Thank you, Wayne. That is helpful.

I ended up with the group I did because they are close to my house and had a daily Zazen schedule that I could work with.

I ended up staying because I like the teacher and the fairly traditional services. (chants, bowing, time keeping). We also just started a kids program.

I might have stayed even if I did not like the teacher, immediately, simply because of my interest in the practice; Teachers have a lot of influence over the community so, if you find you do not like them you might not like the rest of the Sangha…….. does this help?

I also feel a greater sense of morality and urgency. It’s funny how that works.

I hope you do go check out a UU congregation. I have been attending one now for almost a year and I really enjoy it. I agree with you on the seven principles - there is room for different kinds of beliefs, but the principles bring people together on what’s most important. Every congregation is different, so I don’t know what yours will be like. Mine is pretty humanist, and sometimes even anti-religious. That latter aspect bugs me a bit, as it does the minister based on some conservations I’ve had with him. But it’s a wonderful community of questioning, caring, free-thinking people that see good in religion.

That Time article you mentioned made me think of a recent book called Parenting Beyond Belief. I’ve been thinking of buying it.

We’ve got to completely dispel the myth that atheists and agnostics have an empty spot in their hearts and minds where religion supposedly exists. I’m getting tired of it. Now that I’ve “come out” as an agnostic and stopped going to LDS services, I actually feel like I have a deeper sense of moral urgency and conviction, partly because I arrived at my conclusions myself and see that like-minded people have, too.

Humanism is another story. Most atheists that I know subscribe to some form of humanism, but the two philosophies are not identical by any means. UU embodies very humanistic ideals which are compatible but not synonymous with atheism:

There are seven principles which Unitarian Universalist congregations [which are members of the UU Association of Congregations] affirm and promote:

* The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
* Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
* Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
* A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
* The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
* The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
* Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

(UUA: Our Principles)

Those, I believe, are ties that can bind.

One has to ask the realistic question - what principles or ideas will a group defined by unbelief rally around? It seems to me that the moment someone tries to impose some universal norms upon the members of the group, it will immediately fracture and dissolve.

I guess I’m still having a hard time seeing atheism as anything other than the mere absence of belief. You can’t form a real lasting group around the absence of something. You have to rally around a positive, otherwise there won’t be any practical draw or appeal to group membership.

we don’t have commercials or anything (yet?), but we do have some google videos up:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%22humanist+community+sunday+forum%22&sitesearch=

I plan to also visit a sangha sometime. I’m thinking first about a sangha associated with Kwan Um Zen. Any thoughts or suggestions about what to look for in a sangha?