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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bread Upon The Water who wrote (187561)	4/24/2012 11:48:14 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542904

I was sent to Presbyterian sunday school by my parents- who thought everyone needed to know the bible. But they didn't go. That took about two years. Then I got tired of going by myself. Then, my friend Kim O'Brien took me to her Baptist church. I went with the O'Brien's every Sunday, got baptized, enjoyed the youth camp. Later, a Mormon friend took me to temple. Interesting. Didn't get to know the intricacies of the church, but saw a lot of pageants. Went to a horse camp run by evangelicals- was saved, several times. Never took, but it was interesting. I believe folks also tried to indoctrinate me at Y camp- which I attended for years, and I was even a counselor. Best friends in high school went to St. Juliana's- and I went with them to a lot of Catholic events. Never considered converting- to onerous for a purely social conversion. Have gone to many many churches as an adult- because I like to say yes when people invite me places, and I also like to observe. Southern Baptists, in my experience, are the weirdest. Have memorized large parts of the bible- accidentally, from reading it as literature. I know the bible better than most folks who are religious- but that's just because I have a good memory. All my conversions were social- if people seem really invested in something, I have a hard time shutting them down, especially when it's not something that really matters to me, and folks are always so happy when you go along with their religion. It's very hard for me to disappoint people in 3d. That's why I never argue politics in 3d. Unless you really know me, and few people do- unless you know me from the net, you'd probably think I feel EXACTLY the same way about things you do- and you'd leave my company happy. I like the Quakers- wish there were more of them, since they are inoffensive. Unfortunately it's the conservative and annoying churches that are seeing the growth: journalstar.com My mother, despite being an atheist in later life, grew up in the Moody Bible Church and attended religious colleges. If the beliefs hadn't been quite so rigorously literal and stupid, she might not have lost her faith as abruptly as she did. But she remembered reading some particularly ridiculous passage of the bible, and thinking "I just don't believe this." And so faith falls away. I never believed any of it, but I have a lot of sympathy for the folks who use religion to advance freedom and justice, and none at all for folks who use religion as some sort of SOMA, to make all the believers are droidlike as possible. Christianity is far inferior to Buddhism, I think- because Buddhism is often less dogmatic and co-exists better with science. I think Islam and Christianity are both inferior to Judaism, and all 3 are inferior to Buddhism- based on results. I prefer the way Buddhism works with science. Judaism is great- because it's so supportive of education- but the zealots are a problem. So they don't get the top slot. I also like the B'hai- but they are such a small sect, I'm not sure they'll ever get anywhere. Obviously I'm not planning on believing in any- since all invisible friends seem equally unlikely to me, but I speak as an interested observer, since I am forced to share the planet with folks who basically want to believe in magical things. I cannot say I ever understood this interest in what is basically magic- not as a child, and not as an adult. But I certainly can tell you a lot about it, and I have definitely gone undercover in the realms of the magicians.

To: Bread Upon The Water who wrote (187561)	4/24/2012 12:38:06 PM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 542904

Raised Presbyterian. Attended Sunday School/Church for 12 Straight Years growing up. At one time (Junior Senior years in high school) contemplated becoming a Presbyterian Minister. Was a youth Official in the Presbyterian's governing Body. Interesting comparisons. I grew up as a Presbyterian, albeit of the southern variety. Small town, central Texas. I did wind up in seminary and taught theology for a couple of years. Then headed back to graduate school for a degree in sociology. My wife grew up as a Methodist, wound up in seminary, where we met, taught theology for a bit, and then wound up in graduate school, working toward a PhD in sociology as well.