of you" while I was there?

Don't lie. Just say you're checking it out.

Assuming that, I'd be thrilled.

 

[ChristineES]

No, I would not take offense to someone's opinion. We can't expect everyone to see things the same way we do.

 

[blackout]

Don't lie. Just say you're checking it out.

Assuming that, I'd be thrilled.

Exactly. You're curious about it.
You'd like to understand it better
through a visitor's experience of it.

If pressed, tell them you're casually
checking out/looking into a few different
churches/religions
because you want a better understanding
and experience/sense of them all.
You won't know if you're personally interested
in any of them
till you've completed your "tour".

 

[Kathryn]

I think it's an interesting idea, and may be an interesting blog, if your writing skills are compelling and if you don't undermine the integrity of your observations by allowing personal biases to sway your powers of observation. Tall order there.

I have visited many, many churches and many denominations in various countries. Very few of them are paranoid or secretive, and even fewer would push on you if you simply came to a service, sat quietly, and observed. If asked, introduce yourself and just be honest - simply say you are visiting different churches and local places of worship to learn more about their beliefs and practices. Just be polite and discreet - no need for any sort of covert actions.

I can only speak for my church (a mid size Methodist church in a small Texas town) but I can pretty much tell you what would happen if you visited our church. You would witness a one hour service - complete with open communion if you came on the first Sunday of the month or a holiday - with a mixture of contemporary and traditional music. You would see a mostly white congregation, with a scattering of various other colors and ethnicities. You would see a lot of kids - which is a sign of health when it comes to a congregation. You would see a wide range of clothing, vehicles, hairstyles, etc. You would hear bible readings and then a positive message based on those readings, with practical real life applications. You'd spend your one hour in a 1930s built building which has been kept up very well, complete with stained glass windows and a pipe organ, in the style of a country church in England.

If you stuck around afterwards to talk with people, you'd find that the Methodists in this area are a mixture of Democrats and Republicans - what holds us together more than politics would be a shared belief in supporting good works and missions, including ministering to the children in our own congregation and community (big emphasis there) and - valuing a strong work ethic and individual freedoms. This is, after all, an oilfield town in East Texas.

Methodists are pretty independent minded. If you flat out told a group of parishioners that you were an atheist, they'd probably slap you on the back, laugh, and say, "Stick around, son - we'll work that right out of you!" and then go on to the next topic - like, "Why d'ya think the high school wasted so much tax money on that stupid indoor football field?"

 

[Jordan St. Francis]

I don't see anything controversial about this idea. That is, as long as the rituals you are observing are considered open to the public.

 

[thorman]

I think it's a wonderful idea and would love to read the blog.

 

[*Deleted*]

I agree about understanding clearly your own motives. Other than that, it's not really different than what Religious Studies students do re: visiting different places of worship or of meditation, etc.---then write about it for coursework credit. As long as the motive isn't to bash--if it's to go to a given place and observe, try perhaps to put yourself in the shoes of those there (how does that feel, and so on) could be OK. I'm reminded of the book, Pieces of White Shell, where Terry Tempest Williams lives with the Navajo (she teaches there) and then writes about the experience, the legends, the rituals and so on. Thing is, she uses it in a positive way to evaluate her own life, to compare to her own narratives and she learns a lot. She's deeply immersed though. If it's just surface stuff, then it would be similar to study that Religious Studies students might do. You could also consider looking at what is the narrative---what are their stories, the meanings---not just what is literal and what you can easily dismiss.

 

[rockstarwife628]

As long as your intentions are honorable, it's something I would actually be interested in reading. Some people may be offended if they were to realize you don't believe, but I'm not the kind of person who feels as though only believers are allowed in church. That kind of attitude is one I find to be contradictory to the idea of the church, and I'm not referring to the idea of converting nonbelievers (I don't believe in trying to convert people)...

If you had friends who go to the various churches you may be able to go with them, that way if anyone asks you can just say you're there with your friend, visiting. Or, if not, you could tell them that you're just checking things out, which is kind of true...

 

[Tarheeler]

I agree that you should be honest about it.

The synagogue I attend has all types of visitors, particularly students from area colleges who are taking comparative religion classes. The guy doing Project Conversion attend a Shabat service a few months ago. You might want to chech out his blog; it's similar to your idea, but he actually practices each religion for a month.

I think your idea is fine provided you are objective. It could serve to give an unbiased picture of individual congregations if done correctly, and I don't think that is ever a bad thing. But I think it would probably be much too localized to paint a good picture of the religions as a whole.

 

[Penumbra]

I once went to a pagan worship group because I had to write about it for a class. I was open about it and they were all cool with it.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

First, I should say that I'm just considering this idea right now. I may not do it.

I had an idea for a blog that I thought I'd run by people here to see what everyone thinks: an atheist (i.e. me) visits different churches/temples/etc., sits through their services, and then writes about the experience.

The idea wouldn't be to be sensationalistic (i.e. no freak show of "hey! Look at the weird stuff that these people believe!"), but I wouldn't plan on glossing over negatives, and - judging by my experiences in church - there's likely to be some negatives. Instead, the idea would be to give a different perspective on what goes on.

I've seen writing projects where atheists or other outsiders actually joined a church and participated as members, only to tell the congregation later that they'd been duped, and that a book or blog was about to come out. It seems like that approach causes a lot of hurt feelings - it wouldn't be the approach I would take.

Instead, each blog entry would be on a single visit to a place of worship. My plan would probably be to not advertise what I was doing... I'm still deciding what to say if asked. Either I could come clean right away and say what I'm up to (which would probably make people change how they behave around me) or I could give them a cover story: either that I'm considering the denomination/religion (which would also probably affect how they would behave around me, and be misleading if not a full-out lie) or that I'm a member of the denomination/religion visiting from out of town (which would create a huge workload of studying beforehand, as well as be, well, a bald-faced lie).

So... what would you think if your church showed up in my (potential) blog?

What would you think if, on reading it, you realized that I had lied to you when I told you that I was "one of you" while I was there?

Offended? Heck, at least it's a blog based on an interesting idea, as opposed to the armies of bloviating, blow-hard bloggers out there who do nothing but ejaculate their derivative, masturbatory musings all over the internet day after day.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I agree that you should be honest about it.

Yeah... I've backed away from the idea of being sneaky about it. If people ask, I'd be honest.

The synagogue I attend has all types of visitors, particularly students from area colleges who are taking comparative religion classes. The guy doing Project Conversion attend a Shabat service a few months ago. You might want to chech out his blog; it's similar to your idea, but he actually practices each religion for a month.

Interesting. I'll have to check it out.

I think your idea is fine provided you are objective. It could serve to give an unbiased picture of individual congregations if done correctly, and I don't think that is ever a bad thing. But I think it would probably be much too localized to paint a good picture of the religions as a whole.

In the strictest sense of the word, I'm sure I wouldn't be objective. The whole point of this is to write about my own subjective experiences. That being said, I'm going to try to approach things fairly.

Well, I think my mind's made up: I'm going to go ahead with the blog. I'll be busy for the next few weekends, so that probably just means deciding on a name for the thing and doing the technical setup for now.

 

[Tarheeler]

In the strictest sense of the word, I'm sure I wouldn't be objective. The whole point of this is to write about my own subjective experiences. That being said, I'm going to try to approach things fairly.

Of course. We all bring our biases with us.

But understanding that and being as fair as you can in your evaluations is a good start.

 

[Jontehs]

Of course. We all bring our biases with us.

But understanding that and being as fair as you can in your evaluations is a good start.

I agree that you should be honest about it.

The synagogue I attend has all types of visitors, particularly students from area colleges who are taking comparative religion classes. The guy doing Project Conversion attend a Shabat service a few months ago. You might want to chech out his blog; it's similar to your idea, but he actually practices each religion for a month.

I think your idea is fine provided you are objective. It could serve to give an unbiased picture of individual congregations if done correctly, and I don't think that is ever a bad thing. But I think it would probably be much too localized to paint a good picture of the religions as a whole.

Hi can you give me a link to this guy´s blog please
Thank you