I go to church when they pay me to play, usually Easter and Xmas. One of my big employers went bankrupt, so I might be spending Christmas Eve at home this year.

I gave up on organized religion when our church gave all the little boys toy revolvers and all the little girls barbie dolls one christmas.

The same year, the deacons used the combined donations from a special "tithe" to buy the pastor a bad-ass hunting rifle.

We never went back. It wasn't long after that the brain-washing wore off and I realized what a fucking dupe I'd been for giving roughly 6 grand a year to that place for several years.

Twice, at age 14. Not once before, not once ever since.

Plenty of times for funerals and weddings though, but that's not technically "going to church", which is why you explicitely excluded those occasions. So I guess I'll put my mark down at "never".

I used to go every Sunday when I was a teenager, but lately haven't so only go whenever. It is difficult for me since I don't drive since I have disabilities and limited resources. I do listen to the missed the church's sermons and others' sermons online (thanks God for the Internet).

I was taken to church every sunday until around age 12. I wanted very much to believe and learn as much as I could about it, but they weren't too comfortable with many of the questions I would ask.

Eventually I figured out that answers varied wildly depending on who I asked, or even when I asked the same person the same question months apart. I lost all desire to learn about it once people started routinely answering me by saying "you shouldn't ask those kinds of questions."

I have never voluntarily been to church. I went a couple times as a very small child and wasn't too impressed with it. I remember, even then, hating when I had to go up to the front of the church with the other little kids and the preacher would condescend to us. When I was teenager I was forced to go with some relatives a couple of times. A couple of summers I was forced, with the threat of being whipped by belt, to attend sunday school. Good times.

Btw, why do I still have a P by my name? I thought once I posted a video that got 10+ votes the P would be gone.

I'm currently averaging about once a month... I used to go every Sunday, but between us moving to a new neighborhood and getting used to a new place to go, and having my old parish turn into something completely different now that there's a new pastor there and I no longer want to go there anymore (and haven't).

Find myself in a church for weddings and funerals, and the occasional baptism. Even though I'm not a member, I often get in line to take the sacrament if I'm feeling peckish. /trollface

Also, Orthodox wine does have its uses for those long, monotonous sermons... get a little buzzed and stare at the pretty stained-glass murals and ideograms on the ceiling to pass the time.

My dad is an atheist. My mom is a theist but isn't too fond of the Catholic church/faith under which she was raised.

I was raised Catholic and did a little Sunday School in my younger days, but going to mass was quite rare. Easter morning was really the only time we went. My grandmothers would each drag me with them now and then, but that wasn't at all a regular thing.

I suspect the author of that article is right on with his speculation about why people claim numbers that are so far off. Many probably think they go far more often than they actually do and many probably also think it reflects badly on them to say anything but "every Sunday".

It's like being asked if you brush your teeth twice every day. You're going to say yes because you don't want to seem unsanitary, and you probably think you rarely miss a brushing anyway, but the reality is that you probably go to bed without brushing more often than you realize just because you're tired or lazy.

I sing in a choir, and we often have concerts in churches. I never go voluntarily to any kind of service. But even though I am militantly anti-religious, I like being in churches. I enjoy the architecture and decorations, and we have several quite old churches in Norway that are very beautiful. I can find a certain calm in the big church room that I don't find anywhere else.

Lutheran church, 16 years on the agreement that when I was confirmed, I could do what I wanted. Now I just go to my mother-in-law's church when necessary.

I was baptized Southern baptist when I was 12 and was told I could get into Heaven regardless of what I did.

As a child I went to Sunday School (although wasn't in a church), used to go to easter and christmas mass with the family, and have been with friends to some of those as a way of showing support, but that's it.

I too really do love the architecture and feel of old style churches, and in some of them the community feel is great... but then there's all that religious guff, a real turn off

A decade ago I wanted to be a preacher and I went to church eight times a week. Then I read the entire Bible in six months. Now I'm an atheist. (But I'm generalizing my own story.)

I went to catholic school from grade three to six. My fondest memories for that period where the pancake breakfasts... ALL YOU CAN EAT, just piles of pancakes and syrup.

My parents tried to take us to church when we were young, but even they didn't want to do it. They felt obligated, so we'd go, and man was it the worst and most boring hour of my life. Once I got older I was afraid I was gonna go to hell, so I tried a little harder to pay attention and get saved. In the military, I even volunteered to be a Religious Petty Officer at the Chapel.

I think once I got to the age where I saw the mortality of those who preached and spanked the fear of god into me, I started questioning their authority on biblical history. Once I moved past the fear, It was really only a matter of time before I reasonably became an atheist.

Interesting stories... anybody willing to share if they explored any other religions after losing faith in Christianity? Anybody here who is an atheist that belonged to a religion other than Christianity before converting?

In my own case, I personally attended Mormon, Catholic, and Protestant churches as a child--my family considered themselves non-denominational Christians. In addition to the Protestant and Catholic Christian friends I had growing up, I also had friends who were Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, and Hindu. My best friend's dad was a Unitarian pastor. At a very young age it was clear to me that none of the religions could be completely right, but even until today I don't agree that that fact means they all must be completely wrong. Rather, I see certain commonalities in all the faiths and think that each one expresses a kind of truth about our experiences as humans--just from different perspectives.

A pastor at Stanford I talked to once likened it to looking into a room from the outside through a window. You can only see part of the room through one particular window, and looking from other windows reveals other aspects of the room. In the end though, looking through the window is never the same thing as being inside the room and able to verify what's in there for yourself.

So I consider myself both religious and yet agnostic at the same time. I don't know if there is a divinity or divinities. I've heard lots of anecdotal evidence from people from a variety of faiths, but have never seen any empirical proof one way or the other. I certainly don't believe in the monotheistic Judeo-Islamic-Christian "God."

And yet, I don't dismiss religion completely. I'm convinced from my own (subjective) experiences and a growing body of research in the psychology of religion that it can be a very useful tool for improving both individuals and society (although it can be a terrible and dangerous weapon when misused). Going into the future, I would like to see the world's major religions transform themselves--to cut away that which is clearly being abused and to explore more fully that which helps people to bring out their full potential.

By the way, please don't construe that to mean that I think everyone must be religious to bring out their full potential. Like I said, I feel religion is like a tool--it certainly isn't the only one available and might not be right for all people under all circumstances.

Voting for this poll ended with the majority of users voting Never.

Since siftbot's answer is so inadequate, I'll give some percentages:

Total number of votes: 79
Once a week or more 5 / 79 = 6 %
Once every two weeks 1 / 79 = 1 %
Once a month 2 / 79 = 3 %
Some special holidays 9 / 79 = 11 %
Never 62 / 79 = 78 %

So 78 % never go to church, while 6 % goes regularly. Interesting stuff. Now we have some data to prove we're an atheistic bunch (or at least hinting at it).