What Is The Importance of Clergy Appreciation Month in Your Community

[Copernicus]

Personally, I wouldn't mind celebrating an Atheist Appreciation Day. I don't think that we need a whole month of celebrations. Just something low key and subtle. Then we'll just fade back into the background.

We could call you a Bright.

You could, but then I would have to call you a Dim. Is that what you really want?

 

[Tigers!]

Personally, I wouldn't mind celebrating an Atheist Appreciation Day. I don't think that we need a whole month of celebrations. Just something low key and subtle. Then we'll just fade back into the background.

We could call you a Bright.

You could, but then I would have to call you a Dim. Is that what you really want?

As long as you do not call me late for lunch

 

[bilby]

Personally, I wouldn't mind celebrating an Atheist Appreciation Day. I don't think that we need a whole month of celebrations. Just something low key and subtle. Then we'll just fade back into the background.

We could call you a Bright.

You could, but then I would have to call you a Dim. Is that what you really want?

As long as you do not call me late for lunch

That would be a Dim Sim.

 

[Tigers!]

Personally, I wouldn't mind celebrating an Atheist Appreciation Day. I don't think that we need a whole month of celebrations. Just something low key and subtle. Then we'll just fade back into the background.

We could call you a Bright.

You could, but then I would have to call you a Dim. Is that what you really want?

As long as you do not call me late for lunch

That would be a Dim Sim.

I was wondering when a Dim Sim would appear in the fryer

 

[DBT]

Can a Sim be anything but Dim? Surely they can rise above their station?

 

[Elixir]

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I went to a Catholic College, and never heard of this. I'll personally show as much appreciation as their deity(-ies) outwardly express to them.

 

[santhia petter]

Man, I can’t take y’all anywhere. @santhia petter, please excuse my friends, they weren’t exactly home-trained. Honestly, I’m starting to think they were all raised by wolves. Anyhow, isn't November 27th a month late on appreciation month? I thought it was in October.

You're right in thinking that October is often linked to appreciation, but some groups or organizations may choose a different date based on their own traditions or schedules. I just wanted to share my thoughts with everyone. Clergy members truly deserve meaningful gifts because of their lifelong service and dedication to teaching us. They give so much of themselves, and it's only fitting that we show our appreciation in return.

 

[santhia petter]

I believe clergy members truly deserve a spiritual gift, as their dedication and service go beyond the physical. Their role in guiding, teaching, and supporting their communities is invaluable, and a spiritual gift would be a meaningful way to honor their commitment. It’s a beautiful way to show our appreciation for their unwavering faith and the sacrifices they make.For this, I suggest checking out eClergys.com, a site where you can find a wide range of clergy wear that makes for perfect gifts for clergy members or loved ones.

 

[ideologyhunter]

I see what your position is, but why on earth are you posting this on what is clearly a dominant-atheist site? The responses you've received so far didn't surprise you...did they? Most of us consider that clergy offer nonexistent, illusory goods. Anyone who urges me to accept a faith narrative has nothing that interests me. You are asking me to appreciate a group, that in the aggregate, supports Trump, as does an overwhelming majority of U.S. Christendom, and President 45/47 is not very popular on this site. Finally, far too many clergy members support the regressive Christian dominionist agenda: bye-bye to reproductive self-determination, open library shelves, peaceful coexistence with alternate sexualities...these people have flared nostrils these days and think they can shoe-horn all Americans into their way of life.

There are a few churches in my area that run food banks and one in nearby Sandusky that offers hot meals and hot showers to the homeless, and that I support. That's about the end of it. (Some of the political and human rights postions vocalized by these same churches are, to me, horrendous.)

 

[Copernicus]

I believe clergy members truly deserve a spiritual gift, as their dedication and service go beyond the physical. Their role in guiding, teaching, and supporting their communities is invaluable, and a spiritual gift would be a meaningful way to honor their commitment. It’s a beautiful way to show our appreciation for their unwavering faith and the sacrifices they make.For this, I suggest checking out eClergys.com, a site where you can find a wide range of clergy wear that makes for perfect gifts for clergy members or loved ones.

There are a lot of discussion boards out there where this kind of appeal would make sense and be likely to result in the kind of support for clergy that you are looking for. A web site devoted to rejection of belief in the worship of gods is not one of them. Many of us were exposed to religion in our childhoods and still ended up rejecting it. If you are interested in exploring why, this might be a good place to get that information. Coming here to ask for donations of support for clergy strikes me as a bit odd. Sorry to be blunt about it, but if you are thinking to conduct missionary work here and save souls, there are more productive ways to waste your time.

 

[Ruth Harris]

Hey everyone!


I’m a new member here and just wanted to introduce myself. I’ve always been really interested in discussions about critical thinking, philosophy, and the different views on religion and reason. I’m looking forward to learning from everyone here and sharing my thoughts too.


Feel free to say hi, ask questions, or just jump into a discussion—I’m excited to be part of this community!


Looking forward to chatting with you all!

This was your first message on the community.

About a week later, you return to promote "clergy appreciation".

About a month and a half after that, you return to....

Coming here to ask for donations of support for clergy strikes me as a bit odd.

Yep. No actual discussion on anything mentioned in your first post. No replies to any other thread. I am a Christian, and my thoughts are that you are one of the fellow believers that gives us a bad name. This group has many very intelligent people who are happy to talk about almost anything you want to know about but hit and run posting like this will get you nowhere.

Please either join in discussions on topics that interest you, or withdraw from this community. They are not in need of another proselytizer who is not even mildly interested in actual conversation.

Ruth

 

[lostone]

Personally, I wouldn't mind celebrating an Atheist Appreciation Day. I don't think that we need a whole month of celebrations. Just something low key and subtle. Then we'll just fade back into the background.

Atheist Appreciation Day is on February 30th, when we celebrate all the things that don't exist.

I lack the belief that that's true. I'm not saying I'm certain February 30th isn't Atheist appreciation day, I just lack a belief that it is.

February had 30 days in 1712, in Sweden. Also, Soviet Union 1930 and 1931. .

 

[Ruth Harris]

And....after reading the last post by Santhia Petter again, I got suspicious. Did you notice that there was an online store linked in that post? Well, I did some searching and this is what I found:

Ministers Network

And this on Quora:


So we have a spammer here. @ZiprHead can you get rid of him/her please? I am reporting this via the official link but I wanted everyone to know what I found.

Ruth

 

[ideologyhunter]

First though, can I see the ecclesiastical fashions?? I'm looking for some kind of black, hooded vestment. You know, for when I'm up to witchy atheist shit.

 

[Copernicus]

And....after reading the last post by Santhia Petter again, I got suspicious. Did you notice that there was an online store linked in that post? Well, I did some searching and this is what I found:

Ministers Network

And this on Quora:
View attachment 49106

So we have a spammer here. @ZiprHead can you get rid of him/her please? I am reporting this via the official link but I wanted everyone to know what I found.

Ruth

That was really weird. I had forgotten about the Universal Life Church, which was founded in 1962. They existed to ordain anyone who wanted to claim to be a minister, and they were used prodigiously during the Vietnam War period as an attempted means to get a religious deferment from the military draft. I was a draft counselor during the 1960s, so I can tell you that this ploy almost never worked, but people used it to try to justify their claims to be conscientious objectors. The ULC was also used as a scam to register an organization or person as a minister for tax exemption purposes and to conduct fake weddings between US citizens and foreigners wishing to become citizens. Apparently, Santhia Petter is registered there as a ULC minister, but the picture associated with the name is a fake. If you use Google to search the image online, it appears to be just a stock photo. Hence, I suspect that this was a fake account designed to spoof a real person. Possibly, it was created by a person or group just to gain access to IIDB as a member. From Wikipedia:

Legal status
Main article: Legal status of the Universal Life Church
The legitimacy of ULC ordination has been challenged in legal venues, primarily with respect to the questions of whether it constitutes a religious affiliation for tax purposes, and whether ordinations legally permit recipients to perform weddings in various jurisdictions. Lewis notes that the American Internal Revenue Service has generally assumed a negative predisposition towards the ULC, and has sought to eliminate the organization's tax-exempt status.[3] A number of legal cases have addressed this question, as well as the ordination question, with varying results.

Four U.S. states[which?] expressly do not recognize ministers of the Universal Life Church as wedding celebrants, and in jurisdictions in which Universal Life Church ministers are not authorized to solemnize marriages, the solemnization of a marriage by a minister of the Universal Life Church (who is not otherwise authorized) may result in questioning of the validity of the marriage.[8] Professor Robert Rains, writing in the University of Miami Law Review, has warned that "even a reasonably intelligent (and suspicious) person could be readily misled by the ULC into believing that by becoming a ULC minister he can legally perform marriages throughout the United States, and beyond."[30] In Canada, ULC ministers are currently not authorized to solemnize marriage in any province or territory.[31] In places where being a ULC minister does not legally authorize a person to solemnize marriages, ULC ministers intending to do so must also meet other requirements, which might include registering as a notary public, justice of the peace, or marriage commissioner.

Criticism
The ULC has occasionally been criticized for its openness and ease of ordination. Some people, usually as a joke, submit ordination requests for their pets.[32] The ULC has tried to curb the ordination of pets, but if the name on the application appears to be legitimate, the application will probably be granted. The ULC website warns against fraudulent ordination requests, including attempts to ordain pets: "No one is rejected because of their name, but we must protect the integrity of the records against those who fraudulently submit requests for pets, obscene names, etc. Applying for ordination in the name of a fictitious person or animal, or the submission of a person's name without his or her permission is fraud, and may subject you to prosecution!". In 2015, The New York Times wrote that the ULC "pumps out ordinations at an assembly-line pace, almost mocking a process that usually requires years of seminary study".[33]

 

[Elixir]

Well, I did some searching and this is what I found:

Well done!

Slime comes in an astonishing range of viscosities. Eeeuw.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I believe clergy members truly deserve a spiritual gift, as their dedication and service go beyond the physical.

I think of the clergy like I do of the military. Nothing. I don't appreciate labels, I appreciate people.

 

[Don2 (Don1 Revised)]

Can we get a non-Clergy appreciation month?

 

[Tigers!]

First though, can I see the ecclesiastical fashions?? I'm looking for some kind of black, hooded vestment. You know, for when I'm up to witchy atheist shit.

Try here