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.

  • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I think the only thing we lose is community – I’m jealous that religious people automatically have that.

    The solution of course is trying to return to having neighborhood communities.

    • 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.

    • rainynight65@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Ah yes, that sense of ‘community’ that only manifests when they all sit in their church, and vanishes the moment they all get back home.

      I get more of a sense of community out of my model railway forums and my live steam club.