(August 7, 2018 at 3:51 pm)Aegon Wrote: It was incredibly creepy. I forgot how uncomfortable it makes me. I was raised in the Catholic church. There's no sect that is more "cultish" than Catholicism IMO. This church was Methodist, but the key creepy things were still present:
I mean, as an outsider, an objective voice, looking in; it was extraordinarily disturbing. The rituals reminded me very strongly of a cult's, and the pastor's words felt like a scare tactic (don't you dare doubt these things or you will suffer.) It all seemed like textbook Cult Management 101. Yikes.
- Reciting the "affirmation of faith" in unison
- A pastor whose sermon stressed that nothing you do matters unless you have faith. And if you challenge, doubt or ignore "the truth" (the words of the Gospel) then you cannot go to heaven.
- Eating and drinking what symbolizes the body and blood of Christ
Long ago, I stupidly tried to appease my fundy brother. He took me to a megga church in Phoenix Az, yep, same feeling.
The delusional joy on his face, I could see he was thinking "All he(me) has to do is just believe". It creeped me out big time. Wasn't a Catholic Church but same feeling.
The Unitarian Church I attended in the late 90s early 2000s while still supporting mythology of all labels, was far more inclusive and while still superfluous to me, was far more full of liberal empathetic individuals of every religious label.
I stopped attending because I outgrew it.
