Is it OK to attend Mass even if you don’t believe in God?
In the July/August issue of America, Emma Camp wrote about attending Mass regularly despite believing in God only “30 percent of the time on a good day.” She went on to describe her attendance as allowing her to escape “age-segregated bubbles” and as helping her “feel accountable to something other than my own conscience.” The article elicited a diverse range of reactions from readers.
What a pleasure to stumble upon your article. You are not alone. I too am an atheist/agnostic who is religious. I have a similar story, but my return to religion came about because of religious history classes, not literature classes, in college. For me, belief in “God” is fairly irrelevant. I believe in the message. Whatever God is, he is useful to me as an idea of love and acceptance of ourselves and each other. I used to find the gnostics a bit silly, but over time I am coming to understand how wise they were. As Jesus said in the TV series “The Chosen,” “God does not reveal himself all at once.” Accepting that, along with the knowledge that I don’t have to believe in a magic man in the sky to still believe, has helped me immensely. I am not a spiritual person, but religious? Yes, it turns out that I am. – Lauren Horner
Well stated, Ms. Camp. To your end, let’s resurrect the term churchgoer, but with a positive meaning. “Churchgoer” has fallen from use, but it once signified someone who sat in the pews insincerely to maintain respectability. Well, someone can attend a service sincerely even if they aren’t clear or convinced about what is happening. Churchgoers (myself included) know that something is happening in a service that is more valuable than sleeping in. – Joseph S. Harrington
Dear Emma, you are on to something indeed. Now with the family raised and far-flung, my wife and I belong to the cohort of older parishioners who now are harvesting wonderful and meaningful community in parish activities that carry on the parish, not only for ourselves, but for those busy young people and young families who are now attending Mass at least with the same good sense that you have—that we still have. Remember too, how much you are giving and adding by your very presence to the lives of those around you in church, bringing joy through socializing with the elderly and modeling quietly for those young teens—coerced into attending, but wisely so—by their moms and dads. – Dennis Arko
This sentence from Emma Camp amazed me: “Within hours of my first Sunday Mass, I was added to two different group chats, had agreed to attend an upcoming happy hour and had swapped numbers with a young woman who would soon become one of my best friends.” Seriously, at a Catholic church you found community that quickly? In the Catholic churches I’ve attended over the years, folks make a beeline for the parking lot as fast as they can. I have yet to attend a Catholic church that holds a coffee hour in the parish hall after Mass—at any one of their Masses. On the other hand, when I attend Eastern Orthodox churches (my parents converted from Catholicism when I was 10), there is almost always a coffee hour or meet-and-greet. So which church you choose to attend definitely can make a difference. – Cathy Dempsey
The sentence that most caught my eye was the following: “[T]he idea that I belonged in a Christian community...started with a class on medieval mysticism that exposed me to works by Augustine and Aquinas and—my favorite—Julian of Norwich’s stirring, beautiful Revelations of Divine Love.” The Catholic church today simply ignores so much of our rich intellectual and spiritual roots. You just don’t hear about them. And smart, gifted, inquisitive young people like yourself are looking for those powerful synaptic connections such readings can provide to explain themselves, the world and their place in it. Keep reading. Merton, de Chardin, Day, Keating—all accessible in a modern way to bring knowledge of God’s love and blessings to young people. Well done! – James Snyder
I’m a longtime Christian and I understand why atheists would want to be a member of a church. Most, not all, of the Christians I’ve known across all denominations have been wonderful, giving and loving people. More importantly, their graciousness comes from having a direct connection with Jesus the Son of God. I strongly encourage those who enjoy the benefits of faith to focus entirely on encountering Jesus. Without that living connection, churches and people grow cold and die. – Samuel Goldberg
