The most important reason I'm xtian

[Aractus]

Interesting response. You're entirely correct insofar as that my faith in an inward looking and selfish thing. I mean of course it informs my world view and that affects how I interact with those around me, but that remains my faith looking in and myself looking out.

I don't know that I'd agree that the red letters you quoted translates to ask not what your church can do for you etc. I have a somewhat different perspective on that scripture, with which I Shan't bore our atheist friends.

And I'm militantly indifferent as to whether I can be called a Protestant, an Anglican, or any other religious faction . It makes no difference to me.

Were not the Scribes and Pharisees that Jesus confronted, as well as his other Jewish contemporaries, inward-looking and judging others by their faith?

So too the Roman Catholic Church had become absorbed with this way of thinking. I don't expect you to appreciate the reformation, or even recognize it, since as you say you are neither Catholic nor Protestant and don't identify with either camp.

The Counter Reformation by the Catholics began in Council of Trent in 1545. The Catholics had ideals that they wanted to claim as their own. This is why when you talk to Catholics they think they "own" everything in their church history going all the way back to Pope Peter I!

Protestants were actually invited to sit in the council and take part in the discussion, on the understanding that they would have no vote; this is a clear seizure of power undertaken by the RCC by stating that none of their heresies could be challenged by those present, since doing so would result in ex-communication for Catholics, and anyone else was excluded from voting anyway. This was their delusion that the Church had all authority over deciding what was and is and should be elements of the Christian faith.

A combination of this came together with their bizarre reasoning that the Latin Vulgate is holy and inspired scripture. This is akin to those today who are part of the KJO-movement, it's completely irrational, except when you consider that the RCC 1. wanted to take ownership of the entire history of the Christian church, even if it no longer resembled it, to claim it as their "sacred tradition" and 2. wanted to be the sole authority to interpret scripture and divulge its meaning, and this is akin to the Watchtower today.

It was also their way of pissing on the grave of Tyndale, who they had martyred a decade earlier, and they were madly burning all the copies of his Bible they could find. Bible-possession by the laity - especially "unauthorised" Bible - was strictly banned. The roots for this go back at least as far as 1229, when it was officially decreed that the laity were banned from possessing the Bible: "We prohibit also that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the Old or New Testament; but we most strictly forbid their having any translation of these books." (Council of Toulouse). The Bibles were smuggled among the faithful, who were persecuted for defying the church. Persecution that the RCC believe was theirs to divinely administer, and they were all too happy to do so.

Think about this, 11 million people were killed in the holocaust - including 6 million Jews. But, at the time of the reformation about 50,000,000 Christians were martyred by the RCC.

Catholics are taught that this number is closer to 200,000 – and that’s what they repeat. They have no idea how offensive it is to deny the past, and to deny all the evidence that the 50,000,000 figure is based on (many contemporary reports, contemporary calculations, negative population growth in protestant regions, etc). It is honestly as dumb, naïve and ignorant as denying the holocaust – of course the 50 million figure is up for debate, it is only an estimate – but it’s one base on facts, and the point is that 10’s of millions of Christians were persecuted and killed for their beliefs under direction of the Roman Catholic Church. And whether it's 70 million or just 30 million, it still totally eclipses the persecution under Nazi Germany.

But for what it's worth, I did serve a two year term on my local churches parochial parish council before leaving in disgust after upsetting almost everyone else there. Don't know if that counts.

No it doesn’t count. That’s not serving. That’s “serving yourselves”, internal work of a church is simply self-serving inward and unconstructive in terms of Evangelism or Ministry or Witnessing, etc. It would count if you spent two years running a soup kitchen, volunteering a rape crisis centre, housing the homeless, doing the work for the community that the community needs, supporting those in need, empowering them, helping people overcome addictions like gambling, etc. The homless person living on a park bench doesn’t care how many people volunteer in the parish council, the single mother with no money to put food on the table for her hungry children doesn’t care either.