I'm a member of a church. Paper member in this village. There has been a town where I was really active too. I belong to a mainstream church. Country wise the variety of members and congregations within this church is huge. Fundies, sure. Atheist vicar, and not hiding that, yeah, that too. The range of members of the church I belong to is that big. I'm not a fundie. Never was. Was the kid that got into arguments with the old-fashioned rigid vicar of the congregation all the time. The vicar even told my parents it would not be a bad thing if I missed the church classes.
Doubt is a core thing in my being religious. I think he was afraid I would infect the other kids too.
But, christianity is the language I am raised in to talk about hope, about resistance, about acceptance. And I have seen others crush hope, oppress and hate, using the same basic christian words. It's what people do with a religion that matters.
Can't change the language I am raised in. It is part of my culture. I'm not the average christian, never will be. For me, a dogma only has importance, seen from the questions people had when they thought up that dogma. The dogma itself is not important at all.
When I see things about religion on a forum, I am amazed on how much it differs per country.
A documentary on Madalyn Murray O'Hair I saw a couple of years ago really shocked me. I could not imagine a hate against atheists like that. Makes no sense.
But, after seeing that documentary, I did get a bit more why some debates on religion were that heated.
"Is she gone yet?"