My heartfelt desire is to stop talking about what it means to be a Christian and open peoples eyes up to living it out. The problem I see through out most of the discussion is that people are judged, left out, or just plain ignored if they don’t conform to the “church”.

Jesus was the opposite of all of this. He loved the prostitutes, the outcasts, the sinners, the lost, the broken, and the unloveable. That is why most of the religious scholars of his day hated him. I fear the church on some levels has strayed back into being just like the religious institutes that Jesus went against.

I just want everyone in the discussion to know, that I am sorry for your experiences. If you have questions feel free to comment and I will get back to you. There are Christians out there that are trying to break these molds, build relationships, and reflect what Jesus was truly all about.

A few years ago I was dragged back for a Baptist service (my then wife’s former childhood church in Louisiana) and struck by how much singing there was and how little bible teaching compared to the Presbyterian church I grew up in. I was also dragged to a Methodist Christmas service in rural Missouri. Both at the Baptist service and the Methodist one, listening to the pastors’ sermons was tedious, and both men ended up saying things that were so profoundly stupid/ignorant that I wanted to get up and walk out. The Methodist service offered communion but I stayed in my seat (I was the only one who did).

When I lived in Houston I sometime attended the German-language services (mostly Easter & Xmas) of Christ-the-King Lutheran, in Rice Village, because I speak German and it was an interesting linguistic exercise, and because they played lots of J.S. Bach.

Later on in the ‘burbs of Houston, I attended some UU services, but only because the Fort Bend County Green Party had disbanded, and the UU’s were the only forum left for any kind of progressive thought and socio-economic justice activism and discussion in my area. I only came for their Adult Discussion Groups when the topic was of interest to me, and I usually gave their actual church service a pass, though it was ok the few times I stayed. I knew a few members of that UU congregation who were also active in Atheist/Humanist groups in the greater Houston area.

But I was growing up in southern Germany when he was the archbishop of that area, and it was common knowledge that he supported nationalist policies under Hitler.

Ratzinger’s Nazi sympathies are quite often claimed among atheists also in Italy (where I come from), but I’ve never seen any convincing evidence of this. Given that he was a child or a young boy for most of Hitler’s rule, and apparenlty his family were not fervent Nazi supporters, I find it difficult to formulate a strong judgement on is stance on Nazism at the time. So, is there anything said or done by him later that indicates (however obliquely) his support for Nazi policies? Something like that might be more likely to be known locally, like where you grew up, because it would be very embarassing should it be known nationally (in Germany!) or further.

I also just went to a wedding and was surprised by how Christian it was. I was frankly disappointed, but didn’t show it. At least the pastor was a woman, and a relative of the bride, so I knew why it was the way it was. I somewhat blatantly did not bow my head when they prayed, and looked around at the audience.

I find myself a little too shut-off by church type events and I don’t think I am able to see them with an open mind. I come away from them trying not to bitch, basically. I get creeped out.

I was uncomfortable, creeped out, and glad to have my little nieces and nephew to distract me. My boyfriend, who had a more painful experience leaving Mormonism, was depressed the rest of the day. I felt guilty afterwords for asking him to come.

My family seemed genuinely thankful that I went… but I imagine they have no idea just how emotionally suffocated I felt.