I hate religions because of their divisive nature. Whenever one belongs to a certain church, they suddenly feel they must partition themselves off into a little sub-group where everyone inside that group is good, and everyone outside that group is bad. This exactly where that "you're going to hell if you don't believe in my god" ideas comes from. As Psychologist Darrell Ray understood, religions must protect the in-group from parasitical infections from other religions. This also explains Slobodan Milosevic's genocidal military campaigns against Serbian Muslims, and the violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
However, I have heard that contemporary Methodists are much more liberal and tolerant than other churches. My mom has been attending the Nooksack Methodist Church since she retired last January. She tells me yo do not have to be a Methodist to participate in the rituals and ceremonies.
While that sounds nice, I am a bit skeptical of this. Most churches are tax-exempt, and you need only to form a church with so many members in order to get tax benefits. So maybe the Methodist Church only pretends to be inclusive and liberal so they can attract more members in rural, densely-populated Nooksack, Washington. That is, they could lose their tax-exempt status if they lose too many members. Maybe other Methodist churches in higher-populated areas are just as bigoted as Pat Robertson.
However, I have heard that contemporary Methodists are much more liberal and tolerant than other churches. My mom has been attending the Nooksack Methodist Church since she retired last January. She tells me yo do not have to be a Methodist to participate in the rituals and ceremonies.
While that sounds nice, I am a bit skeptical of this. Most churches are tax-exempt, and you need only to form a church with so many members in order to get tax benefits. So maybe the Methodist Church only pretends to be inclusive and liberal so they can attract more members in rural, densely-populated Nooksack, Washington. That is, they could lose their tax-exempt status if they lose too many members. Maybe other Methodist churches in higher-populated areas are just as bigoted as Pat Robertson.
