snuff I don't feel a person has to be participating in the life of the Church to be a practicing Christian. Faith occurs at different levels. I personally don't believe there is a God. I accept Jesus may have existed but not as the great Messiah the Church has personified him as. He was probably just a nice outspoken 'faith healer'. Who knows. None of his practices were recorded for several hundred years(is that correct???) I find it highly unlikely a 'primitive' culture could record behaviour any other way than with some mystic meaning. I do believe the Church has a good foundation for healthy living BUT it is trying to play 'God'. Who gives them the right to dictate stem cell technology, genetic engineering, abortion and same sex relationships, to name a few. To me the basis of any religion is the Ten Commandments, well, at least from six to ten. They seem to be the basis for a moral life. And not because a religion 'gave them out'. They seem to be the basic behaviour we should show eachother. As a mass entity that helps people justify their existence and helps them sleep at night, I don't see religion as a drama. However, I do get concerned when people who attend church or practice religion as die hard fanatics start to force their beliefs onto others. I once had a Christian tell me that if a person is bad and announces himself to God on his death bed he shall go to the kingdom of God. But my self, who does not attend church and follows and practices a very moral life but doesn't announce on my death bed will go to hell. What! Are these people serious? Crap like that makes you want to carry a wooden stake, crucifix and some holy water, for that is the work of evil LOL. So to answer your question, yes I feel better because I can practice the parts I like and discount the crap I don't without having a church group judge me. And that goes for all religions. I like to take a little part from each as they all 'have their heart in the right place', unfortunate about the brain. ;) PS: I have attending my nieces' churchy stuff like Confirmation etc and have to admit the church was 'non confronting'. So, some are relaxing the decor, so to say, but I still worry about the thought train, that's hard to change.
