The Christian ‘Man Church’ – Friendly Atheist
By Hemant Mehta
Chandler, Arizona is home to a Christian church with special services just for men:
Man Church is church the way a man expects it to be done. No singing, short sermon, time to talk with other guys, no women present, and coffee and donuts. That’s the way men want to do church. The topics of discussion will have a definite manly focus — being the best possible husband, father, employee, leader — being a real man. In fact, every aspect of Man Church is geared for men — not like any other church you have seen. This ain’t your mama’s church!
Wow. A religious service dominated by men.
(As opposed to “normal” religious services, which are also dominated by men…?)
Way to reach out to the silent minority, Christians…
Actually, I understand the aversion to singing and smalltalk. That’s annoying to me and I’m sure some Christians would rather do church without that.
What’s annoying is how the description alone seems to suggest all men must act and think in certain ways (and that women cannot act and think in these ways). If you’re not a macho, motorcycle-riding, grammar-be-damned-we’re-gonna-say-”ain’t” type of guy, we challenge your manhood.
Godless Girl isn’t happy with it at all:
These… guys apparently can’t handle creative expression, women, music, or big words. If I were male, I’d be insulted that my church leadership thinks I am an emotionless, simple-minded grunt who doesn’t crave depth of study and a song once in a while. This sounds [like] fast food instead of a full course meal.
No word on how gay men would be treated in this setting…
You can catch a few glimpses of what Man Church is like here:
After watching excerpts of the sermons from the video, I really don’t get why women couldn’t have heard the same things.
I have never heard of any atheist group — even larger ones, even at conferences — dividing itself up by sexes for any reason. Maybe because we see each other as truly equal. Men are no better or smarter or wiser than women in our world. In the Christian world, the genders have to fit a certain mold (defined by the men).
Sure, many of the more famous New Atheists have been male, but it’s not from lack of awesome female atheists. We just need to publicize the women better than we have been.
Christians have a long way to go, though, before women are really seen as equals in the church.
Via: The Friendly Atheist
