“Everybody has a good excuse for not attending church. If you take those excuses and apply them to other things we do (or don't do), like eating, they might look like this list:
1. I was forced to eat as a child.”
Does anyone force any adult to eat? I mean, is there anything like this used as an actual excuse? I was forced to go as a child, but that’s not why i’m an atheist.
“2. People who eat all the time are hypocrites; they aren't really hungry.”
I do sometimes eat from boredom rather than hunger.
But, really, does anyone actually said, “I don’t go to church because other people are posers"? I have… Doubts.
“3. There are so many different kinds of food, I can't decide what to eat.”
That’s not an ‘excuse’ for not attending. If you haven’t decided on a religion, it would make no sense to go to one at random.
“4. I used to eat, but I got bored and stopped.”
Again, not really an excuse, more of a diagnosis. I don’t do things i don’t like doing. I have been bored every time i went to a strip club, for example. I don’t need an excuse not to go, i just don’t go.
“5. I only eat on special occasions, like Christmas and Easter.”
So, their excuse for not going to church is that they go to church…?
Did that sound different in your head?
“6. None of my friends will eat with me.”
Not anything like a problem for me. On business trips i did everything alone. Movies, dinner, sex, bookstores… But i can see some people with a social anxiety not wanting to go someplace alone.
“7. I'll start eating when I get older.”
And again, their excuse for not going to church is that they go to church…?
“8. I don't really have time to eat.”
Okay. This is just #4 again. I don’t enjoy sitting in the church thinking about what I could be doing with my time.
“9. I don't believe that eating does anybody any good. It's just a crutch.”
That’s not an excuse to avoid church, that’s an explanation for why they’re not religious.
“10. Restaurants and grocery stores are only after your money.”
…that’s an explanation for why they’re not religious.