I was raised Methodist in the midwest with parents that took it pretty seriously.
Over the years there were the occasional somethings that helped. I recall a sermon on Sodom and Gomorrha and the pastor really wanted to emphasize the cities were destroyed for inhospitality, not homosexuality. As 15 year old gay teen, who has had strong gay urges since first grade, that really helped.
A Methodist friend of my folks always referred to Methodism as 'The One True Faith'. I never knew if he was that serious or if it was a joke, but it really got me thinking about all the religions and their differences.
I would come across a little nugget from time to time too. Isaac Asimov noted a CRUCIAL failing in Christian Science dogma in a science essay, and I noted therefore Christian Science was a demonstrably PROVEN false religion.
I remember Peoples Temple, that was another jolt about damaging false religion.
I noticed mainline Methodism changing to suit the times, and wondered how that could be if they were originally correct, and if they weren't, would the changes bring them closer to being 'The One True Faith' or would it move them further away ?
Seeing people persist in their faith in the Bakkers, or Jimmy Swaggart was another jolt. I recall being in an ACLU meeting in the mid 80s and Catholic priest pedophilia was brought up. The issue then was the church had essentially a completely separate criminal justice system operating as they handled the crisis 'in house'. The ACLU meeting topic was about how far does the First Amendment have to stretch to cover THAT ? Even then, I found the Catholics response to pedophilia totally at odds with 'Christian' tenets, and realized Catholicism was falsifying ITSELF.
And then there are the Mormons. Jesus fucking Christ, Joseph Smith's total fail in coughing up a plausible variant to Christianity was another eye opener. But Joseph Smith did one thing, he highlighted a logical inconsistency in Christianity as a whole, and that is how is salvation accomplished in areas with people from the time of Christ's resurrection until the arrival of the first Christian missionaries that represent the 'One True Christian Church' ???????????????????????????????????????????
Even to this day, it is quite likely that even on a place as large and as populated as Easter Island, it is possible that a missionary from the one correct Christian church/denomination/sect has yet to arrive and make it possible for the inhabitants that have never traveled away from the island to achieve salvation.
Seems like a 'real' God could do better.
Over the years there were the occasional somethings that helped. I recall a sermon on Sodom and Gomorrha and the pastor really wanted to emphasize the cities were destroyed for inhospitality, not homosexuality. As 15 year old gay teen, who has had strong gay urges since first grade, that really helped.
A Methodist friend of my folks always referred to Methodism as 'The One True Faith'. I never knew if he was that serious or if it was a joke, but it really got me thinking about all the religions and their differences.
I would come across a little nugget from time to time too. Isaac Asimov noted a CRUCIAL failing in Christian Science dogma in a science essay, and I noted therefore Christian Science was a demonstrably PROVEN false religion.
I remember Peoples Temple, that was another jolt about damaging false religion.
I noticed mainline Methodism changing to suit the times, and wondered how that could be if they were originally correct, and if they weren't, would the changes bring them closer to being 'The One True Faith' or would it move them further away ?
Seeing people persist in their faith in the Bakkers, or Jimmy Swaggart was another jolt. I recall being in an ACLU meeting in the mid 80s and Catholic priest pedophilia was brought up. The issue then was the church had essentially a completely separate criminal justice system operating as they handled the crisis 'in house'. The ACLU meeting topic was about how far does the First Amendment have to stretch to cover THAT ? Even then, I found the Catholics response to pedophilia totally at odds with 'Christian' tenets, and realized Catholicism was falsifying ITSELF.
And then there are the Mormons. Jesus fucking Christ, Joseph Smith's total fail in coughing up a plausible variant to Christianity was another eye opener. But Joseph Smith did one thing, he highlighted a logical inconsistency in Christianity as a whole, and that is how is salvation accomplished in areas with people from the time of Christ's resurrection until the arrival of the first Christian missionaries that represent the 'One True Christian Church' ???????????????????????????????????????????
Even to this day, it is quite likely that even on a place as large and as populated as Easter Island, it is possible that a missionary from the one correct Christian church/denomination/sect has yet to arrive and make it possible for the inhabitants that have never traveled away from the island to achieve salvation.
Seems like a 'real' God could do better.
